Chalice Lighting in the Time of Corona
By Sheri Prud’homme
There comes a time
when suffering weighs too heavy on the heart,
when powerlessness passes through rage into shimmering acceptance of brutal truth,
when the terrible uncertainty of what’s to come
eclipses any beauty the present moment has to offer.
Then, there is nothing left to do
but to bow down to limits
and to suffering.
All the way down –
forehead on the floor,
the soft flesh of the back of the neck exposed.
Is it a prayer? Perhaps.
After resting there on the ground,
we rise up (for what else is there to do?),
and we kindle the flame that connects us with all who have gone before us.
We remember – we are not alone.
(Inspired by Cynthia Winton-Henry’s teaching on Ensoulment)
Anita Amstutz 