A Letter from Lindy Jan 5

Pilgrims,
Happy New Year!
 
Last Sunday during our prayer for the new year, I asked us to lean into an invitation one of the worship bloggers I follow posed: to pay attention to the longings of our hearts. She didn't stop there, rather she sought our commitment to begin a new spiritual practice this season in the hopes it might help us discover or uncover the branches of our longings.
 
The discipline into which she invites us is poetry.... even those of us who would never claim ourselves poets or writers. To practice does not require you to be one, just to try. This prompt was gifted to her from a fellow poet and theologian, Christina Hutchins, in 2018.
 
So here goes.....
 
Begin by getting your pen or pencil, and paper, or whatever it is you want to write on, and with. Next, set a timer for 3 minutes, and create a list of 20-25 concrete words. Nouns and verbs. Needle. Leaf. River. Walnut. Pen. Scream… go!
 
(create list of 20-25 words)
 
Next, take 5 minutes, and create a list of 10-15 longings. Things. People. Experiences. 10-15 longings. Rest. Healing. Sex. God. Space. Belonging. Liberation… go again!
 
(create list of 10-15 longings)
 
Now,  take 20 minutes. Find a space that feels hospitable to you to craft a 12 line poem of longing, using at least 5 words from each list. Try not to be afraid. What can you alone say? What makes you laugh, cry, and open your heart? What do you know to be true? 12 lines, at least 5 words from each list. You can do it!
 
(craft your poem of longing)
 
And, if and as you’re willing, I'd like to transform our advent bulletin board into a poetry board where we can share our poems with our beloved community, crafting a collective liturgy to ground and guide the days and weeks ahead…
 
Many thanks to Rev. Anna Blaisdel, theologian in residence of Enfleshed for this wonderful Epiphany prompt and practice.
 
Pastor Lindy