This piece was originally written for the Godspace blog to be a part of their Advent theme Proclaiming Justice, Seeking Peace Through Advent. It was published on 21 December 2022 here. All images by Kate Kennington Steer. … And if, as autumn deepens and darkens I feel the pain of falling leaves, and stems thatContinue reading “Blue Christmas 2: light is in the horizon yet”
Tag Archives: mystery
whole: Christmas Eve
BEAUTY CAN SAVE THE WORLD so says the magnet pinned to the front of my fridge. But what does it know clinging to its empty whitewashed tomb? But then as I drive beyond the endless fields of rabbit’s foot and wild rye, I pass a hillside of white tulips—their cotton petals flinging the sunlight backContinue reading “whole: Christmas Eve”
whole: day 26
We were spanked for each other’s sins. Spanked in syllables and by the word of God. Before dark meant home time. My grandmother’s mattress knew each of my siblings, cousins, and the neighbour’s children’s morning breath By name. A single mattress spread on the floor was enough for all of us. Bread slices were butteredContinue reading “whole: day 26”
whole: Blue Christmas 2022
Pity me not because the light of dayAt close of day no longer walks the sky;Pity me not for beauties passed awayFrom field and thicket as the the year goes by;Pity me not the waning of the moon,Nor that the ebbing tide goes out to sea,Nor that a man’s desire is hushed so soon,And youContinue reading “whole: Blue Christmas 2022”
whole: day 23
Of all that God has shown me I can speak just the smallest word, Not more than a honey bee Takes on his foot From an overspilling jar. Mechtild of Magdeburg I wonder if I have to be dead before I can see the whole of God? It isn’t unusual to hear people say ofContinue reading “whole: day 23”
whole: day 22
Though I have never caught the word Of God from any calling bird, I hear all that the ancients heard. Though I have seen no deity Enter or leave a twilit tree, I see all that the seers see. A common stone can still reveal Something not stone, not seen, yet real. What may aContinue reading “whole: day 22”
whole: day 20
Then is it true that you also need us?… … Look: I am giving it to you, this fragment; but how, In your completeness, could you need it? from ‘then is it true’, Helen Tookey Spirit may not always bring my seeingdarkly into the light; sometimes Spirit encourages me to see even more darkly intoContinue reading “whole: day 20”
whole: day 19
There is an elemental love in the universe by which name we know each other and encourage ourselves to live. There is a silver river that connects everything from which some part of us never leaves. There is a mercy making its way up through the ocean of the earth to the shores of ourContinue reading “whole: day 19”
whole: day 17
God loves flesh and blood, no matter what kind of shape it is in. Whether you are sick or well, lovely or irregular, there comes a time when it is vitally important to drop your clothes, look in the mirror, and say, “Here I am. This is the body-like-no-other that my life has shaped. IContinue reading “whole: day 17”
gospel 4: overcome with amazement
I AM with you, remember? So let go: be overcome by all I AM. Cease your weeping, I AM Healing. Cease your commotion, I AM Healing. Cease your attachment to hopelessness, I AM Healing. How else will you hear who I AM? How else will you see who I AM? How else will you recogniseContinue reading “gospel 4: overcome with amazement”
image into ikon 