Companions,
In the first section of her poem Rowing, Anne Sexton writes:
“I was stamped out like a Plymouth fender
into this world
First came the crib
with its glacial bars.
Then dolls
and the devotion to their plastic mouths.
Then there was school,
the little straight rows of chairs,
blotting my name over and over,
but undersea all the time,
a stranger whose elbows wouldn’t work.”
She beautifully sets up a story about how our existence can be like an auto-assembly line. She also expresses the feeling of being a misfit, feeling out of place: “one of these things is not like the others”. She goes on to write about her Dark Wood path of “rowing toward God”.
When I first read this poem, I cried. It still sends an electrical surge through my body. Perhaps similar to that of being thunderstruck, which we examined in week three.
I remember one of my favorite junior high teachers, in a very loving and accepting tone, telling me how much she loved having this “odd kid” in her classes. In high school, I was part of the theatre/creative arts kids who had their own special table, and given the side eye. In my adulthood, I remember a friend of a friend referring to me as an “odd duck” who fascinated her. Maybe you’ve felt, and sometimes still do feel, that way at times.
On this Palm Sunday, what could be more appropriate than examining the Palm Sunday Procession of Luke 19:29-42a through the lens of “The Gift of Misfits” chapter from our Lenten journey book Gifts of the Dark Wood? I mean, the message that Jesus and his disciples were sharing didn’t necessarily fit the status quo. They were countercultural.
I look forward to waving palms and sharing a reflection with you Sunday at 10 am on 1130 Balclutha, Zoom, or Livestream as we enter the gates of Holy Week. Invite a friend to the party.
Hosanna!
Rev. Michael
