I have always loved the picture of God walking with Adam and Eve in the garden. They enjoyed such intimate conversation and fellowship. God spoke them into existence and never stopped talking.
In this poem, Rainer Maria Rilke gives words to God as we walk together with him through this life. Grief provokes all kinds of spiritual wrestlings, and sometimes it’s hard to hear God’s voice amidst our sorrow, anger, and questions. Even when the words are only dimly heard, these are the truths God offers us — an invitation to embody Christ in our suffering, to become a place where the Spirit can dwell. And reassurance too. No feeling is final. Life is a country still within reach. Whatever darkness we face, we walk hand in hand with the One who loves us.
Where do you find life in Rilke’s words today? In what ways to do you sense God speaking to you as you walk together?
God Speaks To Each Of Us As He Makes Us
Rainer Maria Rilke
Trans. Anita Narrows and Joanna Macy
God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
These are the words we dimly hear:
You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.
Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.
Give me your hand.
My heart is absorbing His incredible tenderness for me right now. Next steps loom large before me. I will take His hand.
“I will take his hand.” I love this, Cynthia. That’s exactly all he asks.
“Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.”
“Just keep going.” You have kept going, Clarissa. I have deep admiration for people like you who just keep going, each day … left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Seeing others who keep going gives hope to all of us who have jumped, or been thrown in the ring with you.
We need the community of friends, pilgrims and fellow grievers to just keep going with us, as together we “go to the limits of your (our) longing.”
What a treasured community it is! I am grateful for this group of pilgrims sojourning together. The road is easier to walk with others beside you.