As Jesus pauses
before he enters Jerusalem,
I pause here.
In the silence we share,
I descend from head to heart
and pass through the doorway
of Love
into Oneness
and rest in my Beloved,
the Ground of our being.
As Jesus opens his eyes and mounts the donkey,
I rise and set an intention with him
to not break the thread
of oneness,
of belovedness
to return again and again to the Ground of our being.
As I enter into this holy city,
this holy week,
this holy day,
let me be present
moment
by
moment.
This holy palm branch.
This holy house plant.
This donkey.
These birds outside my window.
These voices crying out.
These voices crying out.
These feelings of hope and dread.
These feelings of welcome and resistance.
Each step of the donkey,
each step I take,
we arrive
home.
Arriving.
Home.
Welcoming.
Letting go.
This step
a birth.
This step
a death.
In the silence,
I pause before this holy week
and set an intention
to not break the thread
of Presence
as we step into
what is.
To pray is
to descend
with the mind
into the heart,
and there to stand
before the face of the Lord,
ever-present,
all seeing,
within you.
— Theophan the Recluse (1815-1894)
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Our seventh Lenten question asks: Will you enter this holy week (another week that is holy because God is in it) and Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter in which we contemplate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus). In my poem, I echo a number of voices and images that help me enter into each moment of this week: scripture, Theophan the Recluse, James Finley (not break the thread), Thich Naht Hanh (Arriving. Home), Thomas Keating and Mary Mrozowski (Welcoming. Letting Go). What helps you enter into this present moment grounded in Love?
What love mischief are you and God doing for the world?
Let me know and I will include it in an upcoming post.
