February 14, 2025
As we may think about love this Valentine’s Day, I offer one of my poems on a different aspect of love.
One bitter day in February
I sat inside a sunlit room,
made warm love to You in prayer,
and she passed outside my window,
the unhoused woman, dressed
uncarefully against the wind,
steadied on a cane,
though she was young.
She seemed searching for
a comfort, unavailable and undefined.
The wound of that impossibility
fell over her the way it falls
on every tender thing that cries
but is not gathered to a caring breast.
Suddenly she was a single
anguished seed of You,
fallen into all created things.
Re-entering prayer,
I wear the thought of her
like old earth wears fresh rain.
I’ve misconstrued You,
Holy One, to whom
I open my heart
like a yearning field,
Holy One, already ripe within
her barest, leanest yearning.
Music: Teach Me to Love- Steve Green (Good song, but sorry for the non-inclusive language)
For Your Reflection
- What feelings or reactions do I have after reading this reflection?
- Do my feelings or reactions remind me of any passage or event in scripture, especially in the life of Christ?
- What actions might I take today because of my response to these readings?
Lavish Mercy 