Easter Watch

Easter Morning 2013

Easter Watch

by Joyce Rupp

    Look for light piercing the gloom.

          Receive little joys inside old troubles.

        Hold on to love in bleakest of times.

            Keep faith alive when filled with doubt.

           Accept help from whomever it comes.

      Pray in spite of strong resistance.

 Laugh amid the tattered tears.

    Stand at Easter's emptied tomb.

     Remember what the message is.

   Shake off what holds you back.

         Cast your gaze inside your journey.

      Meet the Risen One on the road.

         Let renewed hope enter every step.

    Watch how Love surprises you.

    Observe the Freed One slipping

inside the story of your life.

I read this poem this morning having recently purchased Joyce Rupp's new book, My Soul Feels Lean.  I simply turned the page, and there it was!  So timely for me this foggy, misty morning of Easter.  And I knew I wanted to share it immediately.

For me, every line is a whole meditation.  Yet the line that caught me and held me longest this morning is "Cast your gaze inside your journey."

I want to live each moment to the fullest in the here and now, but for me to do that, I need to cast my gaze inside my journey:  See myself, all of me, and gather all the disparate parts in a giant group hug, even/especially, the pouting, angry, naive, jealous, finger pointing, sad, and hurt ones.  Be curious; ask myself, "Why?" when I make a choice or take an action.  Feel all the feelings of the everyday happenings; let myself be there and just flow with what emerges.

I am so grateful for my life just as it is.  Grateful for the slowly emerging spring: a first robin seen yesterday, geese overhead waking me in the middle of the night on Thursday, more and more patches of ground peeking through the snow.  Grateful for my community of close friends, family, and acquaintances.  Grateful for a life that allows me to move slowly enough to take time each day to "cast my gaze inside my journey."

Is there any line or lines in the poem that especially grab you?  I'd love to know.

Disclaimer:  According to the copyright restrictions, I can only reproduce this poem within the context of a review without getting written permission.  Here is my review:  My Soul Feels Lean: Poems of Loss and Restoration by Joyce Rupp (c) 2013.  I am delighted that I allowed myself to buy this book.  Almost every poem in it speaks to my soul of places and spaces I have experienced in my lifetime; the poems touch me.  It is full of sorrow and hope as is most people's lives. Having now read through all of the book, I want to go back to the beginning and read one each day and ponder it slowly; savor it.  This book will join the others on my shelves that I gratefully call "companions."