Poetry by Rilke

I just got back from a Kairos Prison Ministry Inside at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women. I am full of emotions and yet devoid of feeling.  It was very powerful but overwhelming at the same time.  I am suffering from the lack of process time I have left myself.  My friend Jeanna prayed and anointed me at our Service of Wholeness tonight and I cried for the women who have touched my heart.

As I remember this poem by Rilke I find myself gripped in its melancholic sense of trust as I struggle to surrender long enough to taste the consolation of God ...and remember the women who have touched my heart.      Lord have mercy ... Christ have mercy ...

A Poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, trans. by Br. David Steindl-Rast

Every now and then we let ourselves imagine 

the worst that could happen to us: 

How could we survive?  

This testimony of dedication and trust 

attests to an enduring relationship 

that goes beyond our vision, 

our hearing, 

our speech, 

our mobility, 

and even our ability to think...

a relationship which cannot be extinguished. 

In the sureness of this relationship – 

and our ability to surrender to it – 

lies consolation beyond measure.