All discipline seems painful rather than pleasant.
But later  it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
We just need to be here in this moment, present.
In a sense of mindful quietness.

I am reading Lewis’ Out of the Silent World.
Malacandra is a place of peace.
Wars and hatred are finished , furled.
And all races exist  together without cease.

I love it that at death they are simply unbodied.
That the soul just leaves the body.
The soul is immortalised.
Leaving just a dead body.

Only the body dies.
The soul flies.

….

So we do not die
We are simply unbodied
Our soul carries on

……

See Hebrews 12

And Ruth the Moabite said to Naomi.
Let me go into the field and glean. among the ears of grain.
Ruth the truth, she could see.
The true lane.

Ruth the migrant.
Was more worthy.
This we can scent.
She was the least blameworthy.

Why, she asked, have I found favour.
Since I am a foreigner.
But she was a lifesaver.
And ultimately a redeemer.

We can learn from the past
That compassion must last.

……

Ruth was a migrant
Yet still she was more worthy
Perhaps we can learn

….

See Ruth 2

Teacher , which is the greatest commandment.
In the  law.
What will be our own testament
Have we obeyed the law.

You should love your God with all your heart.
You shall love your neighbour as yourself.
The best way to start.
For myself and yourself.

This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like it.
An arch with one pillar would be rent.
Two commandments are needed to make us fit.

Two essential pillars.
Too often forgotten pillars.

…….

Two great commandments
Both based on essential love
Both easily missed

…..

See Matthew 22: 34-40

The wedding feast is ready.
But those invited were not worthy.
How do we keep our own faith steady.
Are we truly trustworthy.

Are we invited to the wedding feast.
Do we just make excuses.
Is our faith little by little decreased.
Do we obey our trustworthy spiritual muses.

The king saw there was a man.
With no wedding garment.
We too are under God’s scan.
In all seasons not just in Lent.

We are invited.
But have we resisted.

……

The wedding ready
And we are all invited
But do we then come

…….

See Matthew 22 : 1-14

Let the little child come to me.
For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.
At mass the children were noisy but now I could see.
Their playfulness comes from heaven.

La basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli is grand.
La Porciuncola is modest .
But all grandeur sinks into the sand.
In St Francis’ humility we can truly rest.

I see the basilica’s towering white wall .
Rising  ever upwards.
The modest stone house wall.
Looks heavenwards.

Which is the true way.
I think we know the right way.

……

The house is tiny
The Basilica is grand
Which is the true way

…….

See Matthew 19: 13-15

He has brought down the mighty from their throne.
And exalted those of humble estate.
Now we never need be alone.
We have entered in our mind a new state.

We all knelt at the consecration.
Adoring the raised host.
The Carabiniere stood to attention.
In Spoletto cathedral none of us felt lost.

But it was Mary’s song.
That struck me profoundly.
Here was the truth for which we long.
We left that place gratefully.

Mary we felt is the mother of God.
And he is here among us, God.

….

Mary, God’s mother
Is thus truly always here
This we surely know

……

See Luke 1: 39-56

The mountains leapt like a ram.
And the hills like yearling sheep.
Behold the holy lamb.
The baby in the womb will leap.

I am standing in front of the Madonna del Parto.
She is heavy with glorious  child, let trumpets sound.
The hope of the world is wonder lo.
No longer in her church , air conditioned museum bound.

The determined angels stand guard.
Her garment under the blue, white for purity.
His fate is truly starred.
All that is gentle but mighty.

All is perfect , symmetrical.
But her face is sad , the future she can tell.

…..

See the Madonna
The genius of Piero
The hope of the world

…..

See Psalm 114

Whatever you bind on earth.
Shall be loosed in heaven.
And whatever you loose on earth.
Shall be loosed in heaven.

I am at mass in Assisi.
I cannot understand the sermon.
But no matter all is sublime in Assisi.
And everything is right with any sermon.

Here the barrier between us and heaven is thinner.
Giotto bears one up to the sky.
Even the crowds seem bearable , thinner.
Here one starts to loosen the earth’s tie.

I knelt before St Francis’ tomb.
Dispelling all woes , worries and gloom.

…….

Quiet in Assisi
A place to ponder and pray
For all is timeless

…..

See Matthew 18 : 15-20

You shall serve him.
By his name you shall swear.
You shall hold fast to him.
There is nothing to fear.

Why do we need fear death’s nothing.
Do we worry about a cut nail.
The body is just nothing.
All that matters is the soul’s eternal tale.

What is the soul.
It is unique and universal.
Devoid of weary bodily toil.
It always was and will be , it cannot fail.

We cannot comprehend it.
It just is the never changing it.

……

What is then our soul
It’s universal unique
Unknown yet it’s true

.. …

See Deuteronomy 10: 12-22

Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.
The conviction of things not seen.
This essential truth strikes to the core.
Of all things seen and unseen.

What for me is the proof of God
Nothing intellectual is satisfying.
First mover , creation by design cannot prove God.
Everything ends in questioning.

But when I enter a church.
I feel something, someone is there.
I do not need in that moment to search.
God’s presence is clear.

There is nothing left to prove.
Or restlessly disprove or approve.

…..

Faith can be hoped for
It does not need to be seen
It just comes to us

….

See Hebrews 11

Five of them were foolish.
And five were wise.
What really do we realise
And what do we surmise.

Are our lamps ready.
We do not know when our bridegroom will arrive .
Is our faith steady.
Does it thrive.

Death may take us.
Ready or not.
But it certainly is for us.
However we tie life’s entangled knot.

The knock on the door does sound.
Death now or later is all around.

……

When will the knock come
Yes the door may be well locked
But death will knock soon.

……

See Matthew 25 : 1-13

O that today you would listen
As at Meribah, not your heart.
To the Lord let us hasten.
And let us make a new start.

By chance in the church praying.
A stillness descended.
The moment would be passing.
But a prayer ascended.

I suddenly felt we are all called.
In our own way a prophet to bear witness.
That prayer had not in vain ascended.
We all have our own particular spiritual fitness.

We may think ourselves worthless.
But in all of us somewhere is a little holiness.

……

Are we just worthless
Or are we sometimes prophets
Maybe yes or no

…….

See Psalm 95

As he was praying.
The appearance of his face was altered.
Shining.
Transfigured.

This whole episode.
So amazing, it would not be invented.
Does it leave us warm or cold.
Is truth here scented.

But a God walking.
Could be transformed.
To us announcing.
Belief restored.

I looked through the window at the light.
Here too God was in sight.

……

They saw God transformed
Or is this just an old myth.
We have to believe

…..

See Luke 9 : 22-36

When the disciples saw him walking on the sea.
They were terrified and said, it is a ghost.
Like them we struggle to understand and see.
In our doubts and toils we are lost.

As I sat in church the atmosphere became heavy.
These feelings come and go.
Rising , falling , lost then steady.
High and low.

I left the church reluctantly.
When will I again believe.
I walked home pondering,
slowly.
When next will I receive.

These are just come and go moments.
With them there need be no torments.

…..,

He was just walking
But doing so on the sea
Is he real or ghost

…..

See Matthew 14 : 22-36

We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt that cost nothing.
The cucumbers, the melons and the garlic.
Moses’ people wanted everything.
They were homesick.

We are never satisfied.
We wander in our own desert.
We want a free ride.
Always seeming to divert.

They said our strength is dried up.
There is nothing but manna to look at.
Even heavenly manna was not good enough to sup.
Everything seemed and sometimes feels flat.

In hope we wander.
Yet still we wonder.

…….

We wander deserts
Questioning complaining
Our promise will come

……

See Numbers 11: 4-15

His work is a vexation.
Even in the night his heart does not rest.
We ask this question.
Where is our hope and our zest.

Who really are we really.
What happens to this consciousness.
What at the end is life’s tally.
Why in our hearts this restlessness.

We worship this body’s presence.
That soon will be dead.
But what truly is our essence.
Are we really existing , are we divinely read.

Vanity of vanity.
All is vanity.

……

This vexation
This our body is alive
But soon to be dead

……

See Ecclesiastices 1

Herod promised with an oath.
To give her whatever she might want.
How can we nurture our spiritual growth.
By never in prayer being in want.

If you start by doing whats right.
Things usually work out for the best.
Just keep an eye on eternal light.
And then you can look forward to your rest .

As I listened to the tale of Herod’s promise.
My faith as usual wavered and recovered.
These insights are not something to miss.
Faith questioned then received.

Here is truth revealed ,
For all our doubts it cannot be denied.

……

We do what is right
Yes it may be difficult
But things just work out

…….

See Matthew 14 : 1-12

A prophet is not without honour.
Except in his home town.
We always look far away for a saviour.
At anyone nearby we tend to frown.

I cannot deny that I question.
I wonder whether God is really here for us.
Who really was Jesus.
Caught by doubting temptation.

Better just to assume.
To take things on trust.
Rather than dissolve into gloom.
Hope is a must.

We are never a prophet in our own country.
Only one in another country.

……

Never prophet here
But in another country
That is just our hope

…..

See Matthew 13 : 54-58

The kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea.
That gathers fish of every kind.
They are caught , like us, they cannot see.
Some indeed may be unkind, others kind.

Men sorted the good into vessels.
And threw away the bad.
Will we end up in the vessels
Or be thrown away with the bad.

I love St Ignatius.
He asks us to retreat.
He understands us.
We can exercise our minds at his spiritual seat.

At the end of the age.
We will know his mercy not his rage.

……

We’re caught in the net
That’s been thrown into the sea
What then is our fate

….

See Matthew 13 : 47-53