Video

What I Have Learned So Far by Mary Oliver — revered American poet and a favorite of Father Pilarz — charges us to be passionate about the just, the ideal, the sublime and the holy. May her words, spoken by Marquette students Silver Nyambo, Brittany Green, Nelsy Hernandez, Lex Gernon, Katie Doyle, Kelsey Lauren, Alli Bonesho, Kathryn Delapp, Yunjung Lee and Aisha al-fadallah, inspire all of us to act — on campus, in the community and around the world.

What I Have Learned So Far

Meditation is old and honorable, so why should I
not sit, every morning of my life, on the hillside,
looking into the shining world? Because, properly
attended to, delight, as well as havoc, is suggestion.
Can one be passionate about the just, the
ideal, the sublime, and the holy, and yet commit
to no labor in its cause? I don't think so.

All summations have a beginning, all effect has a
story, all kindness begins with the sown seed.
Thought buds toward radiance. The gospel of
light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

—Mary Oliver