Susan LaffertySeasoned servant. Leaving, after spending many years in the dark city by the river. Her parting advice to one of our colleagues is borne out of long experience in the spiritual battle.
Those insightful words reach my ears at a retreat in the Himalayas.
One phrase sticks in my heart. And comes to mind, from time to time.
“Do you want to seem holy? Or be holy?”
In the realm of heart and soul,
You ask for all.
Hands open,
I give the
fragmented,
flawed,
incomplete all
that I know.
You receive.
Tenderly. Welcoming
broken parts,
scattered pieces
of a repentant,
believing
heart.
You save the sin-sick soul.
Winter trees. In crisp air at dawn. Stark. Branches bare. Empty.
The fog drifts in.
As I walk in fading darkness, I think about friends and family members who are suffering.
Standing weary. In the fog of impossible circumstances. Living with ongoing crisis. Conflict. Some with never-ending pain.
Cold and unrelenting winds whip through the lives of these loved ones.
And I ask how to pray.
What is His way for trees in winter?
