This is an excerpt from the poem “Annunciation” by Denise Levertov. I read this poem last advent when on a wonderful Advent Retreat with Michael Fish, OSB Cam, at Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, CA. The poem can be found on the Education for Justice website.
‘Hail, space for the uncontained God’
From the Agathistos Hymn, Greece, VIC
We know the scene: the room, variously
furnished,
almost always a lectern, a book; always
the tall lily.
Arrived on solemn grandeur of
great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or
hovering,
whom she acknowledges, a guest.
But we are told of meek obedience. No one
mentions
courage.
The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent.
God waited.
She was free
to accept or to refuse, choice
integral to humanness.
Aren’t there annunciations
of one sort or another
in most lives?
Some unwillingly
undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.
More often
those moments
when roads of light and storm
open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from
in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.
Source: “Annunciation” from The Stream and the Sapphire, by Denise Levertov. New York: New Directions Publishing, 1997
Here we are on December 1st: the first day of Advent and 24 days till Christmas. If you saw any postings here during Lent, you would have seen some poetry that I found on the educationfor justice.org website. There is a similar collection entitled “Advent Poetry Companion:Poems for Prayer and Pondering. ” I hope they will help you in this time of waiting – while our days grow shorter and the night grows long -while we look longingly for one who will bring us hope. We wait for the Advent – the Coming of the Light.
“In Mary-Darkness” , by Jessica Powers
I live my Advent in the womb of Mary
And on one night when a great star swings free
From its high mooring and walks down the sky
To be the dot above the Christus i,
I shall be born of her by blessed grace.
I wait in Mary-darkness, faith’s walled place,
With hope’s expectance of nativity.
I knew for long she carried me and fed me,
Guarded and loved me, though I could not see,
But only now, with inward jubilee,
I come upon earth’s most amazing knowledge:
Someone is hidden in this dark with me.
Source: “In Mary-Darkness” from The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers, edited by Regina Siegfried, ASC, and Robert F. Morneau. Kansas City, MO: Sheed & Ward, 1989
Tomorrow is the first day . . . the First Sunday of Advent. We enter into the darkest season of the year, and in the Christian tradition, we await the Coming of the Light. So, there is reason to be grateful, even for the darkness.
Darkness deserves gratitude. It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. … There’s opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that’s what life is.
On The International Day for the End of Violence of Women, I share a grateful quote from Maya Angelou who experienced violence against her from an early age from the men in her life, and who found her voice and overcame those experiences. Her story can be found in the book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.
A daisy in the midst of cone flowers is unexpected. That practicing the expression of gratitude, even in the difficult time, would bring more joy into our lives is counter intuitive, and also unexpected. When we express gratitude and forgiveness, as the Amish did in Pennsylvania following the horrible school shooting, it is beyond unexpected. It is pure grace and wonder.
Let us be unexpected witnesses of the graciousness of God, and live as a grateful and forgiving people.
There’s a self expansive aspect of gratitude. Very possibly it’s a little known law of nature: the more gratitude you have, the more you have to be grateful for.
OPreach 