We Didn't Make Our Beds

The Wrong Beds

"Life is a hospital ward, and the beds we are put in
are the ones we don't want to be in.

We'd get better sooner if put over by the window.
Or by the radiator, one could suffer easier there.

At night, that inpatient soul dreams of faraway places.
The Aegean, all marble and light. Where, upon the beach
as flat as a map, you could bask in the sun like a lizard.

The Pole: where, bathing in darkness, you could watch
the sparks from Hell reflected in a sky of ice. The soul
could be happier anywhere than where it happens to be.

Anywhere but here. We take our medicine daily,
nod politely, and grumble occasionally.
But it is out of our hands. Always the wrong place.
We didn't make our beds, but we lie in them."

- Roger McGough

The double meaning of the last phrase 'we lie them' points out our self-deception - that it is all 'out of our hands', when the truth is that we do have a choice in how we respond to suffering and hardship in our lives - with engagement, patience, compassion or holiness.

Instead of getting on with inhabiting properly the actual present moment and location we are in, we shrug 'Anywhere but here', grumble mildly, endure mindlessly, (take our medicine) and take up residence in a permanent excuse.

My blip today is of the two little beds I made on the floor at the foot of our bed for our grandsons, Mayson and Micah while they were staying with us for the past week. They all left today to drive back up to Kansas City - an 8 hour drive! We will miss them but we're also enjoying the peace and quiet!