Good morning…
I shared with her my retreat insight. I am carved out to carry the light of Christ. Nutshell by nutshell. Day after day.
She asked, “Have you ever read the poem entitled Mother Wisdom Speaks?” Since I had not, she emailed it to me later. I savor it now for a second time with you.
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Mother Wisdom Speaks
Some of you I will hollow out.
I will make you a cave.
I will carve you so deep the stars will shine in your darkness.
You will be a bowl.
You will be the cup in the rock collecting rain.
I will hollow you with knives.
I will not do this to make you clean.
I will not do this to make you pure.
You are clean already.
You are pure already.
I will do this because the world needs the hollowness of you.
I will do this for the space that you will be.
I will do this because you must be large.
A passage.
People will find their way through you.
A bowl.
People will eat from you
and their hunger will not weaken them to death.
A cup to catch the sacred rain.
My daughter, do not cry. Do not be afraid.
Nothing you need will be lost.
I am shaping you.
I am making you ready.
Light will flow in your hollowing.
You will be filled with light.
Your bones will shine.
The round open center of you will be radiant.
I will call you Brilliant One.
I will call you Daughter Who is Wide.
I will call you transformed.
– Christine Lore Webber
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The word hollow is significant to me. When I went through my deepest season of depression, I felt painfully hollowed out.
Clarity.
Comfort.
Certainty.
The life of my own dreams was carved out, whittled away with some divine knife. Over time I began to sense: less of me makes more space for God.
God carves out some of us because the world needs our hollowness. We become a passage for people to find their way home, a bowl to share soul-filling food, a cup to catch and carry the refreshment of rain. God is shaping us, making some of us ready. Quietly transformed, the light of Christ flows and grows radiant through our hollowing.
Holy Scripture shines God’s eternal truth. It’s through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life (Proverbs 9:12b).
…Sue…
