One of the great mysteries and wonders that we can be reflecting on this Advent season is the Incarnation: the mystery that the God of the universe would become a human, even a defenceless baby. To explore this mystery, Søren Kierkegaard tells the story of a king who loves a poor and humble girl andContinue reading “Poetic Translations: The King and the Maiden”
Tag Archives: Incarnation
20 Contemplations #15: Intimacy
He comes near, able to touch, to be touched, and be wounded, to kiss and to be kissed: the grateful kiss, the sleepy child dismiss- ing himself to sleep; the mother’s kiss, a smudge on freshly-bathed cheek; the plotter’s grudge expressed in the curl of doubled lips, the final, false farewell, the fatal tryst. He comesContinue reading “20 Contemplations #15: Intimacy”
20 Contemplations #14: Wonder
…the astonishment of the Angels: for it is not in them (pure spirits), but in the human race, that God unites himself, and the Son of God incarnate “is not ashamed to call us his brothers.” (Olivier Messiaen) Flames of fire, yet only servants. They long to look into what we hold as child: God-made-flesh.Continue reading “20 Contemplations #14: Wonder”
20 Contemplations #13: Incarnate
It could be that the wildest, strangest things in the Bible were the places where it touched earth. (Marilynne Robinson, Lila) Our minds jump too easily: from cradle to grave – a Cross upon a hill. And yes, this is where it tends. Yet first the stable is where God, first time in wounded ages,Continue reading “20 Contemplations #13: Incarnate”
20 Contemplations #11: Communion
…Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. (Luke 2:19) I hold You; I bore You. Yet You cannot be held by me. The story told from first honours me but exalts You more: a dot at the start, impossibly small, yet burst- ing with life. How could this all be? IContinue reading “20 Contemplations #11: Communion”
Damascus Road Prayers: Advent 4
…without the First-born no-one is able to approach Being, for he alone is capable of it. (Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Hymns of the Nativity) Do we forget who we are? Clamouring for prizes, for profit, for land, The spaces we contest constrain us. Who was Herod when he feared a baby? Who was the babyContinue reading “Damascus Road Prayers: Advent 4”
20 Contemplations #5: Rhythm of the Three
No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. (John 1:18) “I and the Father are one.” Such mystery Finds no answer in biology. Why Not “I and my mother”? One for a time, Yet divided at birth, distinct in history. No, “I andContinue reading “20 Contemplations #5: Rhythm of the Three”
20 Contemplations #4: Magnify
But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. (Luke 1:29) Magnify, soul. Let mind expand; let heart Take in what cannot be contained. Discern, Yet know the limits of your thoughts. Return Again, again, to faith. Take humble part In grandest story. This isContinue reading “20 Contemplations #4: Magnify”
20 Contemplations #3: Downward Flight
…who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant… (Philippians 2:6-7) He wraps Himself in light. He orders stars And plunges to depths unseen since Adam. Watch the flurry of clouds; watch each atom’sContinue reading “20 Contemplations #3: Downward Flight”
20 Contemplations #1: Colours of the Father
What do you see? He is invisible Yet all creation knows Him. Listen: The birds slow their flight for Him; leaves glisten In all His coloured light. Impossible Strains of symmetry glide through chaos: simple In their dignity, yet rich in vision. Catch the smallest glimpse, the grandest impression: He is more – glorious, indivisible.Continue reading “20 Contemplations #1: Colours of the Father”
The Consolations of Writing 