Lord , let your love come upon me.
The saving help of your promise.
Help me to understand and to see.
To give more and worry less.

As usual the night time waking started badly.
Worrying about what was going wrong.
Then I started praying for a dead colleague slowly.
He hadn’t been a friend , he sang a different song.

But all this really helped.
We do not entirely exist.
We are with all of humankind shaped.
We are not whole we are like a vanishing mist.

I started to calm down.
And lay my head down.

……

Lord , let your help come
The saving help of promise
For this and all time

…….

See Psalm 119

High above all the nations is the Lord.
Above the heavens his glory.
The satellites flying above are the heavens signboard.
They reveal our solar system’s story.

Back to back I looked at 2 programs during an evening’s course
The dead planet Mars and the blue planet earth.
This is our most precious resource.
Let’s preserve ourself from dearth.

The elephant struggles from drought.
The seals from too much melting water.
There can be little doubt.
We must look after this planet or they are led to the slaughter.

But how it is all so inspiring .
So we must start caring.

…….

High above nations
The satellites do circle
And they reveal all

……

See Psalm 112

Don’t you see that It is those who rely on faith.
Who are the sons of Abraham.
Faith comes and goes like a wraith.
But we can only wait for it like a willing lamb.

Do not be afraid.
Is mentioned apparently 365 times in the bible.
A thought for every day of the year usefully  laid.
This is reassuring truth, and is no fable.

We need not fear.
We can hope.
No need to shed a tear.
To heaven we can climb the celestial rope.

The glass can be half full in our thought.
In worrying it is half empty  we do not need to be caught.

……..

Do not be afraid
A thought for every day
If we allow it

……

See Galatians 3 : 7-14

 
Proclaim the message.
Refute falsehood , correct error.
What does all this presage.
Are we free from all terror.

The long night passed.
If not in terror then depression.
Then we wonder if we are cursed.
How can we ease this tension.

By praying to the saint, not focusing on  ourselves.
We are not unique , alone.
We are part of , at one with all the other selves.
Ours is is not the only fear or moan.

How much better I felt, I was whole , one.
Because I was part of everyone.

…….

We are not unique
Yes we are but we are more
We’re humanity

……

See  2 Timothy 4: 1-5

She had a sister called Mary who sat down at the Lord’s feet.
And listened to him speaking.
Do we sit close to his seat.
Or do we keep working.

Are we a Martha
Or a Mary.
All in a tither.
Or not worried, airy.

Martha , the Lord said.
You fret about so many things.
Anyway our souls are read.
Whether nobodies or kings.

Mary we know chose the better part.
And if we have any sense we will take her part.

….

Do we keep working
Or do we start listening
We know the answer

….

See Luke 10 : 38-42

Who is my neighbour.
Which of these proved himself to be a neighbour.
We must carry on our spiritual Labour.
Putting faith in our saviour.

On October 7 th we ask who is my neighbour.
My neighbour is everyone.
Who cares for all in love’s labour.
Who knows we are one.

Peace can come
If we do not hate.
If we do not turn away but welcome.
It is not too late.

Yes it is not too late.
For peace it is never too late

…….

Who is my neighbour
Is it the one who passes
Or the one who stops

…….

See Luke 10 : 25-37

They are no longer two.
But one body.
Loved through and through.
Faithful, steady.

The great reward.
Of a long marriage.
In not cutting the cord.
Is the future, let’s not it disparage.

It is the gift of children.
Yes certainly.
But even more so of grandchildren.
Eventually.

Sharing them.
Loving them.

…….

They are no longer
Two but one body together
The hope of future

……

See Mark 19 : 2-15

I have been holding forth on matters I cannot understand.
On marvels beyond my knowledge.
I am as a dead hand.
I lack all self knowledge.

I know only by hearsay.
In dust and ashes I repent.
Far from the sun’s warming ray.
I can still start my ascent.

Job rose again from ashes.
From disaster he was redeemed.
I only have his faith in flashes.
But in hope I have dreamed.

But Job is not anyone.
He is everyone.

…….

Can we understand
Marvels beyond our knowledge
Yes surely we can

…….

See Job :42

Pity me , pity me.
My friends.
For the hand of God has struck me.
Where are my friends.

Why do you hound me  like God.
Will you never have enough of my flesh.
Soon I will be nothing , just under the sod.
Caught in death’s impenetrable mesh.

Ah, would that these words of mine were written down.
Inscribed on some monument with iron chisel.
How often in adversity do we feel so down.
Finding little solace even in God’s epistle.

Job says , my avenger does live.
But we know eventually he will thrive.

..  ……

Job says pity me
The hand of God had struck me
Know that he will thrive

….

See Job 19 : 21-27

May the day perish when I was born.
And the night that I was conceived.
Job is distraught, torn.
But his faith is redeemed.

St Therese delights in the little things.
That still bring  great love.
Eternity sings.
Coming and going, a fluttering dove.

I was at the small mass in the seminary.
Nothing grand but a great sense of peace.
Moving, for all that the feeling is temporary.
But no matter we try again and again without cease.

She died young .
But her song of love she has sung.

……

If you are not great
Just remember St Therese.
Remembered always

……

See Job 3

The house fell in on the young .
They are all dead.
We have to climb faith rung by rung.
We must search, we are not led.

I am always struck by the faith of Job.
In the face of unimaginable suffering.
I could never put on this intense faithful robe .
Or avoid start blaming and wailing.

But Job is an ideal.
We can learn if we cannot follow
We can not match this zeal.
After all our faith is timid, hollow.

But for him  all came out right .
Because he knew what was right.

…….

Can we follow Job
No probably we cannot
But then we can try

…. ..

See Job 1 : 6-22

If anyone gives you a cup of water.
He will most certainly not lose his reward.
But earn his imprimatur.
And will come closer to the Lord.

I am at the church of St Gabriel’s.
For his patronal  feast.
I pray not just for the archangel but all Gabriels  ,Michaels and Raphaels.
On this their great feast.

Do angels exist.
One is looking after us now.
Even if we cannot pierce the celestial mist.
But they are at all our shoulders through every high and low.

None are against us.
But all for us.

…….

Do angels exist
Yes they do if we believe
And always for us

……

See Mark 9

Cast worry from your heart.
Shield your flesh from pain.
It’s a start.
And we’re in the right lane.

As I leave Buckfast.
I ask why am I so happy on retreat.
I leave the monastery , it doesn’t last.
Perhaps because I’m no longer sitting at the Lord’s seat.

Is one happy there
Because one’s heart is filled with God’s teaching .
Not cluttered by the world’s care.
But always searching.

That’s why I continue to seek.
It’s not just about being meek.

……

Cast worry from heart
And shield your flesh from all pain
That at least to start

…….

See Ecclesiasties 11: 9-12

Give me neither riches nor poverty.
Only my share .
Nor happiness or misery.
Only that I should care.

I was praying to Padre Pio.
That during the night my leg should stop aching.
I realised that I had mused the point In my woe.
The point was that praying my leg would stop hurting.

Wasn’t to stop the aching.
It was to get me to start praying.
Now the Father could start listening.
And I could start dreaming.

When we pray for something.
We get not what we want but that is not nothing.

……

Give not what I want
But what I really need
The point of prayer

……

See Proverbs 30: 5-9

The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said ask God for a sign.
From the depths of Sheol or the heights above.
Where we ask is our shrine.
And where is our true love.

I woke in the middle of the night.
All at last seemed clear from that still moment.
One needn’t endlessly question what is right.
To accept is to be content.

And the other great truth is this.
All that really matters is  love.
Frankly everything else you can safely miss.
Because it comes from down below not above.

Sheol , a deathless underworld is not for us.
Hope and heaven lie waiting for us .

…….

We ask for a sign
It’s from below or above
It just comes from love

……

See Isaiah 7: 10-14, 8 : 10

No one lights a candle to cover it with a bowl.
Or put it under a bed.
Do we search for our transcendent soul.
As we seek our daily bread.

The Anglican service was ending.
Delightful, traditional.
But just words unending.
And I had not felt the call.

But then at the end of the service.
We sat in silence praying.
Here at last I felt grace.
And a deeper understanding.

You cannot approach a service rationally.
You have to do so emotionally.

…….

The service ending
We just sat there in silence
With abundant grace

….

See Luke 8: 16-18