She had seen, abruptly, the insecurity of those defences which protect our illusions and ward off the horrors of truth. She had found a little hole in the wall of appearances; and peeping through, had caught a glimpse of that seething pot of spiritual forces whence, now and then, a bubble rises to the surfaceContinue reading “The Chink in the Surface of Things (For Evelyn Underhill)”
Category Archives: Devotional
The Lost Things and the Christ-Child (For Anthony of Padua)
This poem should have been written and posted yesterday but it was a hectic day and so the poem did not get written until today. It was another difficult one to write, Saint Anthony – the Patron Saint of Lost Things – being the subject of some elaborate stories which, though amazing, potentially distract usContinue reading “The Lost Things and the Christ-Child (For Anthony of Padua)”
Barnabas’ Field
What fields have we That we hold back? What lands, what wealth, What rich provision, That we stand defiant, wanting The credit yet hoarding the wealth, Clinging on and yet feigning To give and thus losing? We fall ever short of the call: not To give from compulsion, false duty, but that In giving, weContinue reading “Barnabas’ Field”
The Second Sunday After Pentecost
Today’s poem takes the form of a liturgy, using each of the set Bible readings for the day. I hope it can be helpful to some. I. The Collect First we start upon our knees Before You, from whom all good proceeds, Knowing we can never please Save that we go where Your Spirit leads.Continue reading “The Second Sunday After Pentecost”
The Dove, the Book and the Black Bear (For Saint Columba of Iona)
Today’s poem recognises Saint Columba, the Irish missionary to Scotland about whom much has been said, many churches and schools named and to whom much praise has been, wrongly, given – wrongly because he was just a man. Still, there seems value in looking at aspects of his life and perhaps to take some warningContinue reading “The Dove, the Book and the Black Bear (For Saint Columba of Iona)”
Good Deeds and Rotten Oaks (For Saint Boniface of Mainz)
It’s said that he cut Thor’s oak down Before the pagan crowd, The Sacred Oak of Geismar which, When felled, revealed itself to be Rotten and decayed. It’s said he thought his work a failure In the Frisian land, And went back as an old man to Complete what he had scarce begun And metContinue reading “Good Deeds and Rotten Oaks (For Saint Boniface of Mainz)”
Your Eternal Yes
Show me a quietly place in Your sun; Stretch out my lowly side in the soil. Massage my wincing coldness in rays Of blinding, reviving Yes-ness of hope; When sideways and downwards crawling I stand, When soon my backwards is close to Your side, Encircle me; rewrite Your name in my hand. Scratch outContinue reading “Your Eternal Yes”
Falling Face-first
If you should see me on one of these days when my face falls And drops to the ground, baring all that’s inside, You may be surprised by the exposed dust and the grime, But would not, I hope, be wholly surprised. For you surely know that all of us children Of GodContinue reading “Falling Face-first”
Kotanda, Kotanda, Kotanda!
Today is Trinity Sunday. It is also June 3, which is the day when both the Anglican and Catholic churches remember the 22 Ugandan Christians who, between 1885 and 1887, were martyred. Many of them were killed on this day in 1886, which was Ascension Thursday that year, burnt for their opposition to the kingContinue reading “Kotanda, Kotanda, Kotanda!”
The Consolations of Writing 