When God Enlarges the Sea
Last week, I wrote a post entitled, “Celebrating God’s Bigness.” A few days later, I came across a short poem attributed to an obscure 13th Century poet and Christian mystic from the Netherlands, Hadewijch of Brabant.
I appreciated the words of one of her poems, which express her experience with “God’s bigness.”
I swim towards the shore only to find
That you have enlarged the sea.
You leave me dazed with more desire.
And give me more muscle
To swim towards you.
More than once, I’ve felt like I had a pretty good handle on understanding my faith. Then, something happens that turns my perception upside down, and I realize how limited is my understanding of God and God’s ways.
Like Hadewijch wrote some 800 years ago, God enlarges “the sea.” Afterward, my soul is filled with greater desire to know even more.
Here's the part I loved most about this poem. When that desire for MORE occurs, God doesn’t leave me to swim harder in my own strength and ability. No, God’s Spirit gives me “more muscle” to keep on swimming.
I will close today’s post with one of Hadewijch’s prayers.
Triune God of Love, overwhelming and all-encompassing:
Visit us in our solitude and in our companionship and draw us ever more deeply into union with thee, who art ever present and ever mysterious, that we … might know thee ever more fully, even as we have been fully known.
Amen. [i]
As we “swim toward the shore,” may our hearts be filled with “desire” and “muscle” that enable us to keep discovering more of God’s love, mercy, and grace.
Blessings on your journey,
