Billy Collins is one of my favorite poets. Here is his poem entitled “My Hero:”
Just as the hare is zipping across the finish line,
the tortoise has stopped once again
by the roadside,
this time to stick out his neck
and nibble a bit of sweet grass,
unlike the previous time
when he was distracted
by a bee humming in the heart of a wildflower.
It dawned on me after reading this poem that the poet is reversing the outcome of the famous race. It is supposed to be the hare who is slowed down and therefore loses. He is so confident in winning that he takes a nap. So in that original version, the hare represents overconfidence and wasted talent; while the tortoise represents cleverness and determination. In the Billy Collins poem, however, the hare is fast and efficient; the tortoise is slow, distracted, and enjoying life. And the title of the poem, “My Hero,” suggests that the poet values this way of living life more highly: it is more fun and satisfying, and lends to a richer life, to be the tortoise.
Also in my daily reading today I encounter this thought from Meister Eckhart:
It is not to be learned by world-flight, running away from things, turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, one must learn an inner solitude, wherever or with whomsoever he may be.
And what connects these rather different pieces of writing, to me, is the idea of running. Eckhart’s two ways of being are expressed as running away versus learning inner peace. I would say the hare in Billy Collins’ poem is running (although toward a goal) and not achieving anything of value—winning isn’t everything, as they say. But the tortoise is like the option that Meister Eckhart espouses: be present to the beauty around you, yes; and be present to the stillness within.
PRAYER:
Source of All Wisdom,
May we know that running a race or running away are not always the best things to do;
May we remember instead to slow down and feel, to slow down and appreciate, to slow down and breathe.
May we love ourselves just as we are, and be true to our own nature.
Amen.
Rev. Drew Frantz
April 21, 2026
Just as the hare is zipping across the finish line,
the tortoise has stopped once again
by the roadside,
this time to stick out his neck
and nibble a bit of sweet grass,
unlike the previous time
when he was distracted
by a bee humming in the heart of a wildflower.
It dawned on me after reading this poem that the poet is reversing the outcome of the famous race. It is supposed to be the hare who is slowed down and therefore loses. He is so confident in winning that he takes a nap. So in that original version, the hare represents overconfidence and wasted talent; while the tortoise represents cleverness and determination. In the Billy Collins poem, however, the hare is fast and efficient; the tortoise is slow, distracted, and enjoying life. And the title of the poem, “My Hero,” suggests that the poet values this way of living life more highly: it is more fun and satisfying, and lends to a richer life, to be the tortoise.
Also in my daily reading today I encounter this thought from Meister Eckhart:
It is not to be learned by world-flight, running away from things, turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, one must learn an inner solitude, wherever or with whomsoever he may be.
And what connects these rather different pieces of writing, to me, is the idea of running. Eckhart’s two ways of being are expressed as running away versus learning inner peace. I would say the hare in Billy Collins’ poem is running (although toward a goal) and not achieving anything of value—winning isn’t everything, as they say. But the tortoise is like the option that Meister Eckhart espouses: be present to the beauty around you, yes; and be present to the stillness within.
PRAYER:
Source of All Wisdom,
May we know that running a race or running away are not always the best things to do;
May we remember instead to slow down and feel, to slow down and appreciate, to slow down and breathe.
May we love ourselves just as we are, and be true to our own nature.
Amen.
Rev. Drew Frantz
April 21, 2026
RSS Feed
