OF YOU MY HEART HAS SPOKEN

  "Give me a blade of grass" he said, "and I'm in heaven." And gesturing towards the abundance of grass in Ballyloughan, the variety of nature surrounding us, he continued in admiration, "we have all of this!" What a holy and good attitude to life. We had never met before, though I knew his parents and we are from Mervue. He recognised me from facebook and just wanted to say hello. It was one of those blessed and uplifting encounters and, like me, I suspect he is drawn to solitude. It is easier to be alone than to be with people, the obligations that arise from simply being with another. It is easier and yet it is harder. Harder, because we in solitude we can become our own burden and so, it is essential to get out of ourselves, out into nature, out into encounters with other people who save us from ourselves. And also, because we have something to offer to the other, whether we realize it or not. How to marry the two. The solitude that is deeply...

I have praised The wonder of God's creatures With little thought For the design of crows Until now In this wild Seashore sanctuary The thrill frill Of outstretched wings Flapping elegance Like Joni On the cover Of Hejira Skating on ice Beautiful blackness Rising upon the uprush Of wind My soul in their ascent Uplifted to the highest heavens

 

This is shelter from the Winter rain, oasis in the spiritual desert of the time in which we live, refuge from ourselves and each other. During this brief hour of our day, we look straight ahead. We are a communion of every age and generation, blend of race and colour, a procession of the beautiful moving forward in the direction of Jesus. Everything else is put aside for now. Why would we not avail of this time of respite that clears the soul, the mind, and the heart. Why would we not avail of it and give rest to our busied burdened bodies. The Cathedral is full this Sunday morning, Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, and we are filled again with hope, peace, love, and joy. Outside is America, as U2 sang in ‘Bullet The Blue Sky,’ the America that we have loved, admired, and imitated. The America that was a kind of mother and father and protector of the world order. America now fills us with fear, anxiety, anger and, above all, a profound sadness. We talk of little else and if we talk of...

  "Let the one who is without sin be the first to cast a stone." I am the woman Discovered undercover Caught in the act Exhumed from hiding Beneath skin and flesh The secret desirings Of heart and mind I am the boy Who took refuge there A place of escape And safe solace My habitual habitation I am every one Who exists on the outside The other side of right And there is nothing That will not be revealed In the end And this is my end The law abiding strong Throng my orthodox accuser With only one solution The right of righteousness I am petrified Panic stricken stood bowed Barely able to breathe What will the first Struck stone feel like? What part of me Will bleed and break Before I am all blood broken Bone splintered? I gasp for air For life But God is God The One who alone is Good Stands upright Sees all that I am - ALL - Absorbs me into Himself Bends down So that my bending Now has no more shame in it And the Law  That once was carved In stone He now inscribes  In soil ...