If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.
~Isaac Newton

The sentiment of these words by Newton have been said in a variety of ways over the years. I have read and heard them in so many places and they always bring me up short. Because of their truth. And because so many times I forget or behave as if it were not so. They showed up again in the book, Good Enough, I have been reading during the season of Lent. This time with the citation as to their origin. I have been thinking of them since I read them a few days ago and it has led me to name some of those on whose shoulders I stand. Those who have helped me see further, or more openly, more critically, more inclusively, with a hoped for wisdom.

I had been thinking of these words even before I read them in the book because of an amazing sculpture I saw on a recent trip to New Orleans. In the sculpture garden of the City Park, I came upon this artwork by Do-Ho Suh, a brilliant Korean artist. It is called ‘Karma’. Coming around a bend in the beautiful, green gardens it rose several feet high causing a catch in my breath. Its creation seemed nearly impossible to me. Its power was deep and I felt awestuck in its presence. The weight of each person standing on the shoulders of the next and the next and the way the bodies bent in that weight seemed so exact. I thought of the people who have perhaps bent under the weight of those who stood, even metaphorically, on their shoulders. Parents. Grandparents. Teachers. Care-givers. Neighbors. Leaders. Spiritual guides. Friends. So many people, so many shoulders, so many lives.

If the sculpture weren’t enough to send this message swirling in my mind, further in the chapter in which the Newton quote was written author Kate Bowler writes: “It’s hard to remember a deeper, comforting truth: we are built on a foundation not our own. We were born because two other people created a combination of biological matter. We went to schools where dozens and dozens of people crafted ideas and activities to construct categories in our minds. We learn skills honed by generations of craftspeople. We pray and worship with spiritual ideas refined by centuries of tradition. Almost nothing about us is original. Thank God.”

We are built on a foundation not our own. In this world that tries to imprint a message that we are all self-made, this is a wake up call. In our culture that emphasizes individuality as a highest value, it is so difficult to remember all the people who shaped and sacrificed and nurtured and even prayed over our unfolding. Though many may no longer be with us it is still, I believe, important to remember them, to even say their names aloud and to breathe our gratitude. For the strength of their shoulders and the weight of their bending. 

I do not have the gift of creating such a powerful sculpture. But I do have the gift of remembering. In this unfolding season of spring when growth will be visible in countless ways, I will give thanks for those on whose shoulders I have stood, those who have bent with the weight of urging my growth. Those who have helped me see further. And further. And further.