Food for the Soul | July 9th, 2020

7/9/2020

Dear Friends,

Normally I am a very patient person. However, lately I sense patience is running out. I feel I can’t wait any longer for our Covid-19 situation to end; I feel a scream coming out of me like I have never expelled before. Then in a moment of lucidity I think back to a retreat at Ghost Ranch, NM (see picture) two years ago, and a measure of peace returns to me. The desert is where we can collect ourselves, empty ourselves of everything, replenish our spirit, find peace. Jesus goes to the desert to pray and discern the path of his life. John the Baptist calls from the desert: ‘Repent,’ and he means ‘change your ways, go in a different direction, choose another path.’ In the desert we can begin the transformation we seek. Isaiah tells us:

The desert will rejoice, and flowers will bloom in the wastelands. The desert will sing and shout for joy; it will be as beautiful as the Lebanon mountains and as fertile as the fields of Carmel and Sharon. Everyone will see God’s splendor, see God’s greatness and power. (Is 35:1-2)

Let us go to the desert together.

A PRAYER   -   A PRACTICE   -   A POEM

A PRAYER

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but
you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame (Psalm 22:1-5). 

A PRACTICE

Before we can achieve any kind of transformation we need to recognize and accept what we are, what we feel, where our pain is, what needs to change in our perception of the world. We need to express these things. Then we can ask for what we need, followed by our thanksgivings and expressions of trust in God. This is how the Psalms of Lament work (see example under Prayer). My suggestion today is that you try to compose your own Psalm of Lament, following this structure:

-          Start with a complaint… that things are not as they should be.

-          Then turn to a request. God, do something! Rescue me! Heal me! Restore me! Show mercy!

-          Laments end with an expression of trust, with a reminder that God is setting things right, even though it often seems so slow. It is right for our laments to turn towards a reminder that God is in control and about the business of righting all things made wrong.

(by Aaron Graham, “Lament” from An American Lent Devotional)

Pray this personal Lament often.

Now we are ready to continue our pilgrimage on a new road. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Be open to listening and to trying out new ways. Allow newness to grow in you.

A POEM

The Desert Has Many Teachings
In the desert,
Turn toward emptiness,
Fleeing the self.
Stand alone,
Ask no one’s help,
And your being will quiet,
Free from the bondage of things.

Those who cling to the world,
Endeavor to free them;
Those who are free, praise.
Care for the sick,
But live alone,
Happy to drink from the waters of sorrow,
To kindle Love’s fire
With the twigs of a simple life.
Thus you will live in the desert.

-          Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207 – ca.1282) Trans. By Jane Hirshfield

(PS: Mechthild was born in the same town in Germany as I was, Magdeburg)