Good morning…
I hold in my hand one of the Soul Collage cards created on my 60th birthday. I feel held, kept, carried. Eyes closed, focused inward, taking quiet time, I glide through these middle-of-the-night moments resting with God.
I turned and witnessed something else under the sun: the race does not always go to the swift, the battle is not always won by the strong, bread does not always fill the table of the wise, wealth does not always accrue to the skillful, and favor is not always granted to the knowledgeable; but time and misfortune happen to them all (Ecclesiastes 9:11, VOICE).
Now I feel drawn back to a poem about time and misfortune, a poem that drifted my way on the perfect day.
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It Takes Time by NOEL DAVIS FROM “HEART GONE WALKABOUT”
It takes time to bake a loaf of bread,
to grind, to knead, to wait….
Time for friends to break and share their lives.
It takes time to craft in wood,
to strip, to wound, to bleed….
Time for the original to be released from the prison of our fear.
It takes time for us to build
and fortify our lives,
Time for the steal of the Divine to slay our pride.
It takes time to be with pain,
to yield and let the healing have its way,
Time in the darkness to trust the dawn.
It takes time to be alone
to become one’s intimate friend,
Time in the dry for the hidden stream to fill the empty well.
It takes time to wait in silence
for the coming of the spring.
Time for the bud to swell on winter’s dreams.
It takes time to let your life be turned around,
to accept a vision’s death,
Time in the void to see with different eyes.
It takes time to still within
and merge with life,
Time in the wild to let a river slow you down.
It takes time to tend a crop of grain,
to plough, to sow, to wonder….
Time for love to ripen and be harvested.
******
Held, kept, and carried, might we take some time, still within, and trust God’s love to ripen and be harvested in our souls?
…Sue…
