After experiencing storm Eunice today in England, I happened upon a poem I wrote about another storm I lived through, over a decade ago, in Spain. Interestingly the place happened to be called "Four Winds" in Spanish!
But by far the more powerful force was not the extraordinary wind and rain, but the beautiful and transforming power of something more remarkable - the silent prayer of 2 million people kneeling in adoration in the middle of a storm.
Wild winds awaken
What duty and chaos dulled
in the concrete world.
2 million kneel
To touch the softening earth
as heaven descends.
This greater silence
Opens the heart of worship
and our souls revive.
around us the storm
dies as our peace is quickened
and the Spirit rests.
What is our bard work for?
Waking the spirit
Watering the thirsty ground
Reviving the soul
Drenching the hard earth
Softening the soil with storm
till the Spirit leaps.
Write and reveal
The ground of your own being
And you touch the Lord.
This cluster of haikus was written 3 days after attending the great vigil of silent prayer with Pope Benedict XVI and two million others all kneeling on the bare earth.
Sarah de Nordwall August 2011
