Good morning…
Last March, we hosted the first “Awake To Wellness Women’s Retreat” here in Atlanta, Georgia. Remember those two special, sacred days? Today in Orlando, Florida, we will host the second “Awake To Wellness Retreat,” as I join mesmerizing pianist Dana Cunningham and talented authors Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp. Together we will to bring to life wisdom from their book The Hidden Life Awakened. My task for the day is to read aloud to the crowd poetry written by 92 year old Betty Skinner, the heroine of this life-changing book, a soulful woman who traversed the treacherous terrain of clinical depression in the 1960’s, finding her own personalized pathway up the mountain pass to God’s higher way.
Following the advice of Richard Rohr, please read out loud with me, slowly and soulfully, Betty’s revealing poem on page 78.
******
Beloved, embrace me
in the dark night of my praying,
in the deep silence of my offering,
in the confrontation of my dying.
Beloved, enable me
by faith
to know You without seeing You,
by hope
to possess You without feeling Your presence,
by love
to desire You above all desires.
Beloved, grant that I might put
all faith in love for You,
all hope in love for You,
to know that all desires fail but one:
my desire to be loved by You.
******
By faith, in hope, through love, we crave the constant companionship of our Creator. Gradually we notice, step by step, our own personalized pathway up to the mountain peak of God’s higher way.
…Sue…
