For many, the past year has been a continual journey of release – of letting go that which no longer serves and letting go of what we thought served, but the Universe had something else in mind. I first discovered the work of today’s blog contributor through my friend, poet and author, Jay Ramsay. This poem spoke to my heart and I knew it would speak to the hearts of others. So thank you to Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB for sharing her work with us. Today’s poem, The Sacrament of Letting Go, comes from her book Seasons of Your Heart (Harper Collins).
Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB
The Sacrament of Letting Go
Slowly
She celebrated the sacrament of
Letting Go…
First she surrendered her Green
Then the Orange, yellow, and Red…
Finally she let go of her Brown…
Shedding her last leaf
She stood empty and silent, stripped bare
Leaning against the sky she began her vigil of trust…
Shedding her last leaf
She watched its journey to the ground…
She stood in silence,
Wearing the color of emptiness
Her branches wondering:
How do you give shade, with so much gone?
And then, the sacrament of waiting began
The sunrise and sunset watched with
Tenderness, clothing her with silhouettes
They kept her hope alive.
They helped her understand that
her vulnerability
her dependence and need
her emptiness
her readiness to receive
were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening she stood in silence and celebrated
the sacrament of waiting.
Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB is a Benedictine Sister from St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She is well-known for her creative writing and retreat ministry. Monastic spirituality has had a great influence in her writing and retreat ministry.
She has authored eight books: Seasons of Your Heart, A Tree Full of Angels, The Song of the Seed, published by HarperCollins; Seven Sacred Pauses: living mindfully through the hours, Gold in Your Memories, Behold Your Life and The Circle of Life (co-authored with Joyce Rupp) published by Ave Maria Press. Abide: keeping vigil with the Word of God is her latest work, published by Liturgical Press.
Visit her blog: http://macrina-underthesycamoretree.blogspot.com/