We have collectively entered into a time and space of threshold, when the old has fallen away and the new has not yet come into being. In the Celtic imagination, thresholds were places where the veil between heaven and earth was especially thin and so we had access to a deeper connection with the spiritual wisdom of the divine, of the saints and mystics, and of our ancestors.
Paraclete Press invited Christine Valters Paintner to speak about Celtic wisdom for the times we are in. Below is the recording of the session which includes teaching, meditation, and poetry.
This is the passage we used for our lectio divina practice:
Stand at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way lies, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
(Jeremiah 6:16)
Closing poem “You Are Here” is from Christine’s forthcoming collection The Wisdom of Wild Grace
You Are Here
(after Rainer Maria Rilke’s Book of Hours)
You are the now and not-yet, the darkened dawn just before
the first rays rise and you are the rays that pierce and prod.
You are the siren screeching through city streets
dropping me to my knees in prayer.
You are the lilac and the dust,
the refugee’s body found on shore with empty pockets.
You are the wound that does not heal, the salve,
the bandage, and the raised scar that remains.
You are the dandelion growing through concrete cracks,
the mirror smashed into pieces, the mosaic created.
You are the vigil for my mother dying, you are the steady beep
of the heartrate monitor and the long tone that makes me wail.
You are ash from the burning towers
the great gashed tree felled by storm, now moss-coated, silent,
You are the grey headstone and the red bird that lands and sings,
the gaunt face I ignore while rushing down the street.
You are the old man’s spectacles
and the love letters from his wife now gone.
You are thick grime, a sob stuck in the throat,
the voice long silent speaking once again.
