One of the things that has really struck me about manyof the other community members here is the way in which they reach out to people using poetry. There is such a depth of knowledge of literature here that people are actually surprisingly willing to share.
A few months back we were using a common Taize chant which invites us to think about what it is to give thanks and rejoice:
In the Lord I'll be ever thankful,
In the Lord I will rejoice.
Look to God. Do not be afraid.
Lift up your voices. The Lord is near.
And so I had a crack at putting my own response into poetry. I warn you, it is only a first draft, so I hope that where quality is lacking, prayerfulness comes across!
In
the Lord I’ll be ever thankful
Thursday
3rd January – the barn and the vegetable garden
The life of thanksgiving is the greatest
Part of the Christian vocation. Truly
Being thankful is a skill and an art
And to do it ever the greatest gift.
It is different to rejoice in the Lord
For that is no sacrifice, but simply
Is the only possible reaction
Of the soul to God and his endless love.
Thankfulness is rather a lifting up
Of the soul itself and all around it,
Everything it sees and touches and tastes,
An ultimately worthless offering
In itself.
But the only offering
Worthy of the offering of Jesus
If it opens our eyes, and then our minds,
So that we see and create the kingdom
Of God all around us. Through thankfulness
We are transformed and burn with the brightness
Of the incarnate Christ. Our opened eyes
Awake the dormant Christ in the precious
Sacrament of this world. This Eucharist
Of all creation breathes across the pool
Of our common baptism into the true
Thanksgiving.
God is with us. Give him voice.
I hope that in my life here, some of the thankfulness I feel comes across in how I interact with the sacrament of this place and those who come here.
