Seeking Sophia

I am in awe of a full moon shining on icy branches following our remarkable ice storm of yesterday and last night.  As I sit at my computer at a time when I should be appearing in Revels (and deeply disappointed that I’m not), I remembered that somewhere in the bowels of my computer I had this missive from one of my gifted colleagues, Clyde Grubbs. Probably around a decade or so ago, he wrote this in the aftermath of a treacherous ice storm that caused much damage in neighboring Quebec.  

 Hymn To The Ice Storm

by The Rev. Clyde Grubbs, inspired by Teilhard de Chardin and Noah Sealth, and adapted. 

 Blessed be you, harsh winter, violent wind, terrible rain, cutting sleet  and slippery snow,

 You who make us aware of ourselves over the long, dark days.

 Blessed be you, perilous sky, your untamable nature disrupting our well  laid agendas,

 You who test our resolutions, set back our schedules, and upset our plans.

 Blessed be you, mighty storm, who can strike down our routines, and mock  our securities,

 You who, by darkening homes, and cooling hearths, force us to repair so  many dangers of our own arranging.

 Blessed be you, merciless ice and cold, who come among us without  warning, devastating our forests and vegetation, forcing us to slow our  pace and take more care, and not take comfort for granted,

 You who, by overwhelming and uprooting our fragile structures reveal to us life’s real supports, and the fierce resilience of our communities.

 We forgive your relentless breaking in, your rude inconvenience, for we  know that winter is a season of the earth, and you remind us once again:

The earth does not belong to us, we belong to it.

 In return we ask that you forgive us our swallowed curses , our  repressed anger, our ever- present blaming, our ever-present impatience.

 We know that all things are connected, and whatever befalls the earth befalls the daughters and the sons of earth. So may it be, in our grateful awareness, always.