The Sacrament of Waiting

The Sacrament of Waiting
by Macrina Wiederkehr

Slowly, she celebrated the sacrament of letting go.
First she surrendered her green, then the orange, yellow, and red,

finally she let go of her brown.

Shedding her last leaf she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.
Leaning against the winter sky she began her vigil of trust.

Shedding her last leaf she watched its journey to the ground.

She stood in silence wearing the color of emptiness,

her branches wondering:

How do you give shade with so much gone?

And then, the sacrament of waiting began.

The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness.

Clothing her with silhouettes they kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that her vulnerability,

her dependence and need, her emptiness, her readiness to receive

were giving her a new kind of beauty.

Every morning and every evening they stood in silence

and celebrated together the sacrament of waiting.

(from, Seasons of Your Heart)