The vomit comet hit the Collins home this week. I will spare you the descriptive detail, needless to say – those Canadian bugs take you down.
From my sickbed, I wrote and pondered and listened and moaned some.
Windows were flung wide open (actually they slide across with some difficulty) as the temperatures rose to 5 degrees.
I cleansed my inbox – that’s another blog.
I listened to the constant drip of water outside my window as snow caved in, water freed from ice.
And… I read this poem by Malcolm Guite – I just love his work. He is writing a series of poems inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.
I wish I could say I’d written this, I kind of have just not so beautifully.
Begin the song exactly where you are
For where you are contains where you have been
And holds the vision of your final sphere
And do not fear the memory of sin;
There is a light that heals, and, where it falls,
Transfigures and redeems the darkest stain
Into translucent colour. Loose the veils
And draw the curtains back, unbar the doors,
Of that dread threshold where your spirit fails,
The hopeless gate that holds in all the fears
That haunt your shadowed city, fling it wide
And open to the light that finds and fares
Through the dark pathways where you run and hide,
through all the alleys of your riddled heart,
As pierced and open as His wounded side.
Open the map to Him and make a start,
And down the dizzy spirals, through the dark
His light will go before you, let Him chart
And name and heal. Expose the hidden ache
To him, the stinging fires and smoke that blind
Your judgement, carry you away, the mirk
And muted gloom in which you cannot find
The love that you once thought worth dying for.
Call Him to all you cannot call to mind
He comes to harrow Hell and now to your
Well guarded fortress let His love descend.
The icy ego at your frozen core
Can hear His call at last. Will you respond?
I find the one problem with thawing is that it gets a little muddy – for a while anyway…
Spring IS on its way.
Lent begins today, and of course Lent means Spring. The spring fast.
We all know it’s more than a punishing of oneself by not eating chocolate don’t we? I gave up chocolate when I moved to Canada. The Canadian waxy offerings just don’t work for me. Of course, when we have visitors from the UK, particularly those visiting in a few weeks – it all changes – right Searchlight?
So, are you giving something up? Laying something down?
Here’s a link to receive daily lent challenges in your inbox – adding something transformational to the traditional.
I’m reading Bread and Wine as my devotional during the next 40 days. A selection of readings by C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Philip Yancey, Madeline L’Engle, Henri Nouwen, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and more.
Have a great day, Spring is on its way (you see I am poetic…)
Love, Michelle xo
Loved the poem – hope you’re feeling better!
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