Fire is the colour of the eastbound sun lighting the face of the dusty sky. Ash is the colour of this roadwork black, of tarmac where the plane lost flight. Red is the colour of the traffic light, gold the colour in the new day’s eye, and ash to ash is this road we drive;Continue reading “Wednesday’s Colours (Glenroy Lent #2)”
Category Archives: Lent
Glenroy Lent: Long Shrift
Suburb has its own time. Nestled just beneath city’s scheduled view, it sits when city runs. It holds deep memories and secrets, left in garages, holds hopes in council offices. Roadwork punctuates the day’s first lines. Promises in orange signs declare: something soon is happening. Prepare. You may have left your lunch behind, may haveContinue reading “Glenroy Lent: Long Shrift”
Counting Words and Days: For Ash Wednesday
Because we’ve loaded even our song with so much music that it’s slowly sinking and we’ve decorated our art so much that its features have been eaten away by gold and it’s time to say our few words because tomorrow our soul sets sail. (Giorgos Seferis, “An Old Man on the River Bank”) I shouldContinue reading “Counting Words and Days: For Ash Wednesday”
The Womb of the Morning
(Written on Holy Saturday in Bicheno, Tasmania) The oath must still hold true yet waiting dries expectation; the dew of your youth evaporates in the tomb. Now: what the LORD said to David’s Lord is unchanged, but the rods of foes seem the triumphant ones today. Only Pilate’s wife regrets the washing of hands; onlyContinue reading “The Womb of the Morning”
Lent: Enough 6
Hold tight that I will not hold tight fists clenched, to world. when all its passing joys toy. Hold tight that I may tie my heart to Yours. When sight and touch fail me, hold my nothing in Your everything. More than enough, more than all joy, all glory – nakedness transfigured, brightness outContinue reading “Lent: Enough 6”
Lent: Enough 5
What warmth I hide in will soon grow cold. All Peter’s false fires, Adam’s cloak of leaves, will burn out, fade, and leave nakedness in ash. Clothe me. My shame is always before me. Nothing hides from Your sight what should be white, yet’s stained like blood. O God. I stand – naked, dust. YouContinue reading “Lent: Enough 5”
Lent: Enough 4
Praise Him that all our rags have failed: more longing then for Heaven’s clothes. And praise Him too that faces fall so that we seek His more. Enough that we now dimly see, and in ourselves feel death’s sentence. Enough that we have glimpsed this sight and die to know itsContinue reading “Lent: Enough 4”
Lent: Enough 3
Weary eyes: your sight grows faint, yet Heaven’s gate still opens up for you to walk through. This is enough; O grace enough. Let weary eyes now rest. Like Simeon, though waiting lags, this promise stands in baby’s rags and gives you rest. Your rags have failed; His are your glory. Eyes: this is enough.Continue reading “Lent: Enough 3”
Lent: Enough 2
Hold tight. My covenants break; I cannot hold myself, my trust. My word unbinds before I bind myself to it. Yet this is mine, this is enough: Jesus my own and His brother. What world may fling, what failings ring against me count for nothing. This is enough. My God, my covenant, my binding joy.Continue reading “Lent: Enough 2”
Lent: Enough 1
Hold tight. Hold me tight: what coverings I have sought, what fig-leaves, cannot disguise my nakedness. My shame burns garments – yet You clothe in righteousness. Hold tight. Hold me tight; You are enough, yet I am afraid, and turn to fig-leaves when rightly I should bathe myself in You. O Lamb,Continue reading “Lent: Enough 1”
The Consolations of Writing 