And there was no more sea
And I with only a reed in my hands.
The night was deserted, the moon waning,
earth smelled of the last rain.
I whispered: memory hurts wherever you touch it,
there’s only a little sky, there’s no more sea,
what they kill by day they carry away in carts and dump behind the ridge.
My fingers were running idly over this flute
that an old shepherd gave to me because I said good evening to him.
The others have abolished every kind of greeting:
they wake, shave, and start the day’s work of slaughter
as one prunes or operates, methodically, without passion;
sorrow’s dead like Patroclus, and no one makes a mistake.
I thought of playing a tune and then I felt ashamed in front of the other world
the one that watches me from beyond the night from within my light
woven of living bodies, naked hearts
and love that belongs to the Furies
as it belongs to man and to stone and to water and to grass
and to the animal that looks straight into the eye of its approaching death.
So I continued along the dark path
and turned into my garden and dug and buried the reed
and again I whispered: some morning the resurrection will come,
dawn’s light will glow red as trees blossom in spring,
the sea will be born again, and the wave will again fling forth Aphrodite.
We are the seed that dies. And I entered my empty house.
*From George Seferis, Collected Poems, rev. ed., translated, edited, and introduced by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard (Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press, 1995), p. 180.
In an isolating secularized culture where the Church's voice is muffled through her many divisions, Christians need all the help they can get to strengthen their faith in God and love toward their neighbor. Eighth Day Institute offers hope to all Christians through our adherence to the Nicene faith, our ecumenical dialogues of love and truth, and our many events and publications to strengthen faith, grow in wisdom, and foster Christian friendships of love. Will you join us in our efforts to renew soul & city? Donate today and join the community of Eighth Day Members who are working together to renew culture through faith & learning.
November 2024
27
28
5pm Ray Anderson Theological Task Force
29
30
6am "Ironmen"
31
4pm Cappadocian Society
1
7:30am Prayer Group - Hill
2
3
4
5pm Ray Anderson Theological Task Force
5
6
6am "Ironmen"
7
4pm Cappadocian Society
8
7:30am Prayer Group - Hill
6pm Chesterton Society
9
10
11
5pm Ray Anderson Theological Task Force
12
13
6am "Ironmen"
14
4pm Cappadocian Society
7pm Hall of Men
15
7:30am Prayer Group - Hill
16
17
18
5pm Ray Anderson Theological Task Force
19
4pm Preaching Colloquium
6:30pm Sisters of Sophia
20
6am "Ironmen"
21
4pm Cappadocian Society
22
7:30am Prayer Group - Hill
23
7am "Ironmen"
24
25
5pm Ray Anderson Theological Task Force
26
27
6am "Ironmen"
28
4pm Cappadocian Society
7pm Hall of Men
29
7:30am Prayer Group - Hill
30
Location
Eighth Day Institute at The Ladder
2836 E. Douglas Ave.
Wichita, KS 67214
©Eighth Day Institute 2019