Earth's crammed with Heaven and every common bush afire with God
But only those who see take off their shoes
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries

Emily Dickinson

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bernard of Clairvaux and Me

Bernard of Clairvaux spoke at Notre Dame in the year 1140. I walked through those halls a few days ago. Perhaps his words still echo through those magnificent stones because It feels like they were spoken just for me. "Even Simon son of John, called and appointed by the Lord to be a fisher of men, will toil in vain all night and catch nothing until he casts his net at the Lord's word. Then he can catch a vast multitude. Would that we too might cast our net at this world today and experience what is written, 'Behold he will give his voice the sound of power.'...I can hope that what I say will be effective only if he makes it so. I must ask him to make this voice of mine a voice of power."

2 comments:

  1. It seems a bit ironic, or rather, complete that St. Bernard wanted God to fill his words with power, and here they are being quoted 900 years later. This gives me hope that God does still infuse our lives with His power.

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  2. I hadn't thought of that! Bernard probably had no idea how mightily God answered that prayer.

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