What Wondrous Love

I will post something like my sermon later - but for now, just a note that it went well, with no text (or notes or anything). I broke down and cried several times during the service, but it was okay - as I told them at one point, it is more difficult to speak (i.e., without crying) with individuals or groups that I trust. They were fabulously supportive.

I wish I had the UU version of the words to the hymn referenced in the title of this post (as one might imagine, they've been changed from the original). But I couldn't sing them, even though this was the closing hymn I selected, because I was feeling that wondrous love this morning from the congregation.

For now, I'll give you this: one of the times I broke down and couldn't speak for crying was during this morning's reading, a poem by Mary Oliver (below) - but someone from the congregation came up and read it for me, then gave me a hug.

The Winter Wood Arrives

by Mary Oliver

I think
     I could have
          built a little house
               to live in


with the single cord—
     half seasoned, half not—
          trucked into the
               driveway and


tumbled down. But, instead,
     friends came
          and together we stacked it
               for the long, cold days


that are—
     maybe the only sure thing in the world—
          coming soon.
               How to keep warm


is always a problem,
     isn't it?
          Of course, there's love.
               And there's prayer.


I don't belittle them,
     and they have warmed me,
          but differently,
               from the heart outwards.


Imagine
     what swirls of frost will cling
          to the windows, what white lawns
               I will look out on


as I rise from morning prayers,
     as I remember love, that leaves yet never leaves,
          as I go out into the yard
               and bring the wood in


with struggling steps,
     with struggling thoughts,
          bundle by bundle,
               to be burned.

"The Winter Wood Arrives" by Mary Oliver, from Thirst. © Beacon Press, 2006.