As a bridegroom prepares himself for his bride: Prepare your hearts; prepare the way. As a bride adorns herself with jewels: Know you will be made beautiful. As the earth shoots forth its bountiful fruit: You will be fertile with His joy. As a garden springs up with the seed that is sown: You whoContinue reading “Diadem (First Sunday After Christmas)”
Category Archives: Devotional
Treason and Obedience (For Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr)
And those knights who approached the confused and disordered people who had been observing vespers but, by now, had run toward the lethal spectacle exclaimed in a rage: “Where is Thomas Becket, traitor of the king and kingdom?” No one responded and instantly they cried out more loudly, “Where is the archbishop?” Unshaken he repliedContinue reading “Treason and Obedience (For Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr)”
Cry For Mercy (For the Holy Innocents)
Rachel cries out for her children, Cries and cries; they are no more. Her voice is heard from Ramah crying, Mother weeping for her lost. In the sound of mothers crying, Hear the strains of mercy sing. Hear the One who weeps as children Fall at Herod’s blow. No cry falls faint before Him; preciousContinue reading “Cry For Mercy (For the Holy Innocents)”
Logos (For St John the Evangelist)
In the beginning was the Word It was with God; the Word was God And through Him were all things made And nothing made without Him made And this Word came and became flesh Took on our flesh, this Word made flesh And dwelt among us, God with us This Word made flesh, God ofContinue reading “Logos (For St John the Evangelist)”
Fall (For St Stephen, Deacon and Martyr)
Fall on your knees: He sits at the Father’s right hand, and your best, Your feeblest efforts to plant Him in soil, Bind Him to laws, trap Him in stone, Can never restrain Him. Fall to your knees. Bend your stiff necks: His story has always exposed your worst hubris, Taking you into deserts toContinue reading “Fall (For St Stephen, Deacon and Martyr)”
The Lord Our King (Christmas Day – The Birth of our Lord)
Christmas Day has arrived and so Advent, with all its joyful and fraught expectation, is over. But we still wait for the final coming of our King. Let this poem help us to fix our eyes on Him this Christmas. And a merry Christmas to you all from The Consolations of Writing! The Lord OurContinue reading “The Lord Our King (Christmas Day – The Birth of our Lord)”
Imperceptible Arms
When every force of hell drags with its hooks And all the voices lie and shout and scream That all is lost and all has died; When knees buckle under the strain And the motion of praying is not prayer at all, Only the dull screams of something on fire; When the words that weContinue reading “Imperceptible Arms”
The Lord Our Saviour (Fourth Sunday of Advent)
We all like sheep have gone astray, We wayward ones, darkened and small. Our shepherd comes, as bright as day… His brightness gives our dirt away – Will he judge us as we fall? We all like sheep have gone astray… No, he comes – the prophets say – To feed, to heal the woundsContinue reading “The Lord Our Saviour (Fourth Sunday of Advent)”
Plenteous Redemption – C.H. Spurgeon
I read this today in the daily devotionals that I get e-mailed to me. It captures perfectly that way that Spurgeon had of speaking directly into the worst of human despairs with the hope of Christ, and so I am going to share it with you all today. “With him is plenteous redemption.” Psalm 130:7Continue reading “Plenteous Redemption – C.H. Spurgeon”
Faith and Sight (For St Thomas, Apostle and Martyr)
Scepticism is a degree of unbelief; equally therefore it is a degree of belief. It may be a degree of faith. (Christina Rossetti, Time Flies: A Reading Diary) I cannot place my hand in Your side; I cannot touch Your scars; I cannot bow at Your nail-pierced feet; My Lord and my God – IContinue reading “Faith and Sight (For St Thomas, Apostle and Martyr)”
The Consolations of Writing 