The poet who penned these lines captured in their simplest form life's

fundamental truths. The words seem common, the thoughts obvious. But in

reading, we discover a curious comfort in these simple words, whose very

cadence echoes the deepest rhythms of our lives.

Our lives are measured by rhythms. The first months of life are marked

by the beat of our mother's heart. God patterns our lives with the ebb and

qtow of the ocean tides, the phases of the moon, and the turning of the sea-

sons. The festivals and lastings of the church year mark our spiritual seasons.

And each one of us has her own personal, unique set of celebrations and re-

membrances: the birthday of a friend, the death of a spouse, the anniversary

Of a marriage. Indeed, it would be impossible to imagine our lives without

these rhythms. Through them, we are able to savor the past, embrace the

present, and reach for the future.

Poets are especially attuned to these rhythms of life, and Helen Steiner

Biee was no exception. Helen totally embraced life and its many changes;

she personally experienced its ebb and flow. She knew exhilarating joy and

heartbreaking sorrow. She understood the butterfly-in-the-tummy happiness

of a new love and the sad loss of a beloved husband. In short she embraced in

grand fashion the celebrations of life. She used these seasons and rhythms to

restore order, to encourage the wounded, to comfort the mourning, to re-

joice with the newlyweds, to celebrate a new arrival, to reflect on the simple,

good things in life.

Her poems were written to commemorate events. She often sent spe-

cially composed poems---congratulations to a niece who was getting mar-

fled, exoressions of joy to a co-worker who just had a child, a letter offering

Go with joy