Early one morning in the fall of 2006, I found a computer-printed envelope addressed to ASK ME House just inside my front door. Inside was one printed page, which included the following:
An ASK ME poem for the ASK ME House. I came across this poem in a book and thought you might like to see it since your house shares its title. I hope you enjoy it and/or find it meaningful.
Ask Me by William Stafford
Some time when the river is ice ask me
mistakes I have made. Ask me whether
what I have done is my life. Others
have come in their slow way into
my thought, and some have tried to help
or to hurt: ask me what difference
their strongest love or hate has made.I will listen to what you say.
You and I can turn and look
at the silent river and wait. We know
the current is there, hidden; and there
are comings and goings from miles away
that hold the stillness exactly before us.
What the river says, that is what I say.To: ASK ME House (1027 Seymour)
Fr: Anonymous (at least for now)
On this 27th of October, 2006
Several years later, I still have not learned the identity of the person who left me this precious gift–the first in a series of annual “love notes” to the house that have been arriving every October 27. [It took me a couple of years to actually note the connection between October 27 and the house’s street address of “1027”. And, it wasn’t until 2009 that there was any personal reference to me by name–where previously the sender had also noted that s/he “didn’t even know who lived in the house.”]
Each annual packet of goodies has included some reference to “ASK ME” – and yet I remain most intrigued by how accurate a glimpse the poem offers into the overall philosophy and foundations of what “ASK ME House” is truly all about……
I am filled daily with peace through this gentle reminder of the process by which I choose to live, with gratitude for having discovered the work of William Stafford, and with awe for the enigma of how the introduction took place.
Now–if I could just solve the mystery of who “Anonymous” is….!
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