Quote of the day, 5 February: Jessica Powers

I have climbed up out of a narrow darkness
on to a ledge of light.
I am of God; I was not made for night.

Here there is room to lift my arms and sing.
Oh, God is vast! With Him all space can come
to hole or corner or cubiculum.

Though once I prayed, “O closed Hand holding me…”
I know Love, not a vise. I see aright,
set free in morning on this ledge of light.

Yet not all truth I see. Since I am not
yet one of God’s partakers,
I visualize Him now: a thousand acres.

God is a thousand acres to me now
of high sweet-smelling April and the flow
of windy light across a wide plateau.

Ah, but when love grows unitive I know
joy will upsoar, my heart sing, far more free,
having come home to God’s infinity.

Sr. Miriam of the Holy Spirit, O.C.D.
(Jessica Powers)

The Ledge of Light (1967; 1984)

Powers, J 1999, The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers, ICS Publications, Washington DC.

Featured image: Unsplash photographer Karl Magnuson captures this image of three hikers atop Sentinel Dome at Yosemite National Park in California. He offers this comment on his stunning photo: My first day in the Park, I hiked up to Sentinel Dome in the afternoon. To my dismay, the entire valley was hazy with controlled fires and smoke. But as sunset approached, magic happened. The haze that obscured the clear view in the afternoon lit the entire valley on fire. The silhouettes I captured, as a result, will forever mark the unexpected blessing of what I thought were unfavorable conditions.