Spaciousness in the Deep and Dark
In the midst of all this thought on the Kingdom of God and the many agricultural metaphors on how the Kingdom of God is and is to be/become, I found this poem on earth worms by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer. It spoke to me of the way working towards the Kingdom of God at times feels in a world whose culture runs so counter to God’s hopes for us. I paired it with Matthew’s account of the Beatitudes, which reminds us of the value of meek, poor, mournful, merciful justice-seeking and peacemaking.
May this serve as a blessing to each of us working in this Kingdom garden, especially when it feels dark and compressed, and may it bring spaciousness to this day and to your week.
The Beatitudes according to Matthew
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
…
Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:2-10, 19-20
Lubricus Terrestris
On a day when the world is weighty,
dark and dense with need,
I want to be the earthworm
that gives itself over to tunneling,
its every movement an act
of bringing spaciousness.
And when minutes feel crushed by urgency,
I want to meet the world wormlike,
which is to say grounded,
consistent, even slow.
No matter how desperate the situation,
the worm does not tunnel faster
nor burrow more.
It knows it can take decades
to build fine soil.
To whatever is compacted,
the worm offers its good worm work,
quietly bringing porosity
to what is trodden,compressed.
So often, in my rush to repair,
I end up exhausted.
Let my gift to the world be
my constancy, a devotion to openness,
my willingness to be with what is.
Let my gift to myself be patience
as I tend what is dense and dark.
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
A Blessing for Your Week
Beloved Child of God,
May you move with peaceful, slow intention
In this kingdom work you do.
May the earth breathe easier
For your blessed tunneling,
And may your gift to the world be
constancy, a devotion to openness,
a willingness to be with what is.
Amen.
Rev. Kelsey Sherazi 