Lord God, Batter my heart, Knock, breathe, shine in me, mend me. So that I might have victory, Overthrow me, break me, blow, burn in me, And make me new. Amen. – John Donne 1573–1631AD. English poet and pastor.
We thank Thee, Lord,That of Thy tender grace,In our distressThou hast not left us wholly comfortless. We thank Thee, Lord,That of Thy wondrous might,Into our nightThou hast sent down the glory of the Light. We thank Thee, Lord,That all Thy wondrous ways,Through all our days,Are Wisdom, Right, and Ceaseless Tenderness. . – John Oxenham (1952-1841) (Novel writer, journalist, poet, and…
The mother left the carriage for a minute, and I went over to meet the Holy Trinity living in the baby’s pure soul. It was asleep, its arms carelessly laid on the embroidered sheet. Its closed eyes looked inward and its chest gently rose and fell As if to murmur: This dwelling is inhabited. Lord, you are there. I adore…
All complain that they haven’t enough time.They look at their lives from too human a point of view.There is always time to do what God wants us to do,but we must put ourselves completely into each moment offered now.I went out, Lord. People were coming and going, walking and running. Everything was rushing; cars, trucks, the street, the whole town.Rushing…
I cannot dance Lord, unless you lead me. I can leap with abandonWhen you, Lord, set the song. Then shall I leap into love, From love into knowledge, From knowledge into joy,And from joy to something beyond human experience.There I want to remain, yet You call me to circle higher still. – Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207 – 1282AD)
Weep, weep for those Who do the work of the Lord With a high look And a proud heart. Their voice is lifted up In the streets, and their cry is heard. The bruised reed, they break By their great strength, and the smoking flux, They trample. Weep not for the quenched (For God will hear their cry And the…
Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles in all stipple upon the trout that swim; Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches wings; Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, plough; And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim. All things counter, original, spare, strange; Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)…
We hold before God: those for whom life is very difficult; those who have difficult decisions to make, and who honestly do not know what is the right thing to do. We hold before God: those who have difficult tasks to do and to face, and who fear they may fail in them. We hold before God: those who have…
This much, O heaven – if I should brood or rave, Pity me not; but let the world be fed, Yea, in my madness if I strike me dead, Heed you the grass that grows upon my grave. If I dare snarl between this sun and sod, Whimper and clamour, give me grace to own, In sun and rain and…
Moonless darkness stands between. Past, the Past, no more be seen! But the Bethlehem star may lead me To the sight of him who freed me From the self that I have been. Make me pure, Lord; thou art holy; Make me meek; thou wert lowly; Now beginning, and alway; Now begin, on Christmas day. – Gerard Manley Hopkins…
(A Reflection on Psalm 119) My soul lies cleaving to the dust, Lord, give me life divine, From vain desires and every lust, Turn off these eyes of mine. I need the influence of thy grace To speed me in thy way, Lest I should loiter in my race, Or turn my feet astray. When sore afflictions…