Category Archives: prayer

A prayer for the earthbound

Posted on May 12, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

As deeply as he descended among the dead, plumbing Hell and Hades,the limits of human horror too easily imaginedby the earthbound; so far he invites us to soar beyond our petty promises of punishment and death, to life beyond the … Continue reading →

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

Prayer for an end to mass shootings

Posted on May 1, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

My God,can we not go one week,sabbath to sabbath,without a mass shooting? Will you not beatour pistols into ploughshares,our shotguns into shovels,our rifles into rakes,massage some feeling intoour hearts of stone? I sigh, open my eyes;the mirror stares back in … Continue reading →

Posted in current events, gun violence, poetry, prayer | Tagged | 1 Comment

Sore wounded

Posted on April 18, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

First purple, then green new leaves unfurl as though winter had never been; veined and vain, they bear no marks of last year’s deer, no signs of decay. This is not the resurrection of the dead; this is a conjuring … Continue reading →

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

Call to prayer

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

It was only a minute and a half into that Palm Sunday service that I heard it for the first time: a single, swift, unmistakably electronic “beep”. Continue reading →

Posted in prayer, story | Leave a comment

The midwives

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Afterwards, whenthey found you again,did they use their ointments, spices, clothto bandage your wounds? Hairline scratches from the halo of thorns; how did you bear the grass beneath your feet? Midwives of the body,did they wipe your hands with aloe,wash … Continue reading →

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

Washed in the word

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Beside a lake melted into being by glaciers I bathe my feet in your word made water – the fluidity of creation – dry them in the sand, scourings of the land eroded, as all flesh, remade asa million grains … Continue reading →

Posted in holy days, meditation, poetry, prayer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How I discovered that I have no sense of smell

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

if my devotions appear lacking or incomplete,
charge it I pray to my imperfect property,
and not to my intent. Continue reading →

Posted in holy days, lectionary reflection, meditation, poetry, prayer | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Holy Saturday

Posted on March 27, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Sealedin a tomb innocentof inscription, the stoneworn smooth by centuries of rain, the tears of heaven shedfor this, the day of dereliction, God’sChrist is dead;his body, unanointed, plumbsthe depths of human dissipation,And will he find me there,*buried in my own … Continue reading →

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

Hear my prayer

Posted on March 24, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

The lake has melted. Sand and shale
strewn by the winter floes litter the beach.
I pick out the pebbles that hint at a heart
of stone. My prayers are rocks
thrown heavenward; Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, prayer | Tagged | Leave a comment

Ash Wednesday comes around again

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Rosalind C Hughes

Ashes line the grate after the great snow storm. Chill strikes down the chimney; a ghost stepping over the grave of last night’s fire. Ashes lift and shiver, settle and sigh, whisper to the warm wood tales of passion; eagerly, … Continue reading →

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