It's All Holy Water: Psalms for the Earth

Poetic reimaginings of the psalms

Most Catholics would probably gasp in horror, but as I sat in mass a couple weeks ago, I realized that every bite of bread we swallow is the Body of Christ. Similarly, the ash that remains in my yard after a prescribed burn in our prairie is a cross smudged across the earth’s forehead for protection. Every sip of wine and candle can be sacred when we remember it is such, by savoring and showing our gratitude. And of course, it is all holy water.

Christine Valters Paintner’s Abbey for the Arts, hosted an Earth Psalter class, where we rewrote psalms after thoroughly studying a critical piece of our ecosystems and deeply reading the psalms. We learned about different types of psalms: praise, lamentation, proclaiming the king. I noticed that lamentations are conspicuous in their absence in our modern era of positive psychology and “power of positive thinking”. But there’s power in crying out, there is something unleashed that can only be unleashed by crying out. Certainly, now is a time for us to cry out.

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Psalm 2 for the Watershed Disciple

Why do the powerful constrain you?
and the peoples neglect your glory?

The dominators of the earth use you for their benighted purposes
And our desperation flows into you
Against your irrepressible vitality and those who humbly rely upon your abundance

The powerful cry out, "We have dominion over creation
and make it bend to our will.
Neither drought nor flood shall humble us." 

The living waters laugh
As they roll over mighty cliffs and humble stones
Sing in sloughs
She scoffs at restriction

She will speak to them in her wrath
And terrify them in her fury.

She will speak to them in her wrath
And terrify them in her fury.

She will speak to them in her wrath
And terrify them in her fury.

Washing away dams
Overrunning her banks
Sweeping away best laid plans

I will tell the decree of the river
She said to me, "You are my daughter. I flow through your veins." 
Ask of me and I will bring vitality to the wasteland
and create abundance that is your birthright,
not through hoarding and stagnation, 
but through my mighty flow. 
You shall become the torrent, and sweep them away

Now therefore, dominators of the earth, be wise
Be warned, powerful of the earth
Serve the river in humility
with trembling sink your feet into her muck
and kiss her banks
Or she will be angry and you will perish
For her deluge will sweep you off your feet. 

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Psalm 23 in the Dandelion

The Lord is my dandelion, I shall not want.
He breaks apart the hard soil of my heart.
He pulls richness from the depths.
He nourishes my soul. 

He shines his face toward the sun 
and bids me to do the same. 

Even though my path is shrouded in shadows, 
I fear no blade or poison.
For you are with me,
your roots accompany me in the darkness.
They steady me as I grow and transform.

Your rich greens fortify me, 
give me courage to bloom in the cracks of the sidewalk.
You heal my body with your medicine
and my cup overflows with your wine. 

Surely, the sweetness of your flowers shall follow me 
all the days of my life. 
And I shall dwell in a meadow of dandelions 
my whole life long. 

Psalm 13: A Lament from Lamentation

How long, humans? Will you forget me forever? 
How long will you hide your face from me? 
How long can you wrestle with your thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in your hearts?
Without crying out for mercy.
Without wailing in despair. 

How long will you listen to the powerful
who demand 
Your positivity
Your resilience
Your compliance?
Your composure serving their comfort 
far more than your flourishing. 

Look on me and answer, my embodied brethren.
Turn your whole gaze upon me, 
Your suffering
Your grief
Your diminishment
Your death.

Don't shroud 
Your love
Your loss
Your weakness
in darkness
Shout it out for all to hear
And know that their pain 
Has a companion in this world.

And my enemy will say, 
"Always look at the bright side of life"
"Turn that frown upside down"
"Everything happens for a reason"
My foes rejoice at your silent suffering
Maintaining their comfort
Ensuring you are alone in your misery.

But I trust the endurance of your heart
That you remember that I weave your heart into others
I will sing of my despair
Because my heart is broken
And it is not ready to hear
That's where the light gets in.