In the darkest night
it is not possible to believe
that light will come.
Because light has come before,
doesn’t mean it will again.
Hold faith tonight
for those who see the darkness
stretch before them -
who know no other truth than that -
whose barren-ness prevails,
who are buffeted by despair,
who cannot breathe for fear.
Join your prayer to God’s:
let there be light.
“It has to be dark for the stars to appear” (unknown)
(Picture: Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes)
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
(Wendell Berry)
There is something wonderfully comforting about this poem – despair and fear give way to peace, grace and freedom in a few short verses. Perspective is good 
Picture is ‘flight from above’ by Jonny Baker on Flickr
There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.
(William Stafford, The Way It Is)
I found this while blog hopping and it appealed to me.
What is your thread? What runs through your life, your relationships? Does your thread encourage and motivate you? Does it keep you grounded no matter what life throws at you?
We all need something to hold on to, something eternal and timeless.
“Three things last for eternity: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13)
(Image is ‘follow the path’ found here)
Today – a short quotation from Rabindranath Tagore
I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power – that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in silent obscurity. But I find that Thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.
Seemed appropriate for January… and hopeful for those who have reached the end of their rope!
Photo is “beyond” by Jonny Baker on Flickr
Last year was a difficult one and I really lost momentum – not just with the blogging.
So to get me back into blogging, here is a beautiful piece called “The Singing of Angels” by Howard Thurman – some last echoes of Christmastime:
There must be always
remaining in every life,
some place for the singing of angels.
Some place for that
which in itself
is breathless and
beautiful.
Old burdens become lighter
deep and ancient wounds
lose much of their old hurting.
Despite all the crassness of life,
all the hardness and
harsh discords,
life is saved by
the singing of angels.
(Source: The Mood of Christmas from inward/outward)
Picture is “stained glass angel” by Laura Grisham.
I will sing a new song.
I must learn the new song for the new needs
I must fashion new words born of all the new growth in my life – of my mind – of my spirit.
I must prepare for new melodies that have never been mine before,
That all that is within me may lift my voice unto God.
How I love the old familiarity of the wearied melody,
How I shrink from the harsh discords of the new untried harmonies.
Teach me, my Father, that I might learn with the abandonment and enthusiasm of Jesus,
The fresh new accent, the untried melody,
to meet the need of the untried morrow.
(Howard Thurman)
This is a favourite prayer of mine (because I love to sing and the imagery appeals). Also it reflects my experiences of ministry so far. There have been so many transitions to live through with my congregation in such a short time and I have learned new songs for the new needs.
Sometimes I long for a period of stability – to have time for a melody to get wearied! But maybe it is better to be kept on my toes, to expect the unexpected in the dawn of the untried morrow?
Picture is ‘st cuthbert’s cross’ by Jonny Baker on Flickr
Listen to the Exhortation of the Dawn!
Look to this Day!
For it is Life, the very Life of Life.
In its brief course lie all the
Verities and Realities of your Existence;
The Bliss of Growth,
The Glory of Action,
The Splendor of Beauty;
For Yesterday is but a Dream,
And Tomorrow is only a Vision;
But Today well lived makes every
Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, and every
Tomorrow a Vision of Hope.
Look well therefore to this Day!
Such is the Salutation of the Dawn.
(attributed to Kalidasa - from the Sanskrit)
I came across this poem again today. I have posted it before but it is well worth repeating.
It’s origins are the subject of much debate – it is usually attributed to the Indian scholar and poet Kalidasa who lived sometime around the 4th Century AD but there is doubt over this and it could in fact be an unattributed 19th Century English poem!
But no matter where it came from, it is still a wonderful reminder of the hope that comes with each new dawn and of the challenge to live well every moment of every day.
Hope your Tuesday is a good one
Picture from Dave’s old districtblog
If you were not risen,
Lord Christ, to whom would we go
to discover a radiance
of the face of God?
If you were not risen,
we would not be together
seeking your communion.
We would not find in your presence
forgiveness,
wellspring of a new beginning.
If you were not risen,
where would we draw the energy
for following you
right to the end of our existence,
for choosing you again and anew?
Brother Roger of Taize
A prayer for Tuesday after Holy Week and Easter, for all those who now draw breath and seek rest and renewal.
Those of you following the blog will know that Lent, Holy Week and Easter have happened without me this year. It has been strange observing rather than participating in worship.
It has been a virtual journey through the season for me, following Lenten blogs and observing how others have prepared and participated through their postings on social networking sites.
I have especially enjoyed the posts and comments on Revgalblogpals blogspot and on their Facebook page. And I have stored away some ideas for next Easter. Thanks ladies (and gents too) for creating sacred space in the blogsphere.
After nearly three months of coughing – day and night – it seems to have eased off at last over the past week or so and I am beginning to feel human again! My residual worry is the effect all this coughing has had on my voice which is still rather hoarse, so your prayers for this are appreciated – for obvious reasons!
A belated happy Easter to all, especially the bloggers and posters who have shared the journey with me – without even knowing it
(Photo taken in the Lake District by the Husband)
A memory of Kreisler once:
At some recital in this same city,
The seats all taken, I found myself pushed
On to the stage with a few others,
So near that I could see the toil
Of his face muscles, a pulse like a moth
Fluttering under the fine skin,
And the indelible veins of his smooth brow.
I could see, too, the twitching of the fingers,
Caught temporarily in art’s neurosis,
As we sat there or warmly applauded
This player who so beautifully suffered
For each of us upon his instrument.
So it must have been on Calvary
In the fiercer light of the thorns’ halo:
The men standing by and that one figure,
The hands bleeding, the mind bruised but calm,
Making such music as lives still.
And no one daring to interrupt
Because it was himself that he played
And closer than all of them the God listened.
~ R.S. Thomas
A wonderful poem for Good Friday with thanks to Robin
Photo is ‘thin place’ by Jonny Baker on Flickr
God of spring time
as the frost melts
and the trees bud
may I cross over
from darkness to light
from grumbling to appreciation
from hesitating to striding
from boredom to creativity
from looking down to gazing up
from indifference to your Passion
from chill to warmth and love
in this world and the next.
(found here on beautyfromchaos)
Picture is ‘new life’ by Jonny Baker on Flickr
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