Water and the Word: Release

I wanted to give you something,

but the Holy Spirit whispered,

“Don’t give; share.”[endif] [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]

I wanted to share

something with you,

but I was struggling

to decide what it would be.

The Holy Spirit offered,

“Instead of you deciding

what they need,

why don’t you ask them?”

I looked at all I have,

then looked in the mirror,

and I realized that none of it

really belongs to me.

It belongs,

and always has belonged,

to God.

The Holy Spirit smiled,

“Now, we’re getting somewhere!”

To be present to poverty

is to realize that the things

we can hold

(and have held)

in our hands,

no matter how much of them

we can control and possess

will leave us empty.

It is to be hungry

and know that something else –

a substance or quality

that is fully beyond

our capacity to generate –

is necessary to be truly filled;

to be thirsty and sense

that something we cannot

pour, grasp, or control

is key to slaking our thirst.

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

(Matthew 5:3)

© 2019 Todd Jenkins

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