Author Archives: Rosalind C Hughes

Unknown's avatar

About Rosalind C Hughes

Rosalind C Hughes is an Episcopal priest, poet, and author living near the shores of Lake Erie. After growing up in England and Wales, and living briefly in Singapore, she is now settled in Ohio. Rosalind is the author of A Family Like Mine: Biblical Stories of Love, Loss, and Longing , and Whom Shall I Fear? Urgent Questions for Christians in an Age of Violence, both from Upper Room Books. She loves the lake, misses the ocean, and is finally coming to terms with snow.

Spring in Michigan

It’s day two of the Festival of Faith & Writing. So much to think about, process, reflect upon, enjoy. But halfway across the parking lot at lunch – in the middle of a day that began in the freezing temperatures … Continue reading

Posted in other words, poetry | Leave a comment

Early morning prayer

The expression of light before it breaks: a black sky open to distant heavens; the shocking nudity of pale tree limbs displayed against a deep cloud canvas. Within and without lie in such balance for a moment I can see … Continue reading

Posted in poetry, prayer | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Savasana

Empty clothing, deflating dust with bone fastenings, faded and stained, deeply wrinkled enough to bury life within the folds, rolled up like a mat and carried out when the last breath fails and the softness falls upon itself.

Posted in poetry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Year C Easter 3: pass the mashed potatoes

A sermon for the third Sunday of Easter at Epiphany, Euclid. We have just heard the story of the conversion of Saul/Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Jesus tells Saul, who … Continue reading

Posted in sermon | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saved and unsaved

It is a variation on that old question of what to save from the burning house. This morning, my middle cat, not the most grace-filled of creatures, landed unexpectedly in my cup of tea while I was working at my … Continue reading

Posted in other words, prayer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bearing

Smattering laughter, sundry small-talk dies away. Grasping brass handles, shoulders square. The slightest stumble, scant genuflection; the body pays its respects to the shocking weight of mortality.

Posted in poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

Sabbath sunrise in suburbia

In the dying of the dark, quiet resounds: a cat rasping food from her bowl; the whining clamour of electrical connections picked up by the antennae in our teeth. Dawn shatters on street lamps, security lights. Shadows decline over the … Continue reading

Posted in meditation, poetry | Tagged | Leave a comment

It’s no joke

I nearly didn’t go this morning. I have too many things to juggle between now and tomorrow’s noon wedding and the flight to a family funeral to follow. Still, they haunted me and hounded me out of the door. They … Continue reading

Posted in current events | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Easter 2016: seeking the living

Why do you look for the living among the dead? These angels are irrepressible! The women are on their faces on their ground in fear, and the angels, instead of telling them, “Do not be afraid,” are giggling and teasing … Continue reading

Posted in holy days, sermon | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Good Friday: venerating the cross

This seems like a good time to remember that Jesus did not invent the cross. That cruel intersection of brutality and labour came from no divine inspiration, but rather from the same spirit that haunted prisons like Abu Ghraib. It … Continue reading

Posted in holy days | Leave a comment