However it hits us – with sudden strike Or slow attrition – it hits all the same. Movements may be slower, tentative, like A creature not accustomed to the day; Or, paralysed, you might see the sun and Not know that it calls you to anything But sleep. If so, sleep deep. Tomorrow’s hand IsContinue reading “#blessed”
Category Archives: Devotional
Thirty-Two Blessings
Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love. (Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved) That I am begotten by love, Sustained That my heart beats And my feet move That the air is rich For me to breathe That love is patient, That love is kind That I can know What goodness is That IContinue reading “Thirty-Two Blessings”
Cosmology (II)
If it would still be meaningful to say, There are an infinite number of universes – if their profound otherness did not embarrass even the language of Being itself…if something we could discern and recognise as intelligent life were to occur in certain of these other realities, might we not learn that our notions ofContinue reading “Cosmology (II)”
Stillness and Flight
Within this mist we could be anywhere: A grassy knoll sits where the freeway Meets the the Bridge; the air is frozen today And the smell of Vegemite hangs in the air. Chimneys puff in protest or in vapour prayer; The sky in its veil has nothing to say, But my father’s taught me inContinue reading “Stillness and Flight”
Mind and Soil
As part of my new writing project, My Family and Other Landscapes, I’m setting myself the challenge of writing one sonnet each day for the next few months. I won’t post all of them here, but I’ll make semi-regular updates and select the best to put together a book from them. Here is today’s effort.Continue reading “Mind and Soil”
Debt
Acknowledgment sounds with our morning yawn: We have been in need; we have been held safe. And the quiet of the dawn routine declares That we are weak, are strangers to this day. Awaken slowly. Infants in the world, What will you do now? Fresh from the night’s grace, Will you shake your horn’s fistContinue reading “Debt”
Haven’t You Heard?
Some will sit as though nothing’s new, staring at the constant sky. I confess that I’ve done so too and held the lie. Some will wait for what does not come and think that waiting is divine. Some will fall and some will run until the time. Yet in the terminal of souls a voiceContinue reading “Haven’t You Heard?”
Talking Worship Episode 3: Art in Worship
In this episode, Ben and I are joined by our artist friend Robert Kingdom to talk about how he uses his art as a form of worship. Enjoy listening to what he has to say, and be sure to check out his artwork at his website and the spiritual reflections which he posts regularly at hisContinue reading “Talking Worship Episode 3: Art in Worship”
Open
And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. (Luke 1:64) No good unless used for you: only death, only a swallowing tomb. No sweet grapes from a rotten vine; no figs budding from a cursed tree. When speaking, we curse; when silent, bones waste… Until the words, HeContinue reading “Open”
Week of the Figs and Peaches
First the long wait: trees stubborn in their stasis, only buds, only promises unyielding to the squeeze. Then – overnight almost! an abundance attracting the birds, the sun. Come to their trees and find them burst open, drinking in the light, or the semi-spoiled meal of toddlers pecking on passing by. Neglect for a minuteContinue reading “Week of the Figs and Peaches”
The Consolations of Writing 