hope

Lent 46: Holy Saturday

Down, they took his body down; Joseph, Nicodemus took him to the tomb reserved for him and soldiers stood and watched. There they stood; the soldiers stood, to see what ruse might there unfold. suspicious, victory not quite won, the soldiers stood in wait. Dark took hold, the sky asleep, the faithful inContinue reading “Lent 46: Holy Saturday”

Lent 35: Tuesday of Fifth Week

Wait, and serve. The household needs food and the garden needs pruning; the vineyard needs tending, the truth must be stored. Serve, and trust. The master, though absent, both sees and will honour your everyday efforts in deed and in heart. Trust, and fear. He won’t be long coming though days seem to pass. TheContinue reading “Lent 35: Tuesday of Fifth Week”

Lent 34: Monday of Fifth Week

Until the day when all’s made new: desolation; Temples fall. Before the shining of the Son: run into the hills. Until the brightness of the dawn: darkness seems to rule the day. Before the great Light of the World: wait, in patient hope.

Catechism 1

What is our only hope in life and death? That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Saviour Jesus Christ. (New City Catechism) Not my own; what then? Within this case, these bones, this skin, World seen through these squinting eyes, HeartContinue reading “Catechism 1”

My Ebenezer

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” (1 Kings 7:12) Though weary and brow-beaten from within And lost in endless self-analysis, Dissecting all the faintest hints of sin And searching out death’s sure catalysis: Though trappedContinue reading “My Ebenezer”

The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)

One of my favourite poems by Christina Rossetti is the lovely and comfortingly simple “Uphill”. The poem is written as a dialogue between two people and has always expressed to me both the hardship of the Christian walk and the certainty of the hope before us. I have tried to reflect these things in writingContinue reading “The Road (After Christina Rossetti’s “Uphill”)”

Psalm 130: Butterfly Cinquain

Waiting Like the watchmen Expectant for the dawn As yet invisible but soon Rising On wings Of resurrection glory now Lifting out of the depths The waiting ones With joy

Buried Above Ground (After William Cowper’s “Sapphics”)

I suspect that one of the darkest poems in the English language is William Cowper’s “Lines Written During a Period of Insanity”, or, as it is sometimes more tactfully called, “Sapphics”. Written after his first suicide attempt, the poem deals with the idea of eternal condemnation which was one of his greatest fears. In theContinue reading “Buried Above Ground (After William Cowper’s “Sapphics”)”

Clouds and Crowns No.6

And I am caught by wonders of new birth, Not knowing yet how quickly all things die, Assuming as I run that I can fly, That life springs always out in vibrant mirth. Still all my dreams are equal in their worth; The clouds collect expectant in the sky, With promises and oceans to supply,Continue reading “Clouds and Crowns No.6”

Impossibly darting amidst the cars, an aquamarine balloon dances on Cemetery Road, Continue reading “Hope”