Presence 8: Arts That Inspire Reflection & PrayerSample

Deep Calls To Deep

At the ocean’s ragged edge

Wave after wave

Claws at shingle,

A familiar ebb and flow: 

Regular,

Rhythmic,

Restful,

Hypnotically predictable.

In early morning light

The stillness of the bay

Lit by a rising sun

Shimmers with hope,

The gentle warmth of possibility

For a new day.

And in the storm 

As the turbulence of a tempest is unleashed,

Breath stolen by the force of the gale, 

I feel the raw power 

Of a raging, crashing, tumultuous sea.

Taste salt on my lips.

And know its wild ways will not be tamed.

Yet from that quiet promise of sunrise,

To the clamour of fury and ferment,

The boom of pounding breakers,

I hear the soundings of the deep,

The compelling call to mystery beyond safety,

A hidden and unexplored expanse, 

Deeper than my knowing.

I hear your call

I feel the unsettling tug of the tide,

You still dare me to come further

Than the safety of shallow waters,

To surrender myself to the vastness

Of the depths of who you are.

Chris Matthews