{"id":8562,"date":"2025-05-09T08:42:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:42:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/?p=8562"},"modified":"2025-05-09T08:49:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T15:49:35","slug":"mechthild-of-magdeburg-effortlessly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/2025\/05\/09\/mechthild-of-magdeburg-effortlessly\/","title":{"rendered":"Mechthild of Magdeburg – Effortlessly"},"content":{"rendered":"

Effortlessly
\nby Mechthild of Magdeburg<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

English version by Jane Hirshfield<\/font><\/p>\n

Effortlessly,
\nLove flows from God into man,
\nLike a bird
\nWho rivers the air
\nWithout moving her wings.
\nThus we move in His world
\nOne in body and soul,
\nThough outwardly separate in form.
\nAs the Source strikes the note,
\nHumanity sings \u2014
\nThe Holy Spirit is our harpist,
\nAnd all strings
\nWhich are touched in Love
\nMust sound.<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a> \u2014 from The Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a>, by Stephen Mitchell<\/font><\/p>\n


\/ Image by ac4photos<\/a> \/<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n

Effortlessly,
\nLove flows from God into man,
\nLike a bird
\nWho rivers the air
\nWithout moving her wings.<\/i><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t that image wonderful? The words themselves flow through us, like gentle music. That opening affirmation is so lovely that it\u2019s easy to miss importance of the next few lines:<\/p>\n

Thus we move in His world
\nOne in body and soul,
\nThough outwardly separate in form.<\/i><\/p>\n

When we discover that total integration of self, when every aspect of body and soul recognizes itself as a harmonious unity, the sense of the effortful self disappears. Our actions and movement through the world flow without friction. We normally take it for granted, the presence of a constant resistance in every action. What is that resistance? It is the fingerprint of the ego as it declares through each effort, \u201cI am here! I did this!\u201d It is a declaration of separation. But instead, when we are overcome with love and wholeness, the ego fades, no separation is seen, and we, in turn, flow.<\/p>\n

Think of it this way: Just as swimmers shave their bodies to eliminate the constant drag of body hair in order to glide through the water, shedding the ego through love allows us to glide with surprising ease through the world. This is how saints and masters manage to act with such natural grace of spirit.<\/p>\n

And all strings
\nWhich are touched in Love
\nMust sound.<\/i><\/p>\n

=<\/p>\n

The Catholic Church has elected a new pope, who has taken the name Leo XIV. The previous pope, Francis, was a much-needed voice of compassion when it came to questions of global poverty, immigrants and refugees, the suffering of occupied and colonized peoples, and the desperate needs of the environment. It remains to be seen if the new pope will oppose the regressive factions within the Vatican and live up to the historical moment. <\/p>\n

Ultimately, of course, we should not wait for perfect popes or presidents or prime ministers. It is ourselves we truly wait for. The goal is always to allow Love to flow into ourselves and through ourselves into the world until, one-by-one we light up and discover the underlying Unity. With so much threat and uncertainty in the world, it is easy to see and feel only that onslaught. But in complete disregard for our own fears, there yet remains that glowing, blissful Oneness beneath. The more we recognize and nurture it in ourselves and the more we help others to do the same, the more the world can let go of its terrible dramas and awaken to its inherent heavenly nature. It may take great striving to get there, but when it happens, it happens \u2014 effortlessly.<\/p>\n

Have a beautiful day! Sending love to you all.<\/p>\n


\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/a>Recommended Books: Mechthild of Magdeburg<\/font><\/b><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Poetry for the Spirit: Poems of Universal Wisdom and Beauty<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nWomen in Praise of the Sacred: 43 Centuries of Spiritual Poetry by Women<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Enlightened Heart: An Anthology of Sacred Poetry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nGerman Mystical Writings: Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, Jacob Boehme, and others<\/a><\/small><\/td>\nThe Mystic in Love: A Treasury of Mystical Poetry<\/a><\/small><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
More Books >><\/a><\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/center>
\n<\/p>\n\n\n
\n\"Mechthild<\/a>\n<\/td>\n\nMechthild of Magdeburg<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Germany (1207 \u2013 1297) Timeline<\/a>
\nChristian<\/a> : Catholic<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/a><\/em>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

<\/p>\n

Mechthild of Magdeburg was born around the year 1207, probably into a noble family in northern Germany.<\/p>\n

She had a defining ecstatic experience at the age of twelve, where she saw \u201call things in God and God in all things.\u201d <\/p>\n

In 1235, when Mechthild was in her twenties, she joined the Beguine sisterhood, as many women mystics of the time did in Germany and the Low Countries. As a Beguine she led a life of simplicity, service, and spiritual practice.<\/p>\n

Her confessor, Heinrich of Halle, convinced her to write down her ongoing mystical visions. This project took many years as it was interrupted by periods of sickness and also attacks by religious critics. She finally completed the work in about 1282, a few years before her death, and just after she joined an order of Cistercian nuns at Helfta.<\/p>\n

Her book, The Flowing Light of the Godhead<\/i>, describes experiences of unio mystica<\/i> (mystical union) as the sacred marriage, with the soul as the Bride and Christ as the Bridegroom. Her poetry stands out as among the most elevated mystical love poetry in the German language, drawing comparisons to the Sufi poets of the Middle East and the Bhakti poets of India.<\/p>\n

The great Italian poet Dante is said to have been greatly inspired by Mechthild\u2019s writing, and some have suggested that he based his character Matilda in his Divine Comedy on her.<\/p>\n

More poetry by Mechthild of Magdeburg<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Effortlessly by Mechthild of Magdeburg English version by Jane Hirshfield Effortlessly, Love flows from God into man, Like a bird Who rivers the air Without moving her wings. Thus we move in His world One in body and soul, Though outwardly separate in form. As the Source strikes the note, Humanity sings \u2014 The Holy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[53,1394,588,1501,415,612,2589,2588],"class_list":["post-8562","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poetry","tag-catholic-poetry","tag-christian-mystical-poetry","tag-effort","tag-effortlessness","tag-love","tag-mechthild-of-magdeburg","tag-pope-francis","tag-pope-leo-xiv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8562"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8567,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8562\/revisions\/8567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poetry-chaikhana.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}