revdrejt1832

“Things fall apart.”

I may be on the edge of copyright law, but I could not resist this recent cartoon in The New Yorker Magazine! These lines (save but the last three words above) I have used many times, over my 40 years of ministry. They come from W.B Yeats’ poem written in 1919 in the aftermath ofContinue reading ““Things fall apart.””

Like Rain it sounded till it curved

Like Rain it sounded till it curved Like Rain it sounded till it curvedAnd then I knew ’twas Wind—It walked as wet as any WaveBut swept as dry as sand—When it had pushed itself awayTo some remotest PlainA coming as of Hosts was heardIt filled the Wells, it pleased the PoolsIt warbled in the Road—ItContinue reading “Like Rain it sounded till it curved”

“The wrong end of the long telescope of Time”

Humming-BirdI can imagine, in some otherworldPrimeval-dumb, far backIn that most awful stillness, that only gasped and hummed,Humming-birds raced down the avenues. Before anything had a soul,While life was a heave of Matter, half inanimate,This little bit chipped off in brillianceAnd went whizzing through the slow, vast, succulent stems. I believe there were no flowers then,InContinue reading ““The wrong end of the long telescope of Time””

“Washing away all the lines”

If only we could enjoy the beauty of the earth, land and ocean, without borders. These manmade lines somehow demarcate what is home and what is foreign. I love Luci Shaw’s poem Cosmos which dreams of a seamless world and imagines the rain washing away all the lines we have drawn and redrawn over theContinue reading ““Washing away all the lines””

Change

Change Change Said the sun to the moon, You cannot stay. Change Says the moon to the waters, All is flowing. Change Says the fields to the grass, Seed-time and harvest, Chaff and grain. You must change, Said the worm to the bud, Though not to a rose, Petals fade That wings may rise BorneContinue reading “Change”

Ailsa Craig

As promised a little while ago, I now return to another poem of John Keats. It has been commented that “unlike other works by Keats that focus on romantic themes and personal experiences, To Ailsa Rock delves into natural phenomena, presenting an objective and timeless perspective. The poem’s austere language and lack of human emotionContinue reading “Ailsa Craig”

Sunrise

In the midst of war and destruction, the Sun still manages to rise. It never gives up, no matter the darkness of the night or the despair of the heart. Those of us who will gather on Easter Day to sing hymns of Resurrection, have to be conscious of the task we have, to makeContinue reading “Sunrise”

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 late 7th century, and today fragments of this original cross can be viewedContinue reading “A Thin Place”

There was a naughty boy

When we think of John Keats (1795-1821) it is not nonsensical verse that comes to mind. We might think of his Ode to a nightingale or Ode on a Grecian Urn. His poem To Hope has the line – “O let me see our land retain her soul, Her pride, her freedom; – Perhaps thatContinue reading “There was a naughty boy”

“Tossing their heads in sprightly dance”

It is once again that wonderful time of year when daffodils abound. The photo above is Ullswater Lake in the Lake District in northern England. It was while walking home to Grasmere along with his sister Dorothy, that William Wordsworth enjoyed the sight of a host of golden daffodils. In fact it is Dorothy whoContinue reading ““Tossing their heads in sprightly dance””