ragamuffin diva : Wendell Had It Right

Blogs are filled with fledging writers like me - I struggle to assemble complete thoughts, I rarely edit, I can not revise to save my life.  I hack at ideas, leaving sentences & grammar in my wake.

So writers like ragamuffin diva - Claudia Mair Burney - really stand out.  I met her at a convention a few years ago - what a joy to know her, it's been a gift to email with her, to follow her journey via her blog.

Her post yesterday - Wendell Had It Right - well, it just slayed me:

What a hellish time it's been. The emotional terrain around here has resembled a war torn country this week. You couldn't walk around without wondering if an explosion could spontaneously erupt right in front of you. Or an assassination could take somebody out right before your eyes. I've been walking around in the debris of anger, blame, and guilt of my own making. And his. Lord, have mercy.

From Marriage, by Wendell Berry

It is to be broken. It is to be
torn open. It is not to be
reached and come to rest in
ever. I turn against you,
I break from you, I turn to you.
We hurt, and are hurt,
and have each other for healing.
It is healing. It is never whole.

My wife & I have been married 24 years this December - we have been broken, torn each other & ourselves to shreds, fought thru the night until the morning light.  Our hearts bear the scars of the explosions that Claudia describes, our hands the gun powder scars being an assassin.  What Claudia & Berry the poet describe  is what Ani Difranco captures in Building & Bridges:

we are made to bleed
and scab and heal and bleed again
and turn every scar into a joke
we are made to fight
and fuck and talk and fight again
and sit around and laugh until we choke
sit around and laugh until we choke

I raise my prayers up for Claudia & Ken, for Lisa & me, for all folks who are called to be married, to bend & even (at times) to break:

Lord Jesus Christ, by Your presence You blessed the wedding in Cana and showed us that You are the true priest of mystical and pure marriage. We thank You for the day on which by Your heavenly blessing You joined us in the sacrament of marriage. Lord, continue to bless and enrich our marriage in love companionship, mutual support, oneness of heart and progress in faith and life. Protect our Holy wedlock from sin, evil and danger. Nurture between us the spirit of understanding, the spirit of forgiveness and the spirit of peace, that no resentment, quarrel or other problem may cause us to stumble and fall. Grant us to see our own faults and not to judge each other. Keep our bond of love always new. Gladden our lives with the joys of marriage, that with one heart we may praise and glorify You. Amen.
~ Peter Gregory

Comments

[Mair]

Amen!