ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Dr Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity

Good morning.
The Edinburgh International Festival’s theme this year is ‘The Truth We Seek’, and many performances express with deep poetry that very human yearning for a greater truth, a sense of something bigger than ourselves. For me, that means a search for connection with something sacred.

Poetry offers me this connection, and over the past few months I’ve been reading the work of Marie Howe, an American writer who is very attuned to the spiritual and the sacred dimensions of our human existence.

Marie Howe’s poem, entitled ‘Prayer’, feels like it could have been written for me. The poem’s speaker addresses someone directly, explaining that every day she tries to speak with them, but things get in the way: shopping, daily tasks, noise, and clutter. She admits that she forgets to share the story of her nights and days with the one she addresses, and even as she writes the poem, she is making plans to stand up and get on with the rest of her day. It seems clear, doesn’t it, that the speaker is addressing God, and acknowledging the difficulties of maintaining the habit of prayer. I understand this well. Life is so busy, distractions are constant, and there is so much demanding our attention. For years I have tried to set aside some time aside at the end of the day for prayer, and I used to feel frustration with myself if I drifted off to sleep in these moments. But these days I think how lovely it is to connect with God and be carried away by the gentleness of sleep in that quiet moment. And prayer can happen any time; even a short walk can provide a moment of connection. Listening now, perhaps this moment, too, can become sacred.

Loving God, may we find small moments of connection and peace with you whenever possible. We entrust ourselves to you and thank you always for the quiet blessings of the everyday. Amen.