A Nevertheless- CLINK

Clink to you all on this Sunday the 16th the very middle of April and cusp of Spring. I came across this word the other day and as words often do for me, it intrigued me to the point of learning its origin and history. It appears that nevertheless actually dates back to the late 13th century, and is composed from the middle English phrase, (nuuer the lesse) .. never the less.. So, there are a couple more variations with the same meaning, nonetheless and notwithstanding. However Nevertheless according to wordreference.com is used twice as often as the others. Never- meaning No a hard stop, The- meaning one or more or things already mentioned, Less- meaning to what extent or how much. So, to be used correctly in a sentence would sound like, (The winter season has been long, cold and difficult, nevertheless Spring is coming, the sun will shine and the flowers will bloom.) I so enjoy my Garden and all the seasons it endures. I am jealous of how its beauty and purpose remain steadfast and surrendered to mother natures ever evolving emotions and seasons. As I was watching out the window for the first signs of spring, a sparrow and cardinals caught my eye as they hopped around the garden collecting winters debris of dry grass, twigs and moss. It occurred to me that every season most certainly has a purpose in mind. I am wanting winter to end and waiting for the garden to bloom, while the birds were taking full advantage of and harvesting prime and perfect nest building materials for their young. I then felt a bit of reflection about how often I have prayed for the never of things. I want the struggle to stop or say no to it all. I want the less more and yet if I take that hard stance I will most certainly forego the life, purpose and beauty found in the now.

Below a poem by Marianne Moore a Pulitzer Prize winning author, born in 1887 near St. Louis Missouri provides us simple glimpses and a rhythm of hope we can embrace in the nevertheless seasons of life.

Nevertheless- by Marianne Moore

you’ve seen a strawberry
that’s had a struggle; yet
was, where the fragments met,

a hedgehog or a star-
fish for the multitude
of seeds. What better food

than apple seeds –  the fruit
within the fruit – locked in
like counter-curved twin

hazelnuts? Frost that kills
the little rubber-plant –
leaves of kok-sagyyz-stalks, can’t

harm the roots; they still grow
in frozen ground. Once where
there was a prickley-pear –

leaf clinging to a barbed wire,
a root shot down to grow
in earth two feet below;
as carrots from mandrakes
or a ram’s-horn root some-
times. Victory won’t come

to me unless I go
to it; a grape tendril
ties a knot in knots till

knotted thirty times – so
the bound twig that’s under-
gone and over-gone, can’t stir.

The weak overcomes its
menace, the strong over-
comes itself. What is there

like fortitude! What sap
went through that little thread
to make the cherry red!

Praying those in a season of hard, nevertheless you find some moments of joy and for those in a season of joy, nevertheless you remember the hard.   For all our seasons have their time and purpose and no season or time lasts forever… YM-You Matter 

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