3rd March 2021 - A Journey into the Wilderness
You might like to try some of the activities below to continue reflecting on today’s theme.
- Set aside some time for an imaginative contemplation of Mark Chapter 1:9-15 .
This is a way of meeting God through story. Onlineprayer.net offers a clear method for this type of prayer: https://www.onlineprayer.net/imaginative-contemplation/
- Set aside some time to ponder the image of The Wilderness of Judea , by Jules Guérin
This is a way of meeting God through imagery. Onlineprayer.net offers a clear method for this type of prayer: https://www.onlineprayer.net/praying-with-pictures/
- Read the poem “The Guest House ” by the 13th century mystic Rumi, which considers how we ‘welcome and entertain’ the different experiences of our lives, and how they shape and inform us. Think about some of the positive or negative experiences that you have had in the past year and how they have affected you. Have they moved you on in some way, or held you back – do you need to spend some time trying to understand their significance?
THE GUEST HOUSE – Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Taken from Selected Poems by Rumi, Translated by Coleman Barks (Penguin Classics, 2004)
- Listen to or read the transcript of the 10-minute episode of the Poetry Unbound podcast, which looks at Joy Harjo’s poem “Praise the Rain ”, described as ‘a poem for all that life brings’. https://onbeing.org/programs/a-poem-for-all-that-life-brings/
PRAISE THE RAIN – Joy Harjo
Praise the rain, the seagull dive
The curl of plant, the raven talk —
Praise the hurt, the house slack
The stand of trees, the dignity —
Praise the dark, the moon cradle
The sky fall, the bear sleep —
Praise the mist, the warrior name
The earth eclipse, the fired leap —
Praise the backwards, upward sky
The baby cry, the spirit food —
Praise canoe, the fish rush
The hole for frog, the upside-down —
Praise the day, the cloud cup
The mind flat, forget it all —
Praise crazy. Praise sad.
Praise the path on which we’re led.
Praise the roads on earth and water.
Praise the eater and the eaten.
Praise beginnings; praise the end.
Praise the song and praise the singer.
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
Praise the rain; it brings more rain.
Taken from Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Jo Harjo (W.W. Norton 2017)
