Ninth Meditation

(The Spiritual Canticle - Stanza 16-17)

"Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed; your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer, you shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I am! If you remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech; if you bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted; then light shall rise for you in the darkness, and the gloom shall become for you like midday; then the LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land. He will renew your strength, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails." (1)


Amidst Her Flowers

The flowers of her virtues fair,
Fragrant with delicate bouquet,
Adorn her inner garden, where
Beloved with His betrothed lay.

Enrapt with Him in her garden,
Walled in this citadel of prayer,
Guarded by grace; all stilled within
Enjoined with Him and unaware.

She offers Him her precious gift,
Which rouses wild beasts of prey
Who storm her heart to strike and sift
Her -- leaving all in disarray.

Deadened and dry, her arid heart,
Calls for His mercy's gentle rain
To renew all they've torn apart,
And to plant peace amidst the pain.

With angst, she awaits His return,
Like springtime sun on dormant fields;
She calls to His Spirit to burn
With all the life and love He wields.

She knows He will return to lay
Amidst her flowers' bright array.


May the Spirit of the Beloved nourish the flowers of virtues and prepare the interior garden within us for His coming.

1. Isaiah 58:8-11


(c) Paul Buis, 2005