Thoughts from Macrina Wiederkehr's Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God--Tree of Life

I am slowly, but surely making my way through Macrina Wiederkehr's Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God.  Rightly so, for it is not something to be devoured; rather it is to be chewed slowly and savored.  I picked up the book this afternoon and went to my bookmark.  I had stopped at the prayer at the end of the chapter.  This is from Chapter 1: "Drawn Like a Magnet to the Divine"; section 7: "The Prayer of Creation".

The prayer:

O Tree of God--Tree of Life,
     In the gift of your shade, I stand, my heart raised to your Creator.  Your branches call me to reach out in all directions to many people.  Your branches remind me of the sheltering arms of God.  Your roots call me to be rooted in all that is good and nourishing.  Your roots ask me to spend time in the ground of my being.  Teach me, like you, to praise God in the silence of my being.  Help me to surrender unnecessary words.  Draw me, like a magnet, into the abiding love of God.  And when it is time for me to die, teach me to die gracefully and joyfully.  Teach me to let go as you let go of your leaves each autumn.  In living and in dying, teach me to praise God by living well and dying well.  May it come to pass!

~Macrina Wiederkehr (43)

As I read her words, several things come to mind.

 

The first is an image of a tree that I have seen in jewelry and in other places, a tree of life.  It has many variations.  Even Disney has its own tree of life in the Animal Kingdom.  I couldn't find the exact image for the jewelry I have seen, so I settled on this stained glass Tree of Life that I found on Drew University's religious studies department's page.  It is by Ardyn Halter.  You can learn more about this window by Ardyn Halter by going to this link and exploring the website.

The second thing that came to mind for me was a movie I recently saw on my flight to Costa Rica: "A Thousand Words" with Eddie Murphy.  That movie had some thought-provoking scenes in it, at least for me.  There were some life lessons taught in the movie that dealt with a tree and its leaves. 

Words are life-giving, when they are meaningful.  Yet they can over run our world.  It is important for us to learn to speak without words.  Like the prayer, I hope I can surrender unnecessary words.  Like Eddie Murphy's character learned, I hope that I am learning daily to speak into the lives around me by tangible actions.

The third thing that I take away from this prayer is an image of dying gracefully and joyfully, of letting go like the autumn leaves.  Not just a physical dying, though I hope to be prepared to die in that manner, but a spiritual dying as I surrender myself daily to the Creator and follow the path set before me.

This is a powerful prayer.  I am challenged by its words and the images that it brings to mind.

In this same section, Macrina writes: "There is a Word that differs from the spoken kind.  Sometimes it flows forth in the simple silence of being as shown in the mountains and hills.  There is a Word that leaps up in the crackling of the fire; it rides in on the moaning of the wind and in the roar of the wild beast." (40) 

As you reflect on the prayer above, what stands out to you? 

Blessings on your journey.  May you make time to speak without words.

~Debra