My spirit wants to dance

my wings take flight and soar

I want to cast myself upon the winds

and glide the breath of God.

Up and up, in a spiral of His love

my spirit fuses with the sky

in sheer abandonment of soul

I ride a sunbeam to it’s source

fearful of naught and wanting all

my bursting heart will hold

I surrender to the Son.

Reminders. I wrote this poem many years ago now, but it came back to me with force, yesterday whilst at a “prayer intensive” at Ridley. ( These are short courses, held at the start of the Lent Term, on a variety of subjects that are certainly not labelled ‘intensive’ lightly!)  We were asked to bring creative gifts/ideas/ways of praying to share with the group. The group, having shared deeply, over the last day or so, was now in a place of trust and provided  a ‘safe place’ in which these gifts and ideas could be aired. One person brought her violin and simply improvised, allowing  God’s Spirit to guide her giving her the notes and melodies. A soaring paean of  beauty poured from her strings, moving many of us to tears. The picture she had in her mind as she played was of an eagle acending in rising circles. She felt that God was indicating that there was someone who was holding back from soaring for some reason and that God wanted them to fly.

A feather on the breath of God. Ruach Yahweh. The inspiration for the name of this blog comes from a heroine of mine Hildegarde of Bingen, an extraordinary woman of God who lived in the 12th Century. As some of you may have seen on my  ‘about’ page – this phrase is one she used to describe herself:

Listen: there was once a king sitting on his throne. Around him stood great and wonderfully beautiful columns ornamented with ivory, bearing the banners of the king with great honour. Then it pleased the king to raise a small feather from the ground and he commanded it to fly. The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I ‘A feather on the breath of God’.

It is one that I identify with closely, as it is something that God has been teaching me over the years. Letting go of control of my life ( MUCH easier said than done!) and letting Him blow me where He will in any given day, month, year. Abandonment, in short. Jean-Pierre de Caussade‘s Sacrament of the Present Moment was a little book that came into my hands via a dear friend, and it quickly became apparent that it would be one of THOSE books. Life changing.

Rich- like chocolate for the soul, only to be taken in small doses and relished slowly. His subject is abandonment and the childlike simplicity of trust. Seeing all of life as holy and charged-with-God, not separated artificially out into the ordinary and the Divine.

Yesterday was a reminder. A gentle prompt to continue to ‘let go’ and fly upon the breath of God . Just a little feather. Nothing more. Nothing less. But what a breath!

The feather flew, not because of anything in itself but because the air bore it along. Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God’.