A Tale of Two Disturbing Poems

I have that feeling…that as we come out of the hush or bustle of the summer, something is presenting itself.  Something that presents Itself with hopes we will say Yes.  Quite often, the fall season calls for a re-arranging, a new-year-esque lens to see our moments, coming and going, what we are up to, our rhythms of rest and work, through.  Examination.  It’s a soul-giving thing to stop and let it do its work.  

This poem recently came across my email via more than one list I am signed up to receive…which means you should listen, right?  It is a poem I think we need to encounter in certain intervals of our process…in order to be “disturbed”  toward what is next, in spite of our self-sabotaging settlement in the too small, too known, too safe.  

If it is available, gift yourself a moment of stillness and breath.   Get quite inside and when you find you can receive…slowly roll the lines of this poem over in your mind.  You might even practice a lectio divina-like reading of it, maybe going back once or twice over it rolling it around in your soul.  

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

Attributed (but we are not certain!) — Sir Francis Drake — 1577

 Consider some contemplation questions:

1. What line stands out to me in this poem? 

2. Is there a picture, certain feelings, certain desires that surface when you consider that line?

3. Ask the Spirit why that line, that phrase? What does he want to offer you through your attention held there?

4. Is there an invitation for you to “pray-dream” about something stirring or awakening, desiring?

5. Then simply as you can manage, pray not with words but by "relaxing into God's goodness" for a minute or two.  (Rolheiser, 2009)

I have been following these bread crumbs for a couple years and believe I have rested on something to share.  My example is on a pretty macro level, but I adore being in authentic relationship with you so I will share. I have had for a while “a something” I couldn’t discern:   between an idea, an invitation, or an amusing day dream about the content that I am drawn to again again (when my soul is awake enough to pay attention and be drawn).  

I find myself at 47 with opportunities and freedoms I didn’t think I would have to invest in my life path.  After rolling around this marble in my mind and consulting my wisdom supports, I think I have reached clarity that I am experiencing an invitation from the Spirit’s work in my mind and heart to pursue and receive from the experience of Doctorate in Spiritual Formation program.  The content and experience at the Biola program sounds delicious and though it is not definitive because there are some outstanding steps to lock it in ... I am hoping to join the cohort in 2024.  I look forward to blessing you precious ones of mine with overflow from what I receive.  

In the spirit of awakening desire and listening well to your inner world….I would like to include this re-interpretation of the original poem above, written by Brian Morykon who works at Renivor.  He passed it along in one of their publications.  I think his inspired poem offers another angle of our contemporary landscape reflected in the cry we all hear if we offer ourselves enough stillness to listen.  I offer it to you as an addition or an alternative to sit with the reflections questions above and see what is here for you. 

Awaken me, Lord, when

I have nodded off to the rhythm

Of a steady paycheck

Or sedated myself

In a cycle of shame.

Awaken me, Lord, when

Lulled by lesser things

I mistake sleep for shalom

And silence the longings of my soul

One swipe at a time.

Awaken me, Lord, to recover

The dreaming of my youth;

But give me new dreams,

Vessels shattered then

Strengthened by suffering,

Reclaimed jars that brim with

Bread for hungry hearts

I ask you to open up

The inner places shut down

By trauma and triggers,

By my choices and others’,

By taking on too much

And leaning in too little.

Awaken me, Lord,

To your goodness

By your love,

With a kiss or a quake

Or any means necessary;

Because being awake 

With you and to you

Is better than being asleep

Anywhere else.

Brian Morykon

Renvior 

As always, I am here to listen and hold and resource you through your process however that may look. I invite you to “step outside of your life so you can work on your life”. Set aside time, schedule with me and we can meet in the therapy cave, or in our Jordan Stones zoom room. You can find me here:

https://jordanstones.secure-client-area.com

Rolheiser, R. (2009).  The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian                      Spirituality. Image Publishing. New York.