What lessons does Mary Oliver’s famous poem “Wild Geese” have to offer us about living life well? How do we respond when texts we hold as sacred are cited in support of arguments counter to our readings of them? We will interrogate modern appropriations of the poem’s most famous line in the context of broader conversations concerning the role of authorial intent in close reading, societal valuations of productivity and rest and the awesome – sometimes fearsome – power of beloved prose.

Rachel Schmitt, our summer intern, is a lifelong QUUF member, born and raised in Port Townsend who is currently pursuing a Masters in Divinity at Yale Divinity School. She’s studying the role of physical public spaces in community formation and public health outcomes and plans to be ordained as a UU minister in order to pursue non-traditional ministries that seek to improve the social infrastructure our communities need to thrive. When not home in Port Townsend, Rachel lives in New Haven CT with fellow divinity school students and spends her free time swimming, cooking, knitting, reading lots of novels and finding ways to gather the people she loves (usually around food). She is thrilled to be home for a brief time and to engage with her beloved QUUF community in a new way.

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