About a month ago Matt and I spoke in church.
(Mormons don't have a "preacher," instead people from the congregation are assigned a topic one to two weeks in advance, then present a 10 to 15 min talk on the topic.)
Anyway, we could choose are own topics off of General Conference talks that were given in the past two years.
(General Conference: a world wide broadcast, 4 two hour sessions, twice a year, given from Salt Lake City.)
I picked Ann M. Dibb's talk from October 2009 General Conference "Hold On" (click here). And I opened the talk with this poem from Langston Hughes:
Mother to Son
Langston Hughes
Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
This poem needs to read out loud, for sure! (Click here for one being read out loud.) I did my best to keep my southern accent under control when I read this to the congregation. It was so hard! Not sure if I succeeded. Some people out here say I talk funny, so I do my best to cover up the "funny."
Why did I choose this poem? Well...
... This past year has been crazy. Nothing that Matt nor I expected. A few heart surgeries, a birth of a third child, a change in career paths, another change in career paths, a move to a different city, more student-family poverty stress. To name a few.
And though I am grateful we always had shelter over our heads and food on the table (even if it was cereal) I haven't been handling everything as well as I had hoped.
But this poem, wow, slapped me in the face. Each day will come. And life is hard, but that's what it is supposed to be. Just keep going, keep climbing, do your best, and things will work out.
What do you think?
3 comments:
My mother-in-law has a saying. "Don't climb the hill until you reach it." I worry a ton and this saying has helped me out with that. What is the point of worrying when you know it is about as affective as chewing bubble gum to solve an algebra equation? Thanks for sharing this poem. Life is hard for everyone, but the point is to keep going. Endure to the end and all that jazz! :)
What I think, is that I'm printing it out to pin up on my wall! Thanks Shannon, a thoughtful, timely choice, as always. :)
I got chills when I read this poem. Very inspirational. Life is hard and it's easy to complain but I think complaining makes it that much harder. Might as well lift up your head and just keep trudging along. That's what I tell myself all the time :)
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