When I made my home some years back in the vast land mass of Canada, I was amazed and intrigued by its wide open spaces, and captivated by its geographical landscape including the wide perspectives of the night sky that can wrap you round in its dancing lights. There is a particular sense of abiding promise where anything and everything is possible.
That is the spirit I am taking with me as I prepare to go on my eight day yearly retreat adventure. I am already musing on what God might have in store for me this time. Aware that God shows up in our lives in a myriad of ways, I want to be open to that dynamic. My desire is to live in and with the seasons of my life and to be open to all invitations to grow and love, to be open to where the Spirit desires to lead me.
I carry into retreat a poem I wrote, which expresses something of this desire. My prayer is that this awareness may deepen in me.
On Addressing a Tree
Straight and probing endless sky
You stand majestic yet
The Mystery of woundedness and suffering
proclaims its presence;
Shrivelled leaves
Pale shades of green
Your yellow, red and orange hues are fading so;
Your feathered friends desert you
The cool chill strikes its deathly blow
and you stand
naked, stripped
of your royal raiment…
Your branches now but a maze of grey and vain projection;
The Mystery of woundedness and suffering
proclaims its presence.
You stand firm rooted, honest and noble yet
Reaching forth to embrace your world
you intrigue me;
You have long often withstood the winter frosts
of fear and seasoning;
Is there a lesson for the learning?
That this stripping bare is but for a reason in the
stormy season of my person;
The Mystery of woundedness and suffering
proclaims its presence
And I am touched by a Mystery I cannot explain
calling me to a new rising
Transformation!
You Oh Divine Presence know my heart
My roots are firmly planted in the soil of your love;
Though I am blown about by these cool winter chills
and momentarily crippled by the frosts
yet my arms are outward stretched to embrace your Mystery
its divine sap seeping through my destiny
And I am brought to my knees again before You
‘To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven.’
Christina Cathro is a New Zealander and a Sister of Our Lady of the Missions (RNDM). She holds an MA in Formative Spirituality from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and a Doctor of Ministry from the Toronto School of Theology.
Christina is an educator. Besides teaching, her ministry has included being RNDM novice director in New Zealand, and serving as spiritual director, retreat leader, and group facilitator in several countries. She has additionally served on both the RNDM Canadian and New Zealand Leadership Teams.
To all her involvements, Christina brings a passionate sensitivity for beauty and transformation. She carries a strong sense of the Spirit working with, in, and among us, to create a world where all of life is able to flourish.
Thank you for sharing your retreat hopes on the verge of this annual event. I have been praying with/for you. May your arms, “outward stretched to embrace … Mystery” carry a rich harvest back to your daily life.
I’m so very moved by your beautiful poem “On Addressing a Tree” and by your openness “to all invitations to grow and love, to be open to where the Spirit desires to lead me.” I hope that you experienced a beautiful retreat time, Christina.