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”
Tag Archives: openness
k’s big birthday gratitude project 2
Some of you will have already come across a version of this post or an extract of its content … but there are at least two immediate reasons to repeat myself! The first reason for being especially grateful is that the Godspace blog has been central to my growing confidence as a writer and thusContinue reading “k’s big birthday gratitude project 2”
day 20
In the film Dead Poets Society, Robin William’s character, Mr Keating, provides an aspirational figure for the boys he teaches … In an iconic moment, Keating climbs on his desk, to the bemusement of his pupils, and begins to speak: ‘Why do I stand up here? Anybody … ? […] I stand upon my deskContinue reading “day 20”
day 10
Sometimes, gliding at night in a plane over New York City I have felt like some messenger called to enter, called to engage this field of light and darkness. A grandiose idea, born of flying. But underneath the grandiose idea is the thought that what I must engage after the plane has raged onto theContinue reading “day 10”
day 9
What I fear and desire most in this world is passion. I fear it because it promises to be spontaneous, out of my control, unnamed, beyond my reasonable self. I desire it because passion has color, like the landscape before me. It is not pale. It is not neutral. It reveals the backside of theContinue reading “day 9”
psalms for passiontide: Palm Sunday (Psalm 118.1-2,19-24)
Is this a psalm for a victory parade or a protest march? I can hear the cheerleaders encouraging the onlookers lining the route to join in with the passing refrain: ‘God’s steadfast love endures for ever’. I can hear the warm up act encouraging the marchers’ chants before they set off: “let me hear youContinue reading “psalms for passiontide: Palm Sunday (Psalm 118.1-2,19-24)”
advent apertures 2019: day 23
Light and darkness, night and day. We marvel at the mystery of the stars. Moon and sky, sand and sea. We marvel at the mystery of the sun. Twilight, high noon, dusk and dawn. Though we are mortal, we are Creation’s crown. Flesh and bone, steel and stone. We dwell in fragile, temporary shelters. GrantContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 23”
advent apertures 2019: day 16
It has frequently been remarked, about my own writings, that I emphasize the notion of attention. This began simply enough: to see that the way the flicker flies is greatly different from the way the swallow plays in the golden air of summer. It was my pleasure to notice such things, it was a goodContinue reading “advent apertures 2019: day 16”
image into ikon 