Final Notions by Adrienne Rich
It will not be simple, it will not take long
It will take little time, it will take all your thought
It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath
It will be short, it will not be simple
It will touch through your ribs, it will take all your heart
It will not take long, it will occupy all your thought
As a city is occupied, as a bed is occupied
It will take your flesh, it will not be simple
You are coming into us who cannot withstand you
You are coming into us who never wanted to withstand you
You are taking parts of us into places never planned
You are going far away with pieces of our lives
It will be short, it will take all your breath
It will not be simple, it will become your will
This morning I was thinking about the poet Adrienne Rich, I was thinking about her poem, her book of poems that I had read many years ago. Its title returns to my mind, over and over, the dream of a common language.
Adrienne Rich spent her entire life struggling with language, trying to find herself within her words and to find the other there as well. I hope for that as well, I dream that there is a common language of a common topography, a map of the spiritual domain that is somehow common and shared by all. I dream that we can share in a common language of the soul.
This is for me faith formation. Coming together as individuals, isolated, sewn up inside our own bodies, Like Lazarus inside the tomb. But being called out by a voice that we do not wish to withstand. We call that voice by many names, God, mystery, creator.
This is my hope for our future together. I hope for a conversation that will challenge, that will change, that will console, that will make you laugh out loud and that will explore the deepest depth of that mystery we commonly refer to as God. I hope that this conversation will take many forms and will explore many texts, a headline, a tweet, a bible verse; something trending, something primordial.
It will not be simple, it will not take long
It will take little time, it will take all your thought
Rev. Fred
