DISCERNING PATTERNS by Elaine M. Prevallet, SL“In a dark time, the eye begins to see.”[1] This line, from a poem by Theodore Roethke, has been a companion to me for many years. … Roethke’s line brings an inward comfort to me, offering assurance that darkness has its own way of clarifying vision.
I believe that we are just beginning to see the light, just starting to learn that if we are going to survive, we need to learn a way of more expansive love and care for one another. …we sometimes learn best when we learn the hard way: Our mistakes take us to a new level of understanding and compassion.
As we become increasingly sensitive to the pain accumulating on our planet, we may hear the voice of God calling us to pay attention and sense the Spirit of God drawing us together to a new and deeper unity through compassionate action. Maybe we who want to call ourselves Christian must look for the patterns of insensitivity in our lifestyles and behaviors. Whom do we exclude, not just from our churches but also from the ambit of our compassion? In Christ, God has shown us the way: a willingness to risk engaging the world around us with an ever-widening vision and ever-deepening compassion. In our baptism we committed ourselves to be faithful to that pattern. Can we keep our eyes, and our ears and our hands and hearts open?
1 Theodore Roethke, “In a Dark Time,” American Poetry: The Twentieth Century, Vol. 2 (NewYork: The Library of America, 2000), 638.[From Weavings: A Journal of the Christian Spiritual Life, Vol. 25, No. 3 (May/June/July 2010), (Nashville, TN: The Upper Room, 2010), 31-32.]
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HOLY WISDOM,creating all things in light,
growing all things in darkness,
encompass us with your creative power.
Speak within our bodies, minds, and spirits.
Enlighten and enliven our hearts.
Let the glow of your holy light flow through us,
bringing wholeness and enlightenment to others.
Let your divine creativity inspire us
to the creation of a new and just humanity,
whose works bring life and love
to this good earth. Amen.[From Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living by Bruce G. Epperly. Copyright © 2008 by the author. Used with permission of Upper Room Books.]
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Open EyesJuly 2014
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Indeed, you are my lamp, O Lord, the Lord lightens my darkness.(2 Samuel 22:29)
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