this is a time that tries our souls
this is the via negativa
the dark and frozen time
this is winter
where we have been squeezed
(as friend lovingly put it)
into small spaces
by disease and hate
we linger
as bulbs nestled in black earth
waiting for the sun
to touch and warm us
bringing us to new life
resurrection
tentatively we seek the light
lifting up our hearts with our hands
to the heavens (Lamentations 5)
to a God faintly visible
through the smoke of war
barely heard through the cacophony of hate
this is a time when theology is not enough
when ideology will not do
this is a time when only an experience
of divine
will lift us up
all spirituality is born out of experience
out of our being
touched by sacred warmth and joy
by our experience of God’s love
we will not burst out of our tombs
we will not break through the frozen earth
into the sunlight
like the crocus in the spring
until we know without a doubt
that God is love
and until we believe in our hearts
that we are God’s beloved children
until we can say
each of us in our own hearts
I am loved
this I not only know
but feel
it is not that our time in the darkness
is all bad
this time of grief and reflection
this time of silence and letting go
for we learn things in the darkness
in the darkness, the light shines fiercely
and out of the womb of struggle
joy and hope are born
“...new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in
the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the
dark.” (Barbara Brown Taylor)
so come God of love
touch us with your warmth
bring us to life
help us lift our heads
and stretch toward the sun and bloom
for these are living and loving to be done
and a world that needs to see
the beauty of your love
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