In this context below, “gentle me” is used as a request. As a prayer. As a verb. As an invocation.
My friend Saoirse shared it with several of us a couple of weeks ago. It’s stuck with me. Gentle me. Yes please.
The poem is by American Ted Loder, a UMC pastor and poet and social justice advocate. He died five years ago. He’s also known to have stood for laughter as holy medicine.
His poem, Guide Me Into An Unclenched Moment, is included in this collection.
Enjoy. And thx Saorise.
Guide Me Into An Unclenched Moment
Ted Loder
Gentle me,
Holy One,
into an unclenched moment,
a deep breath,
a letting go
of heavy experiences
of shriveling anxieties
of dead certainties
that, softened by the silence,
surrounded by the light,
and open to mystery,
I may be found by wholeness,
upheld by the unfathomable,
entranced by the simple,
and filled with the joy
that is you.
Ohhhh…gentle, unclenched, so needed these days.
Indeed. Thank you Katharine.