Weeping prophet with the puffy eyes:I’ve run with men and am at my end.Tell me how you ran with horses;tell me how you stood to run.Prophet sitting in Zion’s rubble:did you see Messiah weepingin the broken city’s puddles?Did He lift you, man of tears?Broken prophet dragged by crowds,did you see heaven’s horses’ flight?Arms bound byContinue reading “Running with Horses”
Tag Archives: Messiah
Palm Sunday
I have been there in the festal throng, the waving of palms, the shouting of Psalms: Hosanna – the highest – hosanna. And I have felt the surge of pride to see my king, as prophesied, come in, triumphantly, astride his Zechariah-steed, and I confess that I have hoped to find what, in the end,Continue reading “Palm Sunday”
Christmas 4: Lully Lullay
Today is perhaps the hardest day of the Christmas season, the day that remembers the story found in Matthew 2 of Herod ordering the murder of all boys under the age of 2. While this is not an aspect of the Christmas story that is often told, it finds a home in an old andContinue reading “Christmas 4: Lully Lullay”
20 Contemplations #20: Enlighten
Arise, shine, for your light has come… (Isaiah 60:1a) Then the Glory opens up, and the exposition begins…after the sheaves of night, the spirals of anxiety, here the triumph of love and the tears of joy – all the passion of our arms around the Invisible!… (Olivier Messiaen) Do you see a star unlike theContinue reading “20 Contemplations #20: Enlighten”
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”
Too Much Light 6: Prepare Your Crowns
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord: the light is blinding and the days are long; the sun confuses us, the bustle deafens. Lord: let us walk. Let’s leave our cars, our homes, our days and walk. The Son has stories brighter than noon, pavilions for theContinue reading “Too Much Light 6: Prepare Your Crowns”
Lent 23: Thursday of Third Week
Son of David, immortal king, why – Shoot from stump of Jesse, how – Anointed one, long-promised ruler – Where is victory? Where your crown? Losing life to save it, why – Eyes bent towards the grave, what for – Die that life may glorious reign – Our minds cannot contain
Lent 16: Thursday of Second Week
What is this day? The lame walk, the blind see, the demons flee – and silent He does not lift His voice to shout. While one reed flaps, the bruised reed stands tall, unbroken; there’s flame still in the smouldering wick – Yet the one who stretched out the heavens with His palms lifts HisContinue reading “Lent 16: Thursday of Second Week”
Messiah
I was not ready: You came when I was sleeping, At my least expected midnight. Reality shook – this veil we call “The way things are”; angels sang And shepherds danced, but I – Exhausted by normality – Dozed while, in a baby’s cry, Four hundred years of silence found Their end-point in this night.
The Wounded Servant (Wednesday in Holy Week)
Sustaining the weary with a word, There were none who would come to him That he would turn aside. Morning by morning his ear awoke To hear the cries of the small and weak, The beaten and the bruised. And beaten and bruised, he turned his back To take their lashes, and turned his cheekContinue reading “The Wounded Servant (Wednesday in Holy Week)”
The Consolations of Writing 