How Then Shall We Live?

A poem by Ellie Stock, appropriate for the Easter season, Earth Day and National Poetry Month in April. The poem will be included in the liturgy at Second as part of one of the upcoming services this month.

 

 HOW THEN SHALL WE LIVE?

 

What do we call What calls from the deeps,

that pulses through stars and quickens heart’s beat,

that surges through waves and cleanses with fire,

emerges from dust and breathes soul’s desire?

What do we name What mocks human pride,

that bends the Tree of Life, sustaining being’s tide?

 

How do we greet What calls to our deeps,

that lasers vulnerabilities and loves us into being,

that mourns lost illusions and leaves us defenseless,

transforms the present moment and awakens all senses?

How do we embrace What eternalizes finitude,

that opens wide portals, flooding tears of gratitude?

 

How do we know What calls us to decide,

that gives no guarantee and provides no place to hide,

that beckons all our care and trumps the doubt within,

reckons despair and hope and connects all creature kin?

How do we abide in What struggles to create,

that explodes time and space, freeing partners with Earth’s fate?

 

How then shall we live What chisels passion’s edge,

that resculpts past’s confoundings and empowers future’s wedge,

that compels us far beyond mind’s strength or comfort zone,

propels trusting steps into Great Work’s bidding unknown?

How shall we now journey in vast community

with That Which journeys through us profoundly and boundlessly?

 

                                                            ~ ejhs

                                                                                     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ways of staying connected

Tim Woodcock writes: In these strange times, under the shadow of Covid-19, our economy is temporarily stripped down to the basics. The shopping malls are empty but the parks are full. Our workplaces, schools, and community organizations are migrating into our homes. Everything feels off-kilter. Churches worldwide are asking themselves how can they operate in the absence of regular services and the use of a physical building. This blog is an attempt to make an online space in which the Second Pres. community can stay connected and can offer each other spiritual sustenance and encouragement. I'd like to invite people to share their spiritual insights related to the pandemic experience: spiritual revelations, great and small; new appreciations and evolving understandings; reflections on what you've been reading and watching recently; hopes for the future. If you have an idea of something you'd like to write about, please drop me a line at timwoodcock [AT] speedpost.net . ...
Read more

Patience is better than pride

Tim Woodcock writes: While we wait for the election results, a word that has risen to new-found prominence is patience . I am sure that after the fact we could run a search on transcripts of all the news reporting and commentary from the last few days and see a massive spike in the use of the word. That led me to think, what exactly does the good book, have to say about patience? There’s no shortage of Bible verses to choose from. Using Bible Gateway  to find translations that favored patience over near-synonym “perseverance” and “steadfastness,” here’s what caught my eye.   Romans 5:3-4 says, ”We also boast in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces patience,  patience produces character, and character produces hope.” (Modern English Version). “We boast in tribulation” is translated as “we glory in suffering” in the NIV.   2 Peter 1:5-9 takes a similar idea of how one virtue builds upon another. “For this reason make every effort to add virtue to y...
Read more

God wrestling

Tim Woodcock writes: At the weekend we attended a (virtual) Bat Mitzvah for our niece. One of the many fascinating parts of the service was when the rabbi addressed the congregation as “God wrestlers.” What an intriguing phrase! It sent me down a rabbit hole of research that I’m not going to recount here. But wouldn’t it be interesting if Christian congregations started using that phrase, too?
Read more

Labels

Show more