In the morning they fight again. Peter is running late for work and is shorter with her than usual, and her tolerance, worn down by the tension of yesterday, is even thinner now. He leaves with the fight unresolved, and when she gets to work she feels sick from the conflict. It is only byContinue reading “The Gift (Day Seventeen)”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
The Gift (Day Sixteen)
“Can I tell you a story?” asks Alana, when they are in bed. He is lying down and Alana, seated upright, is looking down at him as she often does on the occasions that he is sick and she is caring for him. But tonight Alana’s expression is different; it looks more silent, more pensive,Continue reading “The Gift (Day Sixteen)”
The Gift (Day Fifteen)
The service closes with an offer of prayer for anyone who has been “challenged by anything in tonight’s service”. There will be people available at the side of the church, they say, for anyone interested. Alana looks at Peter, asking with her eyes if they should go forward. Peter hesitates, but Alana nods reassuringly andContinue reading “The Gift (Day Fifteen)”
The Lord Our Stronghold (Third Sunday of Advent)
Sing, daughter; Your enemies come across the hills Resplendent in all of their power, But they will not come near to you; They will balk at this fortress. Dance, Israel; The battle is not over, yet The heralds run across the hills, The message of the victory bright In their hearts to tell you. Rejoice,Continue reading “The Lord Our Stronghold (Third Sunday of Advent)”
Dark and Precious, the Night (For John of the Cross, Mystic and Teacher)
I have known this night, beyond my day-time Clutching at my heart and hope; I have known the anguish of the night-time, Dark unfolding, clutching me; I have known the hope of loving fingers Reaching out with dawn to me; I have known the mustard seed of morning And hope’s smallest glimmers; I have seenContinue reading “Dark and Precious, the Night (For John of the Cross, Mystic and Teacher)”
The Gift (Day Fourteen)
Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away the judgments against you, he has turned away your enemies. Who, Alana wonders, are her enemies? She can often see them clearly in her mind’s eye: those whose faces and voices sheContinue reading “The Gift (Day Fourteen)”
The Gift: Third Candle (Day Thirteen)
“Lift up your hearts.” “We lift them to the Lord.” “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.” “It is right to give our thanks and praise.” Standing, they face the front of the church where three Advent candles flicker in their wreath beside the two still unlit ones. The voices rise around them.Continue reading “The Gift: Third Candle (Day Thirteen)”
The Gift (Day Twelve)
One day he had come into the living room to find Alana crying. She had been on the phone to her mother and something had been said to shake her equilibrium, words said perhaps with the best of intentions but with the worst of consequences. At first Peter had tried, as he so often did,Continue reading “The Gift (Day Twelve)”
Light (For Lucy, Martyr)
…for I consider that our briefest light is a beacon to glory far beyond our sight and our longest pain is a comma within the vast, hopeful story of Your love’s refrain.
The Broken Carol
A few years ago, during a very difficult time in my life, I rediscovered Christmas carols. I’m not exactly sure what prompted this discovery, but I found myself one year downloading a wide variety of contemporary, and often artistically quite interesting, recordings of Christmas carols and put together the first of a series of musicalContinue reading “The Broken Carol”
The Consolations of Writing 