I awoke this beautiful spring morning to hear the birds at full throttle, giving me an excuse to post a wonderful bird poem by Henry Vaughan, the 17th century metaphysical poet.
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Tag Archives: Religion
Let Me Not Love Thee If I Love Thee Not
In threatening God that he will find another master, George Herbert sounds like a five-year-old threatening to run away from his mother. Deep down, he is acknowledging that he has no choice but to love God.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Affliction (I)", analysis, Doubt, George Herbert, Suffering Comments closed
Dear Son, Far Off, My Lost Desire
I understand more with each passing year what Tennyson means when he says his love “is vaster passion now” and how Hallam is thoroughly mixed with God and nature. Tennyson goes on to say that the moral will of humankind—the “living will” that is the best part of ourselves as a people—can finding footing on this spiritual rock. And that the living water that springs from this rock will “flow through our deeds and make them pure.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alfred Lord Tennyson, death of a child, Easter, In Memoriam, Julia Bates, Spirituality Comments closed
Rise, Heart, Thy Lord Is Risen
I write this the night before our sunrise Easter service where, as members of our church choir, Julia and I will arise before dawn to sing in the rising of the sun/son. No matter how early we get up, George Herbert’s “Easter” reassures us, the Lord is always there before us
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christianity, Easter, George Herbert, Resurrection Comments closed
Faith in the Face of Terrorism
Today I recommend Of Gods and Men (2010), an extraordinary French film that I saw last month. It is about a small community of Cistercian monks in rural Algeria who must decide whether to stay or leave in face of rising terrorism. Good Friday is a good day to write about it since it deals with Lenten themes.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Christianity, Film, Islam, Of Gods and Men, Terrorism Comments closed
A Night Different from All Other Nights
In celebration of the Jewish Passover, which begins Tuesday, I post this beloved poem by Primo Levi, written in 1982, which many people now incorporate into their seder rituals. Knowing that Levi was an Auschwitz survivor gives the poem a special poignancy.
Reading Literature, A Spiritual Practice
McEntyre notes that, in the ancient practice of lectio divina, one sought to maintain “spiritual focus and equanimity” by “reading Scripture slowly, listening for the word or phrase that speaks to you, pausing to consider prayerfully the gift being offered in those words for this moment.” Ditto, the author says, for reading literature.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Abraham Verghese, Christianity, Cutting for Stone, Paul, reading, Spirituality Comments closed
Let He Who Is without Sin Judge Others
Spiritual Sunday Jackie Paskow, a former colleague from the Foreign Language Department, recently mentioned to me a Flannery O’Connor story that had made an impact on her. We normally visit the Paskows on Sunday evenings—Alan is my friend who has cancer—but as we are out of town for the week, I thought I’d send her, […]
Step 1: Become Like Little Children
Spiritual Sunday We are currently in Staunton, Virginia with our friends Brent and Carter Douglass, having journeyed here to watch two Renaissance plays at the replica of the Elizabethan Blackfriars Theater. I will have more to say about the plays later this week. For the moment I share a wonderful poem that Carter has written […]
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Communion", Carter Douglass, Children, Spirituality Comments closed