Today’s poem is written in memory of the first and only archbishop of Australia, William Grant Broughton. His story is a dense and confusing one to read, full of internal debates over the division of church and state. It isn’t one which lends itself immediately or easily to poetry. However, I have chosen to focusContinue reading “Rooted and Established (For William Grant Broughton)”
Category Archives: Devotional
Gratis
Caught out again, The senselessness surprising always: That way your arms have now of reaching And how your smile beckons; And me with my hands still dirty, Clothes dishevelled, face not there, Turning now aside from you Towards the corner, somehow proud. (It always seems the place for me And has my footprints there andContinue reading “Gratis”
Qui Habitat (First Sunday of Lent)
Continuing my Lent poems with the first Sunday of the season, I am beginning a series of poems based on parallels between Jesus’ ministry and the Psalms. Today’s poem takes its title and some of its ideas from Psalm 91, which is called “Qui Habitat” in Latin, from the opening line, “He who dwells inContinue reading “Qui Habitat (First Sunday of Lent)”
Alphabet (For Cyril and Methodius, Missionaires and Translators)
Today’s poem is written in honour of brothers Cyril and Methodius, the ninth-century missionaries and translators who are credited with developing an early form of the Cyrillic alphabet as a means of expressing spiritual truths in Slavic tongues. Alphabet (For Cyril and Methodius) As He speaks our languages, Blazing truth in every tongue, Cataloguing allContinue reading “Alphabet (For Cyril and Methodius, Missionaires and Translators)”
Ashes and Oil (Ash Wednesday)
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in the Christian calendar. Typically it is a day of repentance, marking the beginning of forty days of fasting as we lead into Easter. But today, looking at the readings set for the day, I found a pleasantly surprising pattern in what the readings were saying:Continue reading “Ashes and Oil (Ash Wednesday)”
The Veil (Last Sunday After Epiphany)
The veil is lifted, but do we see His face as it truly is? Like Peter we struggle to tie Him to ground But He is not contained. He sits enthroned before cherubim But see Him take His throne Upon a Roman cross, among Rebels and dirty thieves. The veil is lifted, but do weContinue reading “The Veil (Last Sunday After Epiphany)”
Blessed
How can it be – The motions of my heart deny it; The story I see behind me, The imprints of my feet in the soil, Declare that it’s not so. Yet my eyes make my other senses fools; Fruit grows where I had only death, Flowers burst from the driest ground, Trees flourishContinue reading “Blessed”
Exchange (For the Martyrs of Japan)
What threat they posed we cannot know, These men who asked permission To build their churches and to go Forth with their love’s mission. What risks the shogun saw in those Who came to love and free, We cannot say; but how it goes For servants is to be In life and death just likeContinue reading “Exchange (For the Martyrs of Japan)”
Not Jewels (For Angsar, Bishop)
Angsar: A picture shows you robed in green With gold-gilt sleeves and sparkling jewels. You hold a church within your hands: A church with mighty steeple. And yet you felt the weight of this, The church you strove to build; You felt the weight of failure and The journeys which did not succeed, The schoolsContinue reading “Not Jewels (For Angsar, Bishop)”
Frontiers (For the First Anglican Service at Sydney Cove)
We cannot reach lands Where You have not been And we cannot chart seas That You have not sailed And we cannot touch soil That You did not till And cannot build homes That You have not built. We cannot go where Your love does not go And cannot hatch plans That defy You. ThereContinue reading “Frontiers (For the First Anglican Service at Sydney Cove)”
The Consolations of Writing 