A poem by Jessica Powers, a Carmelite nun (1905-88):
I am copying down in a book from my heart’s archive
the day that I ceased to fear God with a shadowy fear.
Would you name it the day that I measured my column of virtue
and sighted through windows of merit a crown that was near?
Ah, no, it was rather the day I began to see truly
that I came forth from nothing and ever toward nothingness tend,
that the works of my hands are a foolishness wrought in the presence
of the worthiest king in a kingdom that never shall end.
I rose up from the acres of self that I tended with passion
and defended with flurries of pride:
I walked out of myself and went into the woods of God’s mercy,
and here I abide.
There is greenness and calmness and coolness,
a soft leafy covering
from judgment of sun overhead, and the hush of His peace,
and the moss of His mercy to tread.
I have nought but my will seeking God;
even love burning in me is a fragment of infinite loving
and never my own.
And I fear God no more; I go forward to wander forever
in a wilderness of His infinite mercy alone.
[…] I am copying down in a book from my heart’s archivethe day that I ceased to fear God with a shadowy fear.Would you name it the day that I measured my column of virtueand sighted through windows of merit a crown that was near?Ah, no, it was rather the day I began to see trulythat I came forth from nothing and ever toward nothingness tend,the works of my hands are a foolishness wrought in the presenceof the worthiest king in a kingdom that never shall end.I rose up from the acres of self that I tended with passionand defended with flurries of pride:I walked out of myself and went into the woods of God’s mercy,and here I abide.There is greenness and calmness and coolness, a soft leafy coveringfrom judgment of sun overhead, and the hush of His peace,and the moss of His mercy to tread.I have nought but my will seeking God;even love burning in me is a fragment of infinite loving and never my own.And I fear God no more; I go forward to wander foreverin a wilderness of His infinite mercy alone.~Jessica Powers “The Mercy of God” […]