Take Heart is Fran’s choice for our Spiritual Thursday posts. In my Mississippi childhood, Dear Heart was a common feminine expression, similar to cher in the Cajun culture I now live in. Dear heart is an expression of endearment that could have a connotation of condescension.
But Take Heart is not at all condescending. In a sense, its meaning is quite the opposite. To Take Heart is a way to overcome the troubles of the world.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” — John 16:33
Take Heart means to live a life that understands there is trouble, there is hardship, there is pain, but there is a greater spirit that overcomes and offers hope. As I read Out of the Dust with a student this week, he identified the theme, “There is always hope.” A pandemic is a kind of Dust Bowl for our time. We have little control over who the virus will target next. Our handkerchiefs are our masks. We stay distanced to avoid the dust. Yet, there is hope. There is always hope.
I started thinking about ways I overcome and find peace in my own life and wrote a “Things to do” poem.
Things to Do to Take Heart
Notice the singing of morning birds.
Margaret Simon, 2021
Begin each day in prayerful meditation.
Read poetry. Write poetry.
Write a letter to a girl in prison.
Fold an origami heart.
Sing a lullaby to a new baby.
Take a child to the park. Swing with him on your lap.
Kiss the screen on Facetime.
Laugh with your partner.
Go to sleep to the owl’s call.
Reflections on the Teche 
What a lovely “Things to Do” poem!
Oh, I love the heart! What a great craft. And what a beautiful poem. I can see you doing all of these things in a way that brings love to others around you.
Margaret: I love these lines as a definition for ‘take heart’: “live a life that understands there is trouble, there is hardship, there is pain, but there is a greater spirit that overcomes and offers hope.” I love the thread of “there is always hope” that runs through your post and how you worked your one word, “inspire” in with the colorful origami heart message. Your beautiful poem is a reminder that we find our way through by DOING (even while waiting on the Lord). Your poem is full of love and listening and faith – a celebration of life. Brings to mind “Hold fast to what is good.” Thank you so much, Margaret.
Margaret, I love your post of taking heart and being hopeful. Amen to how you describe take heart! What a great analogy of a dust bowl to the pandemic and a great verse novel to read with a student! I loved Out of the Dust! It was the first verse novel to win the Newbery Award and brought attention to verse novels. Yay! Your Things to Take Heart Poem is inspiring and beautiful! I love how you weaved your use of senses through it. It would be joy to be a fly on your classroom wall. Great valentine-project idea. Origami is so much fun to create with children. You have inspired me to write my own Take Heart Poem. Thank you for bring me joy.
Margaret, I am always so inspired by your life as a teacher and your students who are so immersed in their literacy and creativity explorations. You have given your student an opportunity to take heart within a world of trying times, to find the joy of learning, and look for a pathway to joy. I even love the image of you kissing your little ones goodby while online. I throw smoochy kisses to Sierra when saying goodby. Take heart.
I love your poem! Thanks for some new things to do! Ruth, thereisnosuchthingasagodforsakentown.blogspot.com
Margaret, I love the origami heart. It feeds my soul to see how my SJT friends create heartfelt greetings and encourages this less crafty soul to try something new. And your poem is filled with sheer delight!