Poem: Off The Grid
One of a triptych of poems written for my Gethsemane station at Opawa Baptist Easter Journey 2007. The theme for the labyrinth as a whole was 'today's news'. Since climate change had burst into the headlines I wanted to do a contemplative station from the viewpoint of Earth as 'a garden under siege'; a whole-systems, God's-eye overview that invited reflection and confrontation, seeking for hope amid the shadow of approaching disaster.
Accompanying photograph: the city lights of Earth against a black background
Collapse of the industrial, electrical and communication grid is nearly unthinkable to me, one of my deepest horrors, yet in many places on Earth right now - and everywhere only a few centuries ago - such isolation and self-reliance was the norm, our ancestors perhaps stronger for it. And in contemplative prayer we approach that same void willingly. Jesus in the Garden faces the loss of all supports and yet remains unscathed. How can I detach myself from my cybernetic cocoon and listen for the peace within?
off the grid
no cellphone
no pda
no broadband
no Wurlitzer
no Edison
no Gutenberg
no monk
no crier
no scribe
outside
alone
dark
signal
