Category Archives: prayer

The Friday Fast: But not consumed

Spare a prayer for the shrub living on cloudbursts and sand; the will of iron would not withstand the attentions of this living fire that melts the ground to glass and on it stands mirrored in its own image kindling … Continue reading

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The Friday Fast: spring snow

Like snow that falls after the daffodils have shown their colours, Friday afternoon slips in at the end of a long, slow week to whisper, “One more fast yet before the Sabbath.”

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The Friday Fast: God remembers that we are dust

An occasional series for Lent 2022 This poem is also found at the Episcopal Cafe

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Shrive vs shrivel

Write me the script for a new heart, O God; 
scratch out a new and shriven, 
unshrivelled spirit within me.  Continue reading

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(Holy Saturday)

How to carry the world’s pain – the cries of the children, the palsy of their great-grandparents confused with the tremors of memory; the subtle, internal turmoil that turns digestion upside down – violence is not a visitor but an … Continue reading

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Yesterday is closer than it seems

Yesterday I walked past a fallout shelter sign in the “historic district” of a run-down part of town, its triune logo sunny against the greying day, repainted, no doubt, as an artefact of interest; but yesterday is closer than it … Continue reading

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What is good news?

God showed me a robin in the snow, so I hung a feeder from my window: so far no one has used it but
the cats live in hope. Continue reading

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Flotsam

There is a thread that ties the sparrowto the hair on the pillow in the morning;There is a straight line from “My thoughtsare not your thoughts,” through,“There are more things …, Horatio,than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”There is some … Continue reading

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A memory in black and white

A memory so ancient, it could be in black and white. I met the vicar on the street, in his white collar. He said, “J’accuse!” He did not.  He said, “It has been too long since you received Communion.” I … Continue reading

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It was the sea

It was the sea,salt and water,the press of the tideand the undertow;the frightening mysteryof jellyfish; the shells,whitewashed tombs yet evidence of enduringbeauty I remember oncewe went outin a rubber dinghy,daring the waves to drown us,and they did.Beneath the boat,I held … Continue reading

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