A Startling - Yes!

Today is the Feast of the Annunciation. We remember that Mary was visited by the angel and asked this most wonderful of questions -to which she answered - be it unto me, according to your will.

There are two options - a poem is below and there is also a video version with some pictures and time for reflection.

Yes

No more than a girl

A yes

A choice.

Her life set out was what it should be

All it could be

Good man, roof, food,

Children underfoot as she sang

And stretched out weary limbs.

The life they all knew,

Careful, respectable, predictable, tidy.

Not answered plea of childless wife

Nor prayer of seeking words.

Not desperate,

I have nothing

But generous

I give everything.

Longing, yes, longing.

Deep in silent recesses

Deep in preparation

Unspoken

Until this yes.

Says yes

Because she has to

Says yes

Because she doesn’t

Says yes

To the whole word and to a quiet room.

Says yes to who knows what

Blind faith

Says yes because

Rehearsed and anxious

She waited for the call.

Our should

Would

Will

Holds tight the phoenix wings of longing

Echoes a flood of speech

To keep this single word at bay

Yes.

Long for it

Fear it

Box it

Process it

Deny it.

And wait and wait and wonder

Where the question went

Where it went?

Yes, yes.

(apologies for the typo - long story as to why it is not corrected!)

A strange and Wonderful Journey

Today, in the English commemoration of the saints, we remember Walter Hilton. He was born in 1340 and went on to become an Augustinian Friar and writer . A mystic by nature (one who is drawn to God beyond words and, even, action), his best known surviving work is the Ladder (or Scale) of Perfection.

The fourteenth century was not a kind time to live. Inequity, malnutrition, uncertainty and, of course, sickness were daily concerns. The Black Death spread through the world in 1348, and event to which the young Walter was witness. Yet, from this period, we have those who shine out with a true and enduring passion for God. Those who have a deep and personal experience of God - and not just because they were supposed to - but because it was so deeply engrained in who they were.

"Prayer is naught but a rising desire of the heart into God by withdrawing of the heart from all earthly thoughts," said Hilton. Many writers have expressed such thoughts. Christians get accused of being in our own little bubble but this withdrawing from earthly thoughts, and I would add desires, is fuel and not escape as we ponder, and enter into, the holiness of God, in order to return to tangible and visible service.

Perhaps, also, we might want to consider out true nature. The rising of our heart, is a going home. The writer of Psalm 84 says,

"My soul longs, indeed it faints

   for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and my flesh sing for joy

   to the living God." (Psalm 84:2)

Our heart's desire is not so much a decision as a simple truth, our allowing it freedom, allowing ourselves our true being - that is what lifts us above all earthly thoughts. We move journey on - one foot in earth, one in the Divine. A strange and wonderful journey.

Whose right is it anyway?

The other day, before we were all six feet apart, someone was telling me about a friend who lived next to a tract of agricultural land. Much to the friend's chagrin the land had been bought by a chicken farmer. Understand, not a few backyard chickens, but a full scale Purdue or Tyson type chicken farmer. Anyone who has smelled or heard a mass production poultry farm understands why this might not be welcome, not to mention reduced property value.

The zoning meant that the farmer was doing nothing wrong and I am not criticizing him or her - but it does serve to prove that one person exercising their right causes another person to lose some of their freedom. Americans, perhaps more than anyone else, are proud of our rights. We have a lot but, too often, forget the privilege that they are and the responsibility which they bestow.

In his first letter to the Church in Corinth, Paul talks at length about food offered to idols (Chapter 8) he says, "But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak..........Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall." Paul looks at both right and responsibility.

What I can do and what I should do are not always the same. Remember, the Gospel is not preached by words alone, but by actions. When we act we represent Christ. If we are seen to demand, act with anger or behave to the possible detriment of others - what are we saying about Christ. Jesus clearly showed that he could, but he didn't. Bread from stones, angels to catch him, walking away from Gethsemane and using sheer power to subdue the earthly kingdoms. That is not our God. Let's pray for grace and wisdom to use our liberty wisely, in service of Christ and of humanity.