Desiderata

The boys and I spent Saturday afternoon exploring the sunflower maze on the outskirts of Altdorf. It's a sad little affair this year. The flowers barely reach my head due to lack of sun and the stalks are bent over and broken due to all the rain and hail. Still, it is an effort on the part of the community to bring a little nature into out lives and the boys and I took advantage of it while their older siblings were out horsebackriding and playing baseball.

The maze, with its unexpected twists and turns, and all those darn dead-ends to stumble into, is an obvious metaphor for life.

And, in the center, we DID find stillness. (And stayed there almost two hours playing Indians and circus.)

Affixed to a post was this poem, written in the mid 1952 by Max Ehrmann,an American poet and philosopher of German descent. It is called "Desiderata."

Max Ehrmann's "Desiderata"

I have attached the last three verses in case you don't link to the whole thing.
May they bring you the peace and hope they do me.

"You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars:
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy."

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952

Amazing what you find amidst the broken flowers if only you take the time to look!