The story of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury and assassinated in 1170 by King Henry II, seems altogether irrelevant to Christmas. And the fact that the church calendar remembers him today stems simply from him dying on December 29. But when we read the full Christmas narrative in Luke and Matthew’s gospels, there’s something fittingContinue reading “On the fifth day of Christmas…”
Tag Archives: Jesus
On the third day of Christmas…
Many people in churches this week will hear the stories read of those who first saw Jesus and knew that He was the saviour sent to earth. But what about those who knew Him on earth, walked with Him, saw Him die and rise again, then went on to live waiting for Him to return?Continue reading “On the third day of Christmas…”
Microprayers for Lent: Final Week
35.Can clay say to potter, Why did you make methis way?Clay traitor greets potter with faithless kiss. 36.Soldiers kick up dust beneath urgent angry feet.Creatorof stars and soil is still. Dust covers Him. 37.Before they flee do His shame-faced friends recallbrieflypalm fronds, dusty road, humble king on donkey? 38.My feet, like theirs, carry the fallenContinue reading “Microprayers for Lent: Final Week”
Microprayers for Lent: Week 6
28.(But can You make my wilful will as soft, aswilling to change at Your touch as this clay?) 29.Some days I could see You transfiguredand barelynotice. Transfix my eyes. Show me truth. 30.First, this truth: You became clay, became dust.The potterbecame like the fragile clay He made. 31.The same hands that sculpted soil into lifenowContinue reading “Microprayers for Lent: Week 6”
New Year
I no longer resolve,fatigued by my own failure,all previous years’ zeal turnedto crumbs surrounding my table. Instead I will sweepand, in sweeping, take noteof these archeological layers,the fossils of all these discarded selvesand all I thought I could be: the days I failed myself before sunrise,the anger that burned before the day felt its heat;theContinue reading “New Year”
Advent 5
As a child, it was alwayspure anticipation, the sense of somethingpouring out of a constantlyself-filling source, readying itself solelyfor our delight. Now I keepthe list running in my head of allthat is not yet done, might not be done withoutmy doing. Though gifts still beckon, so toothe slowly nagging sense of somethingthat must be filled,Continue reading “Advent 5”
Advent 3
So rare the still point.We must come backto the same place in tinystolen moments to seehow grace grows in spite of us.Infinitesimal changesslowed and tardied by oursenseless flurryyet growing all the same.The child gift grew with Mary’s Yes;may I be quick to slow to You,to give my Yes to Your life in me.
Waiting 7: Huldah
When the king, garments torn with grief at the broken law,sent messengers to me in hopes of hope,I thought at first, Have you come to me, notJeremiah, looking for a mother insteadof a firebrand? It mattered little.You cannot soothe a fire with lullabies,can only shout loud and clear that the whole town might hear.For sometimestheContinue reading “Waiting 7: Huldah”
Waiting 4: Miriam
Forty decades in the desert and we were worn down, weary from our weakness, despairing of doubt,catching past only in fragments like morning manna: a whiff of Egypt’s garlic, a vague floating thought of dangerslurking like crocodiles in the Nile.Some fragments heavied us with the burdens of their memories: water bursting angrily from rock,rebellions andContinue reading “Waiting 4: Miriam”
Resurrection Bread: A Holy Week Poem
This week, in the lead-up to Easter, my personal thoughts about the Resurrection found themselves expressed in the form of a sourdough starter that I was growing from scratch. Each day I wrote a five-line reflection on the process. While Jesus’ death and resurrection is of a scale far bigger than anything growing in aContinue reading “Resurrection Bread: A Holy Week Poem”
The Consolations of Writing 