People were eating , marrying .
Right up to the day that Noah went into the ark.
Future worrying and planning.
Hoping to make their mark.

And the flood came .
And destroyed them all .
And we will be the same.
We will meet the final unclimbable wall.

We were in the All Souls chapel.
In this month of  November.
Praying for the dead in their purgatorial grapple.
And trying to remember.

And then I looked at the West wall.
And thought I. heard my mother’s call.

…..

This month remember
In this month of November
It’s all we can do

………

See Luke 17: 26-37

Within wisdom is a spirit, intelligent , holy.
Unique , manifold ,subtle,incisive, unsullied. active.
Protecting us from all folly.
Objective and reflective.

I am looking at a seagull flying .
It has more sense than me.
It is totally mindful of its job, fish catching.
Not worrying about tomorrow, only what it can see.

We are so wrapped up in ourself.
Not realising tomorrow may not happen.
Soon we may just be a picture on a shelf.
Indeed perhaps soon now, tomorrow will not happen.

Focused on the present tense.
The seagull has more sense.

………

Focused on present
All the seagulls are mindful
They are unlike us

………

See Wisdom 7: 22

Hear this those who have thousands under their rule.
He himself will probe your acts and scrutinise your intention.
If we think we will not be held to account we are a fool.
We will find soon ourself in a different dimension.

Intelligent life might only occur once in our galaxy
Of we are told, 200 billion stars .
We are probably alone in our complexity.
And therefore we should be wary of leaving environmental scars.

I always have wondered that with so many potential worlds.
A Jesus would come to just ours.
But if if there are so very few such worlds.
Maybe he has really just come to ours.

He has given sense to our existence.
Yet many doubt his divine existence.

……….

If we are alone
In this so vast galaxy
Should we not believe

……..

See Wisdom 6: 1-11

God made man imperishable.
He made him in his own nature.
Everything we worry about here is perishable.
But we believe there is another future.

The souls of the virtuous.
Are in the hands of God.
Well it is all arduous.
But we keep trying and remain awed.

In the eyes of the unwise .
Did they appear to die.
But they will eventually rise.
This is surely no lie.

Their going looked like disaster.
But they are surely in peace , they are with the master.

……..

Going disaster
Or it’s a new beginning
That is what we hope

……

See Wisdom 2

Were your faith the size of a mustard seed.
You could say to this mulberry tree , be uprooted.
We do not know where all of this will lead.
And whether our faith will grow or be muted.

I was only half listening to the service recited.
The usual all too familiar words rolled by.
Then my eye caught the eye of Jesus painted.
Then I truly believed , I no longer had to ask why.

Thus just a picture behind the altar .
Turned everything round.
You don’t need prayer book or psalter.
For belief to be raised and to be sound.

I just had to look at Jesus’ last supper.
And faith cut through doubt like a knife through butter.

……..

Look at the picture
Jesus at the last supper
And start to believe

…….

See Luke 17 : 1-6

This water flowing into the sea.
Makes the waters wholesome.
With its healing touch we begin to see.
We need never be lonesome or glum.

I woke to a a light filled feeling.
That doing what we do in our job is okay.
As long as from self we are fleeing.
It’s as if what we do was surrounded by a sun filled ray.

All suffering or dissatisfaction arises from a mistaken understanding.
That we are a separate and distinct self.
We will be happy if we have a true understanding.
That we are not just this our self.

Then the light passed from my self.
As of course I started worrying about myself.

……….

Misunderstanding
Is thinking we’re separate
Leads to suffering

…….

See Ezekiel 47
And the sayings of the Buddha.

If your gift is prophecy then use as your faith suggests.
If administration, then use it for administration.
Land wherever the sum of your abilities rests.
And do so without any hesitation.

It’s extraordinary how better you sleep.
If you think not of your own but others problems.
Our thoughts can run selfishly shallow or generously deep.
We can dwell on solutions or quarrels.

At about four this morning.
I started worrying about my legs aching.
Then I concentrated on my grandmother now for ever resting.
And soon I was sleeping.

And so if we realise we are not distinct.
We may end up not entirely extinct.

…….

If we think others
Rather than always ourselves
We may sleep better

……

See Romans 12: 5-16

When you have a party.
Invite the poor , the crippled, the lame, the blind.
No need to bring out the turkey.
Or fear being declined.

Rationally I do not know if I believe in the Almighty.
But I believe the scriptures.
It’s buried deep in my Psyche.
To accept the word of these descriptors.

But if you accept the Resurrection.
Then you accept that God  does exist.
There will always be this tension.
We find it so easy a witness to resist.

So we keep searching.
And finding.

…….

We ask does God exist
Start by seeking the Scriptures
We may get answers

….

See Luke 12: 12-14

Everything they do is to attract attention.
Like wanting to take the place of honour.
But to ourselves, we need to pay attention.
We are really no more than anyone else any great person of honour.

Why are we so obsessed with ourselves as a whole.
Either we are just a brain’s electric current .
Or an immortal soul.
Either way death is of little account.

So we can relax.
Everything will be alright.
What you see is mere melting wax.
But beneath is a great perpetual light.

So this is not true lasting reality.
Let’s treat ourselves with proportion and sensitivity.

……..

Where is our great light
It is not in our body
It is in our soul

.. ..

See  Matthew 23: 1-12

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.
And the man who humbles himself will be exalted.
Only at our death will all be revealed.
For then no longer will we be tempted.

I like the idea of a village funeral.
In a small church .
With a simple sermon and no life tale.
It’s good enough to have a life that left no one in the lurch.

No memorial service.
No extravagant wake, no adornment.
A gently intoned new order Latin mass would suffice.
With immediate church yard internment.

For those who exalt themselves will be humbled.
And those who humble themselves will be exalted.

…….

Best humble yourself
You might then be exalted
But exalt yourself ?

……

See Luke 14: 1, 7-11

My sorrow is so great.
My mental anguish so endless.
I always seem, in my dreams, to arrive late.
Falling from one into yet another mess.

Then I pray for my parents.
Imagining their loving care .
After  I pray for my grandparents.
How with their love they could wipe away all fear.

Does it help them at all.
Are they even listening.
I cannot know, but after I walk tall.
And then happy, I start sleeping.

They are, I’m sure , all there.
Wiping away every fear and tear.

…….

I pray to parents
Don’t know if they’re listening
But makes me happy

…….

See Romans 9 : 1-5

Their going looked like a disaster.
They’re leaving us , like annihilation.
They can no longer walk with us, either slower or faster.
They are now part of all past and future creation.

They are in peace.
Their hope was rich with immortality.
They are with us without cease.
They have overcome mortality.

God has put them to the test.
And proved them worthy.
They are blessed.
And prayer to them is trustworthy.

When we pray to them without cease
We somehow seem at peace.

………

So have  the dead gone
Or are they still listening
I believe they are

…….

See Wisdom 3 : 1-9

After that I saw a huge number.
Of people from every nation.
We do not know who now looks on God in wonder.
Or what now is their heavenly station

I dreamt of Mame , mere soul or saint, my grandma.
Dead these sixty years.
What joy it gave to meet her from afar.
Wiping away all bereavement’s tears.

Every time my thoughts half waking.
Turned to the world today worrying.
My heart started sinking
And then I felt my grandmother listening.

When we pray to the dead, we thrive.
For in our thoughts they are alive.

…..

We pray to the dead
For to us they are alive
Now and for ever

…….

See Wisdom 3 : 1-9

There are six days when work can be done.
Come and be healed on one of those days.
Not every day can we see the sun.
Or its resplendent rays.

It is good to keep one day special.
And so in our hearts Sunday has a place.
A holy vessel.
A day to imagine God’s face.

With relentless pressure.
Every day passes.
With no leisure.
And work never ceases.

But one day we can keep.
And salvation reap.

……..

Keep one day holy
Not all days need be the same
Take time, have a rest

…….

See Luke 13: 10-17

The Lord told the sons of Israel.
You must not molest or oppress the stranger.
This is the true vision of Israel.
For in the land of Egypt you lived as a stranger.

If you are harsh.
They will surely cry out to me.
You do not need to wade into this marsh.
You need to understand , forgive and see.

Be sure I shall hear their cry.
My anger will flare out.
Is there always a need for an eye for an eye.
Can we not listen rather than with violence shout.

Sometimes retribution  needs pausing.
Or we risk , hurting the innocent with warring.

…..

Oppress not the stranger
For once you were a stranger
Try to understand

….

See Exodus 22 : 20 26

When you see a cloud looming up in the west.
You say at once that rain is coming.
At some stage or other we are all put to the test.
And our chances of redemption are fleeting.

Sleepless during the long night,  I kept reciting.
Happy the man who has placed his trust in the Lord.
But the effect, strong at first, became more fleeting.
Actually I came a bit bored.

It was as if rain had washed away faith’s flood defence
And then I realised it had become just mantra reciting.
I was forgetting the word trust in its sense.
I was just saying, not trusting.

In God I still do enough trust.
Faith dissolves into weary disbelieving dust.

……

It’s trust in the Lord
And the vital word is trust
That’s all that matters

…….

See Luke 12 : 54-59 and Psalm 1

Happy the man who has placed his trust .
In the Lord.
This is not just a may , it is a must.
To carve the way of truth as with an unwavering sword.

He is like a tree planted.
Beside the flowing waters.
Everything just needs to be accepted.
Despite trials from many quarters.

A tree that yields its fruit in due season.
And whose leaves shall never fade.
This is true reason.
Another unwavering blade.

All that he does shall prosper.
Although we say it only in a whisper.

……….

So shall we prosper
If we place trust in the Lord
It is just our choice

……..

See Psalm 1

You too must stand ready .
Because the son of man is coming.
Can we, despite all the stress of life, remain steady.
And we do not know the hour we should be expecting.

If the householder had known.
At which hour the burglar would come.
All would not have been blown.
He could have warned others, sounded the drum.

Happy that servant if the master’s arrival.
Finds him at his employment.
And so there is more than just our survival.
Or mere enjoyment.

We must stand ready.
And steady.

……..

When will he arrive
We do not know at what time
But arrive he will

……..

See Luke 12 : 39-48