Currently in the church’s year we are celebrating Epiphany. The time when astrologers came looking for a king to worship because they had seen His star in the sky. After the visit of the poor and socially excluded shepherds, the next recorded guests to recognise the divinity of Jesus were spiritual seekers. And they brought gifts – gold for a king, incense for a god and Myrrh for sacrifice and death.

As I was researching using different colours for prayer and contemplation, I came across this beautiful stained glass window. It inspired me to write a poem and I offer it as my gift. I want to use it as an opportunity to say thank you, particularly to my friends at CMS who have given me the courage to be vulnerable as well as those in my missional community who love and accept me whatever I feel. For me you are the best gift this world has to offer. I look forward to learning and growing with you further in 2014.

“Do you enjoy being sad?”

No I hate it!
I would do almost anything,
Feel almost anything,
Confront almost anything,
Rather than be SAD!

I have pushed it away, sat on it,
turned it into frustration, aggression, anger.
Powerful emotions, active emotions,
The energy to right wrongs,
To take on the forces of hell!

I’m not a wuss! Oh what pretense.
Terrified! Afraid I’ll drown in the well of tears.
A bottomless pit.
Falling, flailing, swallowed by darkness.
There’s no end and no way out.

But now I have to make sadness my friend,
Let the tears surface,
Acknowledge the grief I feel deep in my soul,
Face the pain, share the wounds that weep and bleed.
For ‘healing of the heart is found in the company of friends’.

stained glass art by Claire Mulholland found at www.clairemulholland.com/Claire_Mulholland_Hidden_Lane_Gallery_C Continue reading →