Breathtaking

O beautiful earth and sky, you take my breath away...

Then you breathe it back into my being

filling me with love and light.

And I am renewed.

A resurrection story

I was browsing through one of my books, Soul Weavings: A Gathering of Women's Prayers, edited by Lyn Klug, and came across this poem:

O God,
through the image of a woman crucified on the cross
I understand at last. 

For over half my life I have been ashamed of the scars I bear.
These scars tell an ugly story, a common story,
about a girl who is the victim of sexual abuse. 

In the warmth, peace, and sunlight of your presence
I was able to uncurl the tightly clenched fists.
For the first time I felt your suffering presence
      with me in that event. 

I have known you as a vulnerable baby,
as a brother, and as a father.
Now I know you as a woman.
You were there with me
as the violated girl caught in helpless suffering. 

The chains of fear no longer bind my heart and body.
A slow fire of compassion and forgiveness is kindled.
My tears now fall for man as well as woman. 

You were not ashamed of your wounds.
You showed them to Thomas
      as marks of your ordeal and death.
I will no longer hide these wounds of mine.
I will bear them gracefully.
They will tell a resurrection story.

Anonymous, inspired by the figure of a woman, arms outstretched as if crucified, hung below the cross in a chapel in Toronto, Canada.

The poem struck me deeply on so many levels...anguish for how this woman suffered, deep grief for the reality that it IS an all too common story. But her resilience also fills me with such joy and hope...God's amazing grace birthing new life in all its scarred glory. A powerful story of resurrection.

Fallow time...

After all the mandatory reading and writing I have to do for school - books and articles and commentaries...research papers and essays and reflections - I must confess I'm not feeling much desire to write in my spare time. But I will be graduating in May (if all goes well) and I hope my love of writing will come back to me once I'm finished school. In the meantime...here is a poem by a favourite poet (William Carlos Williams) and an image by a favourite photographer (me!)

Winter Trees

All the complicated details

of the attiring and

the disattiring are completed!

A liquid moon

moves gently among

the long branches.

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

~ William Carlos Williams