Beloved of God,
A beautiful poem was shared with me recently titled, For One Who Is Exhausted, A Blessing. It is by the Irish poet and theologian John O'Donohue and is from a book titled, To Bless the Space Between Us. The first line reads,
When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight.
It speaks to the hectic pace of our lives before Covid-19 and it speaks to the endless drag of days since the world was turned upside down by this pandemic. It puts into words what so many are feeling, the grief, the fear, the frustration, the weariness:
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.
Y
ou have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self.
He doesn't mince words about what happens when we enter into this "empty time." It is scary and it is unknown. But it also is a gift. Because in this time, better than at any other time in our lives, we are invited to, or forced to, slow ourselves and find our way back to our Creator. The poem ends:
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
May you be blessed by empty time so that you may find rest and joy in your God who loves you.
In Christ's Peace, Pastor Sarah
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