Showing posts with label Mechtild of Magdeburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mechtild of Magdeburg. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

effortlessly





Effortlessly,
Love flows from God to man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings -
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all the strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.



~ Mechtild of Magdeburg
(1210-1282)






Monday, July 22, 2019

toward emptiness






In the desert,
Turn toward emptiness,
Fleeing the self.

Stand alone
Ask no one's help,
And your being will quiet,
Free from the bondage of things.

Those who cling to the world,
endeavor to free them;
Those who are free, praise.
Care for the sick,
But live alone,
Happy to drink from the waters of sorrow,
To kindle Love's fire
With the twigs of a simple life.

Thus you will live in the desert.




Mechtild of Magdeburg (1207?-1282? or 1297?)
translation by Jane Hirshfield



Sunday, March 6, 2011

overspilling








Of all that God has shown me
I can speak just the smallest word,
Not more than a honey bee
Takes on his foot
From an overspilling jar.


~ Mechtild of Magdeburg
from Women in Praise of the Sacred




Thursday, June 24, 2010

the smallest word




Of all that God has shown me
I can speak just the smallest word,
Not more than a honey bee
Takes on his foot
From an overspilling jar.



~ Mechtild of Magdeburg

in every moment




True love in every moment praises God.
Longing love brings a sorrow sweet to the pure.
Seeking love belongs to itself alone.
Understanding love gives itself equally to all.
Enlightened love is mingled with the sadness of the world.
But selfless love bears an effortless fruit,
Working so quietly even the body cannot say how it comes and goes.



~ Mechtild of Magdeburg