Come Away With Me: Hineni
Christine Colliar
July 11, 2024
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Hineni
James Cathcart back again with a fresh instalment of Come Away With Me our creative writing series that makes little pockets of space to come away and meet with God in the middle of our day. Each piece is an invitation to enter a holy space where we can shelter for a while in God’s presence.
These posts take their inspiration from our minister Ruth Kennedy’s wonderful Message for the Year for 2024 inspired by Song of Songs 2:10:
My beloved spoke and said to me,
“Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, come with me.
She wrote powerfully “This year, Jesus invites you directly into a friendship, a deeper relationship with Him.”
Whatever our circumstances and whatever our backstory, we can come away with Jesus by replying to this invitation in our lives through simple prayer. Hineni, in Hebrew, is an ancient response to God which translates as “Here I am.”
Today I am delighted to share with you all this beautiful poem ‘Hineni’ by Christine Colliar from our Sanctuary First community. In hugely evocative language she takes us to Moses’s uncanny encounter with God through the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3, catching the ambivalence and uncertainty as well as the deep hope of the exchange.
Christine herself explains some of the thinking behind her poem:
We are connected to God by our very nature as humans, but we don’t always recognise it. Martin Laird expresses this in his book, 'Into the Silent Land':
"Union with God is not something we acquire by a technique, but the grounding truth of our lives that engenders the very search for God. Because God is the ground of our being, the relationship between creature and Creator is such that, by sheer grace, separation is not possible. God does not know how to be absent."
In the poem, I consider this through the Hebrew concept of 'hineni', which underpins Moses' encounter at the burning bush. Moses tells God he is completely present, giving all of himself to God, while God reciprocates by saying God is, and always will be, completely present for Moses.
So, take a moment to steady yourself, to come away with God, and begin…
Hineni, Christine Colliar
On the far side of the wilderness,
the flock of Jethro, priest of Midian, drifted
beyond the bleak, barren expanse
to Horeb, the mountain of God,
rising, tremendously, from nothing.
There, a bush blazed boldly, unconsumed,
orange, red and gold,
a common sight in that forsaken heat,
yet the leaves were green and flourishing and alive.
I had to stop.
And the One
who is,
who was,
who is to come,
called me — ‘Moses.’
And I, in my wilderness, burned, abused,
consumed by life,
met El Shaddai,
Almighty God
of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.
Who am I, Lord?
Egyptian prince, but not in a palace.
Hebrew son, but not with God’s people.
Nought but deadwood
to be thrown in the flames.
But God sought me in the dry
and barren place of my being,
where I had tried to hide
the brokenness
that only fire can purify.
Hineni, here I am, Lord,
completely present,
everything that makes me, me,
I offer on the altar
of who I am.
Hineni, here I am, Lord,
you see me, my shame, my guilt,
you know all that I am,
all that I have been,
all that I will ever be.
Hineni, here I am, Lord,
my answer of faith.
Shoes off on holy ground,
head bowed,
hineni.
Come away, Moses,
meet your God,
the God of your people
hasn’t forgotten you.
Shelter in my presence.
I am who I am.
I will be who I will be.
Come away with me, Moses,
hineni, I am here for you,
now and always.
On the far side of the wilderness,
I drift
beyond the bleak, barren expanse,
of my desert life,
to answer God’s call.
And I come away
with the One to whom I can say,
‘Hineni, here I am’,
and who answers,
‘Hineni, I am here, too.’
Our sincere thanks to Christine Colliar for her contribution to Come Away With Me!
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