Today's poem is The Visitation by Elizabeth Jennings, which you can read here.
The image is of the statue of the visitation which stands outside the Church of the Visitation in Ein Karem in Israel (read more here)
And here's the prayer...
God of secrets and surprises,
Of bewildering contradictions -
Pain disguised as joy,
Life wrought through death,
And the ordinary made extraordinary,
Help us, like Mary and Elizabeth,
To find moments undisturbed -
By men* or by miracles -
And to be at one with you
Amen
* Whilst I would intuitively use 'humans' or 'people' in a context like this, 'men' matches the poem ... and I am also intrigued by this most feminine encounter where to be uninterrupted by 'male' humans' is significant. If you are a man reading this, then maybe think of a male-male encounter hallowed by the absence of women.
