Good morning…
When our Thursday morning class met for our final celebration of the fall, one of the women read aloud to us a poem, a poem inspired to prepare our hearts for the transformational power of this Advent season. Now, this morning, as I prepare our home to host the final spiritual growth group of the semester, I will make copies of the same poem, offering women the opportunity to interact with the thought-provoking words during our sacred hour of silence.
Taking time to quietly read the poem yourself, might you prepare your own heart for the coming of the vulnerable baby, God wrapped in human skin?
Here are the words and a video of the poem being read and brought to life. Enjoy!
******
Prepare by Jan Richardson
Prepare
Strange how one word
will so hollow you out.
But this word
has been in the wilderness
for months.
Years.
This word is what remained
after everything else
was worn away
by sand and stone.
It is what withstood
the glaring of sun by day,
the weeping loneliness of
the moon at night.
Now it comes to you
racing out of the wild
eyes blazing
and waving its arms,
its voice ragged with desert
but piercing and loud
as it speaks itself
again and again.
Prepare, prepare.
It may feel like
the word is leveling you
emptying you
as it asks you
to give up
what you have known.
It is impolite
and hardly tame
but when it falls
upon your lips
you will wonder
at the sweetness
like honey
that finds its way
into the hunger
you had not known
was there.
******
“Repent! For the kingdom of heaven is near.”
John’s proclamation fulfilled a promise made by the ancient prophet Isaiah, who had said, “There will be a voice calling from the desert, saying, “Prepare the road for the Eternal One’s journey; repair and straighten out every mile of our God’s highway.” (Matthew 3:3-4, VOICE).
As I am hollowed out, leveled, emptied, might the Eternal One actually meet me on the road being repaired and prepared within my heart?
…Sue…
