Dear Friends,
May is here at last, we may be feeling – let’s hope it lifts the spirits of those who have had enough of wind & rain!!
The attachments include one on the ‘merry month of May’ as well as others that focus again of Eastertide. One is a challenging extract from Richard Rohr, an American Franciscan priest and prolific writer on spirituality. We hope some people will enjoy the challenge!
Our blessing this week is ‘Deep Peace’ from Sacred Pathway.
With love & prayer for you
The month of May, the merry month of May,
So long awaited, and so quickly past.
The winter’s over, and it’s time to play.
I saw a hundred shades of green today
And everything that Man made was outclassed.
The month of May, the merry month of May.
Now hello pink and white and farewell grey.
My spirits are no longer overcast.
The winter’s over, and it’s time to play.
Sing ‘Fa la la la la,’ I dare to say,
(Tried being modern but it didn’t last)
‘The month of May, the merry month of May.’
I don’t know how much longer I can stay.
The summers come, the summers go so fast,
And soon there will be no more time to play.
So carpe diem, gather buds, make hay.
The world is glorious. Compare, contrast
December with the merry month of May.
Now is the time, now is the time to play.
Wendy Cope
Easter Metaphor
Creator of springtime,
how can it be that every year
I forget the miracles visiting
the land in the form of fresh leaves,
laughing flowers, greening grass.
Winter holds a strong power over me.
I lose the memory of vibrant vigor,
the unseen energy raising
dead earthen things to awakening life.
Risen One, dwelling within me,
how can it be that I forget you,
your passionate grace tending my soul,
your constant stream of hope
rising up through the dead ground
of my brown, barrened prayer.
I turn to you in this season of spring,
bowing gratefully
to every growing plant, every flourishing flower,
for each one sings an Easter metaphor
full of memory, proclaiming your wild embrace
of my inner life, a life holding the promise
of an eternal return to spring.
Joyce Rupp
He Exemplifies the Full Passover
Richard Rohr
The clarification & full discovery of what I call ‘The true Self’ lays a solid foundation – & a clear initial goal – for all religion. We cannot build any serious spiritual house if we do not first find something solid & foundational upon which to build – inside ourselves. ‘Like knows like’ is the principle. God, in us, already knows, loves & serves God in everything else. All we can do is to fully jump on board.
I would call that jump consciousness, & I believe the Risen Christ is the icon of full consciousness. In the human mind of Christ, every part of creation knows itself as
divinely conceived
beloved of God
crucified
finally reborn.
He carries us across with him, assures us we are OK, & thus models the full journey and final direction of consciousness. This is my major thesis about how God saves us.
An Eastertide Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
you appeared to different people
at different places, at different times –
to Mary in the garden,
to Cleopas & his companion
on the Emmaus road,
to the disciples in the upper room,
to your followers in Galilee.
Each had their own unique meeting with you,
and it was only when you met with them,
face to face,
that the truth dawned;
it was only then that they dared to believe
you were alive.
Lord Jesus Christ,
we cannot see you as they did
but we too can meet with you
and experience the reality of your living presence.
meet with me now, as I wait on you in hope.