Birthing the Holy

Welcome to those of you who are joining us! We have 5 nations represented in our little group of eight—England, Scotland, Spain, the Netherlands and America!

Christine Valters Paintner (http://www.abbeyofthearts.com/) calls her online Advent retreat “Birthing the Holy”—what a great phrase. That is in fact what we hope to do, right?! And what better way than through the creative process?

Birthing is not a pretty, easy, comfortable process. Nor is the creative process, nor is the spiritual process of making room for God. But as surely as we build nurseries for the arrival of our children, we need to create room for our Lord to come to us.

Let’s examine our hearts in preparation for the coming of our Lord Jesus once again into our innermost beings.

If you look at the sidebars to the left, you will find a Meditation, a Materials List, and the Creative Process for each week. Begin by reading the meditation, gathering your materials, and then entering the Creative Process.

We’ll keep the blog going randomly with food for thought, feedback, poems, prayers, and creative ideas; please feel free to contribute!

And for starters, here is a poem that Paintner posted:

If You Want

If you want,

the Virgin will come walking down the road

pregnant with the holy,

and say…

“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,

My time is so close.”

Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime

intimacy, the divine, the Christ

taking birth

forever,

as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us

is the midwife of God, each of us.

Yes, there, under the dome of your being does Creation

come into existence eternally, through your woman, dear pilgrim –

the sacred womb of your soul,

As God grasps our arm for help’ for each of us is

His beloved servant

never far.

If you want, the Virgin will come walking

Down the street pregnant

With light and

…sing.

-St. John of the Cross from Love Poems to God translated by Daniel Ladinsky