Food for the Soul | September 2nd, 2020
9/2/2020
Dear Friends,
Some of the bridges over the Merritt Parkway are true works of art. The James Farms Road Bridge (near exit 53) has two massive sets of angel wings. Every time I pass under or over the Merritt they remind me of a very old (1988), but highly recommendable movie, Wings of Desire, directed by the German movie director Wim Wenders. The movie takes place in a Berlin (Germany) still divided by the Wall. In the movie some of God’s angels want to become human in order to truly experience the depth of all the joys and sufferings of being human. There is a sequel to this movie, Far Away, so Close!, by the same director which takes place in 1993, after the reunification of Berlin. Wings of Desire makes reference to many public objects of art (mostly sculptures) around Berlin related to angels.
Imagine, angels wanting to become human! They wish to ditch their immortality and give up everything for the experience of one deep love affair, one kiss, one opportunity of saving someone, one chance of feeling the pain of not being able to pull this off, or suffering one big loss; in other words an experience of the deepest emotions we are capable of. Isn’t it funny how all beings long to be something else? We humans yearn for unity with the Divine and are really incapable of living with or surviving the rollercoaster of our emotions if we are not also grounded in and aware of the presence of God in us. This is from where we derive our strength. And that, my friends, we can only achieve if we are deeply committed to prayer, mainly the prayer of silence, prayer without word, just resting in God, “in which we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).
When I look at these wings on the bridge I can also see them as hands in the typical prayer position. Where do you wish these wings to take you? What unfulfilled desires do you harbor? Are they the desires of your true self? Do you pray over them? Do you appreciate your humanness? Let us give thanks.
PRAYER
Let me seek, then, the gift of silence, and poverty, and solitude,
Where everything I touch is turned into prayer,
Where the sky is my prayer,
The birds are my prayer,
The wind in the trees is my prayer,
For God is in all.
Thomas Merton
PRACTICE
In some moment of leisure take a ride on the Merritt Parkway. You will find the wings between exits 52 and 53 (closer to 53). Maybe they are there to admonish us not to fly too fast on the road. Once you get to your destination you may fly to wherever your desire takes you. And always pray.
On the other hand, you could take some time and truly think about the desires of your true self and what you could do to accomplish them. Journal about them. Then sit quietly for some time.
POEM
Longing
Julie Cadwallader Staub
Consider the blackpoll warbler.
She tips the scales
at one ounce
before she migrates, taking off
from the seacoast to our east
flying higher and higher
ascending two or three miles
during her eighty hours of flight
until she lands,
in Tobago,
north of Venezuela
three days older,
and weighing half as much.
She flies over open ocean almost the whole way.
She is not so different from us.
The arc of our lives is a mystery too.
We do not understand,
we cannot see
what guides us on our way:
that longing that pulls us toward light.
Not knowing, we fly onward
hearing the dull roar of the waves below.