The Question IS

The Rev. Nancy E. Gossling

In her four part poem entitled, The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac, Mary Oliver deals with her diagnosis of lung cancer. Cancer is the Fourth sign of the Zodiac, and part 2 raises the question: “What will it be like after the last day? Will I float into the sky or will I fray within the earth or a river - remembering nothing?”

I wonder about questions like these, especially after this past year, and as I grow closer to the end times, however they come for me and you. Will I push up flowers in the spring, like the daffodils bursting all around me? Will I feel the warmth of love beneath a snow-covered holy mountain, joining the flowing rivers below? Will I feast on well aged wines and rich food, as I did last night with friends, or will I remember nothing, including the promises made in scripture?

Remembering. Re-membering our bodies. Will I remember your names, our good times, and the laughter we shared. Will I remember the beauty of the earth, the deep blue sea, and the vast expanse of zodiacs in the sky? Will I remember how good God is, all the time?

“The man who has many answers is often found in the theaters of information where he offers, graciously, his deep findings.” We see him in our pulpits, our newsrooms, on stage, throughout FaceBook and YouTube. We hear him in the echoes of our empty minds.

“While the man who has only questions, to comfort himself, makes music,” she wrote. So I ask questions with Mary Oliver, God rest her soul, and I listen for the music. I chase the squirrels away from my feeder, the monkeys out of my brain, and ask the birds those very same questions. Will I join you someday too? Will I float into a bright blue sky, remembering the beauty of the earth? Or will I fray within the earth or a river? Will I even remember, beloved, your beloved name?”

2. The Fourth Sign of the Zodiac

The question is,

what will it be like

after the last day?

Will I float

into the sky

or will I fray

within the earth or a river—

remembering nothing?

How desperate I would be

if I couldn’t remember

the sun rising, if I couldn’t

remember trees, rivers; if I couldn’t

even remember, beloved,

your beloved name.

The Man Who Has many Answers

The man who has many answers

is often found

in the theaters of information

where he offers, graciously,

his deep findings.

While the man who has only questions,

to comfort himself, makes music.

Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings