trust – The Consolations of Writing

Pruning

Against expectation, thisSpartan clipping makes spring flourish more,this cutting back to bones,to bare knobbly knuckles makesgrowth more abundant when it comes.And so we bearthe naked cruelty of these bare days,knowingagainst all experience,trusting againstbarren winter feeling,enduring againstthe buckling in our bones that wants to fall.

Lent: The Wait, the Weight 1

Waves drag, anchor fails – my God my God why In this torpor, what lifts? The heart, bird-like, hovers – an albatross, a vulture? Yet a dove dives deep and holds; it coos what cannot be cried. My God my God why – too heavy for words, yet hands can be raised, barely, above theContinue reading “Lent: The Wait, the Weight 1”

Lent: Man of Sorrows 5

I cannot stop the tide of life: it moves at speeds I cannot calculate; it twists and turns and undulates. It thwarts my best paid plans, my stern-set goals. Nothing in this life bends to my will; my trunk is buffeted too bluntly by these waves; my fists smart from clenching atContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 5”

Luke 1: Zechariah and Mary

No surprise, perhaps, that the impossible’s not a boundary for the one who lit stars and sculpted the mountains, watered – drew water from – our rock. Yet unexpected now, this figure in temple, in dreams, beholding and saying what’s seldom been said, more seldom believed: The barren with child? AContinue reading “Luke 1: Zechariah and Mary”

Fourth Candle: Advent is Trusting

See clockwise how the candle-steps arise, New wick ablaze as old wicks stand beside. Some rise in hope with freshness in their eyes, Some simply stand; His Nonetheless abides In hearts that quicken, hearts of smouldering wick. Though Zion is not tall, though nations scoff, The small, the humble, now are tall. Come quick! TheContinue reading “Fourth Candle: Advent is Trusting”

Nocturne

Give – at the bending of the knee, at the turning-down of the sheets, at the folding of the hands in sleep – give, receive and rest. Give the day: its unresolved agonies, its fragments, its drafts and all the things we’d best forget. Give, and let it sleep. Receive: theContinue reading “Nocturne”

Psalm 131: Humility and Submission

Yesterday I posted a poem based on the beautiful Psalm 131. It is one of the shortest psalms in the Bible, yet one which I have found particularly comforting at times of emotional and psychological distress. Today I am posting a recording I have made of a new musical setting of Isaac Watts’ hymn basedContinue reading “Psalm 131: Humility and Submission”

Lent 40: Palm Sunday

This is the day that the Lord has made: My soul is weary; my heart is faint. This is the righteous gate of the Lord: I hear the slander of many. The Lord has done this; it is marvellous to our eyes: My life is consumed in anguish. O Lord, saveContinue reading “Lent 40: Palm Sunday”

Catechism 10

What does God require in the fourth and fifth commandments? Fourth, that on the Sabbath day we spend time in public and private worship of God, rest from routine employment, serve the Lord and others, and so anticipate the eternal Sabbath. Fifth, that we love andContinue reading “Catechism 10”