“Christ at Study”

I had been reading about medieval meditation, and on Good Friday I imagined Christ’s passion as a form of study.

In April of 2020, living under stay-at-home orders, my daughters and I began the “Quarantine Sonnet” Project. Each day, we each tried to write a sonnet, and we posted them on the wall of our hallway!

Christ at Study

Before you read, before you meditate,
Medieval monks said, pierce your heart, wake up
With fear or horror, grief, some bitter cup
That brings your body into your mind's state.
Your heaving breath, your tears, your quick heart rate
Prepare you to digest, before you sup
On words you must eat well and grind them up
To build your house of wisdom-love up great.

Sweet Jesus, when you read the Book of Death
They pierced you, beat you, broke you heart and soul.
You read the scriptures: “lama sabachthan'”
You drank the cup up to your final breath
Rewrote death in a mighty, loving whole
Built us a house of life and called us in.