last things – The Consolations of Writing

Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 11

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.” Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. Jonah began by going a day’s journey intoContinue reading “Advent with the Prophet Jonah: Day 11”

Christmas Day: Last Last Thing

After all we have done and left undone,after joy, after grief, after unbelief,after wrapping paper scattered on floor,after food is gone or stashed away,after conversations thrive or starve,after bombs are thrown and names are known,after fire and flood, after duties done,after every going down of Sun,the darkness still has not overcome,the darkness will not overcome.

Advent 23: In Darkness

…he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.(Psalm 143:3 KJV) One Christmas,my brother and I sleeping onfold-out beds in our grandparents’ living room,I found myself awakewell past the usual hour, andmy thoughts like the room plungedin obsessive black, savefor a red electric glow from someunidentified source, I knewContinue reading “Advent 23: In Darkness”

Advent 22: Remember your last end

But for now, in what passes as daylight, remember night: remember those who dwell in night, remember the night that lies before those who fail to remember the light. Remember the absence of memory or light, remember the path out of darkness tonight.

Advent 17: Last Things

The first thing I must ownis that there is no placein a new heaven or a new earthfor the ancient dirtthat clogs my soul,no place for the fetid furythat clings to my speech,nor for the old-as-Cainhatred of brotherthat kills me the momentthat it kills you.

Advent 8: The axe is lying at the root of the trees

Truth be told, we forgot all about the axe.Busy with our landscaping and renovations, weneglected our gardens, all tangles of weedsand fruit trees budding nothing while we poisoned the soil. No surprise to find that it should come to this,the moment of reckoning when our garden would judge.Yet we were golden and glimmering,felt eternal forContinue reading “Advent 8: The axe is lying at the root of the trees”