“Rise Up,” a stained glass window bank by Cbabi Bayoc at the Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion in University City, Missouri. Photo source: Episcopal Church of the Holy Communio In this the second week of Advent, we move ever closer to the celebration of Christmas and the retelling of the story of Christ’s birth.Continue reading “Inside the Miracle!”
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Lo! faithful Virgin
Madonna and Child possibly 1230s Of solemnly hieratic beauty, this is one of only two works that can be confidently assigned to Berlinghiero, the leading painter in the Tuscan city of Lucca. It follows the Byzantine type known as the Hodegetria (“She who shows the way”), familiar from icons that arrived in Italy following theContinue reading “Lo! faithful Virgin”
Kyrie eleison
Suddenly we have arrived in month of December. In the Christian church we are in the season of Advent – the period of waiting and preparing to herald the Good News of Christ’s birth. This season presents us with such a wonderful choice when it comes to poems. Like me, you no doubt have yourContinue reading “Kyrie eleison”
Toy Factory
Today is “Black Friday” and so shopping for Christmas is now in earnest! Stores are crammed full with both goods and people and many will make their way back to their cars with arms laden with gifts which will soon be wrapped and then unwrapped. Toys played with until they are broken or the batteryContinue reading “Toy Factory”
Sleeping Dogs!
I recall fondly the encouragement I was given by a parishioner when I shared with her the desire of one of my sons to have a dog. Perhaps I was foolish to mention this to her, knowing her love of dogs and of how she had several round her at all times. Her comments wereContinue reading “Sleeping Dogs!”
Everything is going to be alright!
This month marks two years since the death of Northern Irish poet, Derek Mahon. Although his life of poetry is well celebrated I have not really come across his writing and for that I am deeply disappointed. Therefore, in the coming months I am looking forward to reading and studying his poetry which spans soContinue reading “Everything is going to be alright!”
Is the soul solid like iron?
In my previous post I shared D.H. Lawrence’s poem Humming-bird when the poet was pondering “some otherworld Primeval-dumb, far back” “Before anything had a soul” As I read his poem I recalled the poem by Mary Oliver in which she asks in the opening line “Is the soul solid, like iron? Somewhere between Lawrence’s imaginationContinue reading “Is the soul solid like iron?”
“Before anything had a soul”
Our neighbors on both sides have a wide array of humming-bird feeders. However in the past week they have removed them and I discovered that they hang them from mid April through mid October after that these majestic, colorful and fast moving birds have moved south to warmer climes! Fortunately, whether it be those feedersContinue reading ““Before anything had a soul””
God’s Grandeur
Having just spent the past few days re-reading some of Keats’s poetry I am reminded of his delight in the beauty in the landscape which he saw all around him as he undertook his long walk through Scotland in 1818. His fellow Romantic poets, Hopkins and Wordsworth were also eager to write about the beautyContinue reading “God’s Grandeur”
1000 days!
In my last post I talked about the walking tour which John Keats took in the summer of 1818. Beginning in the Lake District, in north west England, then north into Scotland along the west coast. Keats stopped to visit the birth place of Robert Burns (1759-1796). He tried to write some lines while inContinue reading “1000 days!”
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 