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Slow Learning

Today I share a blog I posted only a few months ago, in the season of Lent which precedes Easter. It is good to be reminded at times. There are some things we are slow at learning, and forgiveness is one such thing. I hope you agree. There are just too many poems in ScottContinue reading “Slow Learning”

Grasshopper

The last two lines of Mary Oliver’s poem The Summer Day can be found pinned to students dorm walls, stuck to fridge doors, written on School Yearbooks and spoken by corporate keynote speakers. I have used them in sermons over the years. However, perhaps more attention needs to be paid to the earlier lines inContinue reading “Grasshopper”

Sea-Fever

John Masefield was born on June 1st, 1878 in Hertfordshire, England. By the age of six he was an orphan and was cared for by an aunt who tried her best to discourage him from his addiction to reading! He left school and trained for a life at sea. The photo above shows HMS ConwayContinue reading “Sea-Fever”

Alterations!

A few weeks ago I was browsing through the library “stacks” at Webster University, in St. Louis, and I pulled from the shelf a book of Selected Poems by John N. Morris (1931-1997). This was a new find for me and what makes it even more interesting is that Morris taught at Washington University, hereContinue reading “Alterations!”

Rising Out of The Mist

To stand at what might be described as “the worlds great margins” is to stand in the midst of wonder, mystery and beauty of the world. To gaze over the rim of the Grand Canyon, to stand listening to the “smoke that thunders” as the mighty Zambezi river plunges into a vertical chasm or indeedContinue reading “Rising Out of The Mist”

Digging

Seamus Heaney’s first published book of poems was in 1966 and the opening poem in that collection was Digging. The same poem is the opening poem in a much later collection of his poetry entitled “Opened Ground” in 1998. Heaney certainly opens ground throughout his life, as he digs with his pen. As he sitsContinue reading “Digging”

On Waking

In his short book Essentials, the philosopher come poet, David Whyte, writes a beautiful poem which asks us to pause and ponder before we rush into the new day. He draws attention to that moment of waking and what is actually going on within our bodies and mind. In the cover flap of this bookContinue reading “On Waking”

“Look”

Although the Christian Church, of all shapes and shades, of all hues of holiness, has just celebrated Easter Resurrection, sadness still prevails. Our world is in chaos and crisis brought on by our inhumanity to one another. Democratic institutions seem unable and sadly unwilling to be democratic. Therefore, today I am turning on a muchContinue reading ““Look””

“A Thin Place”

The poet Robert Crawford describes the Isle of Iona, in the inner Hebrides, as a place where“spirit, imagination, and physical exertion mingle” The photograph above is of the replica of St. John’s Cross. The original high cross stood on Iona from the the late 7th century, and today fragments of this original cross can beContinue reading ““A Thin Place””

Imagin’d Corners!

John Donne (1573-1631) died on March 31st 1631 – a mere 392 years ago at the age of 58. None of his poetry was published until after his death. A large part of his life was lived consumed by his own thoughts of mortality and death. The last 10 years of his life he wasContinue reading “Imagin’d Corners!”