Thursday, 5 July 2012
How long will you hide?
"The Bridegroom hides when he is sought, so that, not finding him, the Bride may seek him with a renewed ardour; and the Bride is hampered in her search so that this delay may increase the capacity for God, and that she may find one day more fully what she was seeking."
Gregory the Great
"God, by making us wait, stretches desire. Stretching desire, he stretches the soul. Stretching the soul, he makes it capable of receiving... Such is our life: we must endeavour to desire."
Augustine
"God wants the delay in pleasure to set afire the desire [of the soul] so that together with this ardour his joy may also increase,... [so that one can go so far as to say that] finding God means to seek him continually... This is truly seeing God when one is not sated in desiring him... God is eternally sought."
Gregory of Nyssa
"As soon as the Word appears after many vigils and endless prayers, long works and torrents of tears, he escapes all of a sudden, just when you thought that you could securely possess him. At another time, he will come close to the one who weeps and runs after him; he lets himself be possessed for a while, but not to be kept forever, for just a moment later, he flees and escapes."
Bernard of Clairvaux
"Where did you hide, friend,
Who left me in mourning?
Like a hind you fled,
Leaving me desolate,
Crying, I went out after you,
And you were gone."
John of the Cross
One day the grandson of Rabbi Baruch was playing hide-and-seek with another little boy. He hid, but the other refused to seek him and left. The child went to complain to his grandfather. Then, his own eyes full of tears, Rabbi Baruch cried: "God says the same thing. I hide, but no one comes to seek me.
Martin Buber
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Shepherd
No pleasure or joy for him,
For always he thinks about his shepherdess,
And his heart is heavy with love.
He does not weep because of love's wound
For this is not the pain
Though pain is gripping his heart,
He weeps, thinking himself forgotten.
This very thought of being forgotten
By his shepherdess, is his great pain.
He is so outraged in a remote land
And heartbroken with love.
Alas, says the shepherd, how unhappy the one
Whose love chases him away so far from her heart.
She did not want to enjoy my presence,
And left my heart so crushed with love.
Then, after a long time, slowly,
He climbed on a tree, stretched his beautiful arms,
And died, held fast by those arms,
Heartbroken with love.
John of the Cross
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Hold Me - Jamie Grace
I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way you, the way you
I've had a long day, I just wanna relax
Don't have time for my friends, no time to chit chat
Problems at my job, wonderin' what to do
I know I should be working but I'm thinking of you and
Just when I feel this crazy world is gonna bring me down
That's when your smile comes around
Oh, I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in your arms I'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love you more than the words in my brain can express
I can't imagine even loving you less
Lord, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh
Well ya, took my day and you flipped it around
Calmed the tidal wave and put my feet on the ground
Forever in my heart, always on my mind
It's crazy how I think about you all of the time
And just when I think I'm 'bout to figure you out
You make me wanna sing and shout
I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in your arms I'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love you more than the words in my brain can express
I can't imagine even loving you less
Lord, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh
I'm so grateful and thankful for all you've done
Wish I could tell you in a short story or poem
But all I have is my voice and this guitar
And you have my heart
Oh, I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love the way you hold me, in your arms I'll always be
You take each and every day, every day, every
I love the way you hold me, by my side you'll always be
You take each and every day oh-so-special
I love the way you hold me, in your arms I'll always be
You take each and every day, make it special in some way
I love you more than the words in my brain can express
I can't imagine even loving you less
Lord, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh, I love the way you hold me
Whoa, oh
Oh, I love
I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me
I love, I love, I love, I love the way you hold me, hold me, hold me
Waking up to the light - Ira Losco
You used to fall into a dream
where I would drop into the middle of something
Beautiful and bright but it wasn't real life
It wasn't my life
You can sit in the dark for just so long
before all the ice and chill is gone
Something is stirring I can't explain
It's the sound of your name
And I feel like the world is awakening
Something beyond me is happening
Like talking to God for the first time
What I saw in your eyes
Was the end of the darkest of the nights
Waking up to the light
It's a whisper I need to hear
The kind of things I havent heard in years
Like we'll be ok, here in the sunlight and should the sun slip away
We'll glow in the dark into a fire
A blanket of stars to crawl behind
Starting to see this is the light I've been trying to find
And I feel like the world is awakening
Something beyond me is happening
Like talking to God for the first time
What I saw in your eyes
Was the end of the darkest of the nights
Waking up to the light
Maria, Donna senza retorica
Solo nel silenzio maturano le crescite decisive della vita: la conversione, l'amore, il sacrificio...
Donna di poche parole, perché, afferrata dalla Parola, ne ha così vissuta la lancinante essenzialità, da saper distinguere senza molta fatica il genuino tra mille surrogati, il panno forte nella sporta degli straccivendoli, la voce autentica in una libreria di apocrifi, il quadro d'autore nel cumulo delle contraffazioni.
Nessun linguaggio umano deve essere stato così pregnante come quello di Maria. Fatto di monosillabi, veloci come un 'sì'. O di sussuri, brevi come un 'fiat'. O di abbandoni, totali come un 'amen'. O di riverberi biblici, ricuciti dal filo di una sapienza antica, alimentata da fecondi silenzi...
Santa Maria, donna senza retorica, prega per noi peccatori, sulle cui labbra la parola si sfarina in un turbine di suoni senza costrutto. Si sfalda in mille squame di accenti disperati. Si fa voce, ma senza farsi mai carne. Ci riempie la bocca, ma lascia vuoto il grembo. Ci dà l'illusione della comunione, ma non raggiunge neppure la dignità del soliloquio. E anche dopo che ne abbiamo pronunciato tante, perfino con eleganza e a getto continuo, ci lascia nella pena di una indicibile aridità: come i mascheroni di certe fontane che non danno più acqua e sul cui volto è rimasta soltanto la contrazione del ghigno.
Santa Maria, donna senza retorica, la cui sovrumana grandezza è sorpresa al rapidissimo fremito di un 'fiat', prega per noi peccatori, perennemente esposti, tra convalescenze e ricadute, all'intossicazione di parole.
Proteggi le nostre labbra dai gonfiori inutili. Fa' che le nostre voci, ridotte all'essenziale, partano sempre dai recinti del mistero e rechino il profumo del silenzio.
Rendici, come te, sacramento della trasparenza.
E aiutaci, finalmente, perché nella brevità di un 'sì' detto a Dio, ci sia dolce naufragare: come un mare sterminato.
Don Tonino Bello
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