writing

I'm not exactly sure why, but there is something about good writing that opens up a space deep within me and creates new life.  Something magical happens inside as I read the words of Robert Benson or Henri Nouwen or Frederick Buechner; it is as if the words strike a chord deep within me that I barely knew was there, a chord that can only be struck by a certain voice...or Word, or Spirit.  It is the strangest thing, somehow I know as soon as the words enter my mind and my heart that they are for me, spoken to me, somehow a part of me.  I know that it is a work of God's Spirit because only the Spirit knows that chord within me, only the Spirit speaks with that Voice within me, only the Spirit opens up that space deep within me and creates new life...that is simply what he does.  Thanks be to God.

So here is something that opened up a beautiful space in me this morning, and that still is stirring up new life.  Enjoy...

I love the plough that opens up the earth, lays bare the soil where seed can fall.  It matters little that the widening wound of earth still hesitates, uncertain of the nutrients it has to offer falling seed.  The seed is sown, the wound of earth closed up again.  The broken soil becomes a womb, a sheltering tomb of life protecting what must die to live.  We wait then for signs of life: the stem, the leaf, the bud, the fruit or vegetable to wend its way from dark to light.  The image of the plough opening the soil to welcome seed offers us a metaphor for the human heart.  The heart too must be prepared, readied to receive its daily seed.  No more looking back!

I love the Word of God that pierces the human heart, lays bare the soul where seed can fall.  The sower's passion invites the heart to receptivity.  The sower looks not back to see if the heart is worthy.  Sower and plough become one.  With contemplative awareness they trust the widening wound of the opening heart.  This laying bare the heart's good soil is a moment of readiness.  She or he who receives the seed of the Word of God receives also the silence of the Word and waits to be transformed.  No more looking back!

I love the disciple who allows the heart to be pierced.  Obedient to the piercing Word and broken heart, the disciple learns to wait, trusting the Word to die and live within the heart's good soil.  The disciple's heart becomes a sheltering womb and tomb for what must die to live.  I love the one who is transformed into a disciple by surrendering to the Word of God.  Rooted in obedience to the Word, there is no more looking back! (Abide by Macrina Wiederkehr)


P.S.  A great book!!!  I highly recommend it!!!