Dear Friends,
How’s your journey through the ‘wilderness’ of Lent? Of course, not everyone uses Lent to ‘subtract’ something, some instead use Lent to ‘add’. Whatever we do (or don’t do) it’s worth remembering the ‘why’.
The ‘why’ of any such spiritual discipline is to help us get back in touch with God. It may involve clearing an obstruction out of the way (what we broadly call ‘fasting’), or by intentionally leaning further into God’s presence (‘prayer’). In either case the point is that we encounter afresh the liberating love of God.
One of my favourite poems I discovered during a voluntary ‘wilderness’ of a retreat. The American poet Kaylin Haught spends time in conversation with God. I love it silly-seriousness which shows the poet doing some unconventional ‘fasting’. In her case this involves clearing away some unhelpful beliefs about herself so that she can experience God afresh. Effectively her journey follows a question: is it ok to be me? It’s entitled ‘God says yes’
I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don’t paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I’m telling you is
Yes Yes Yes
—Kaylin Haught
Revd Dr Mark Laynesmith
Vicar of St Nicolas, Earley