“i thank You God for most this amazing” by e.e. cummings
i thank You God for most this amazing
day:for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes
(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any–lifted from the no
of all nothing–human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
I learned this poem when I was in high school. I loved it for many reasons, including the way that cummings defied the rules of grammar and played with words. I especially loved it, however, because he had a different way of seeing things, eyes that could catch the miracle and mystery of each amazing day.
Children have a way of reminding us of the miracles and beauty in our midst. When two year-old Gabriel saw the dust particles streaming through the window in my living room he said, “Look, Grandma, the bubbles are dancing!”; and when he takes a nap at my house, it is often on the “rainbow bed” because I have a sun catcher in the room where streams of light are often reflected.
This past summer I visited a sacred shrine, Chimayo, in New Mexico. The chapel on the site was lovely; but it was the amazing colors of the sun streaming through the windows that caught my eye. It was like a diving partnership between what was created by human hands and touched by God.
This day, O God of all light and wonder,
Open our eyes to see your miracles around us.
Kiss this day with your divine touch that we might know
the brilliant colors of your grace
and love us through any challenge that might come our way
even as we thank you, God, for most this amazing day. Amen.
