The ennobling grass

"Reports from the State House indicate . . ." "Sources close to the Prime Minister say . . ." There are channels of information open to us that we are not aware of, and they have nothing to do with what is official or unofficial but rather with what is authentic. Sometime walk in the woods in spring and see how many things are speaking To you: the new spears of grass Water rushing by in that creek. Just the warmth of wind and sunlight on those saplings. A vast happy rock. A phrase from somewhere -- "the ennobling grass" -- comes to mind, and you know that whatever needs saying will be like seeds scattered around. We can expect growth, but teaching is like this: not everything takes root. Thought is less often the rich receptive soil than The turbulent water rushing by. All right, those who understand do so in their own way. Some are saplings. Some sparkle and bubble over like springs from which this rain-swollen brook is fed. Then there is a kind of learning without display, hardly perceptible, but it's going on all the time. We accept it, we profit by it. Quietly it reassures and ennobles us.