Wisdom shines brightly and never fades. She is seen by those who love Her and is found by those who seek Her.
—Wisdom 6:12
Wise Woman Maya Angelou has been on my mind. I look to my bookshelves, to books I’ve had since I was a child and I find her there—I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her book of poetry holding words of wisdom, beauty and hope in her expression And Still I Rise. I open the book, now seasoned dusty yellow and smelling like a whole secret library coming alive …
“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust I’ll rise.”—Maya Angelou, from “Still I Rise,” And Still I Rise
Her words flow off the page and swirl around like a sweet truth wrapping a cloak around me. I breathe in this truth and this promise with an ease and familiarity that feels so natural.
I remember hearing Dr. Angelou speak in person when I was a university student. I was way way way in the top back balcony seat of the auditorium, furthest from the stage and still her words filled the whole place and rose up into the rafters and wrapped me with that cloak, the deep sound of her voice a music that freed my breath and opened a whole-body sense of hearing …
I invite you to hear “Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qviM_GnJbOM
Where do you look for Wisdom? In poetry? In nature? In the sunrise? In the moon? In the dust? Where do you find Her?
—Angie Pierce Jennings, Prairiewoods hosted groups and hospitality coordinator