Your brother here was dead.

Your justice I have proclaimed in the great assembly

.

Follow right to the end of the way.
That I mark out and you will prosper.
We have to do this anew every day .
The spiritual horizon the spur.

Listen to my voice.
Then I will be your God.
We only have to make our choice.
Our walking feet well shod.

But they have not listened to me.
Have not paid attention.
They refuse to let their eyes see.
Your  long ago ascension.

I left behind the church on the hill walking .
Attempting as I strode on to increase my understanding.

…….

A far horizon
An old stone church on the hill
And then brisk walking

…….

See Jeremiah 7 :  23-28

That is how my Heavenly Father will deal with you .

But if they ask me what his name is.

 
That is why what fulfils the promise.

It was the stone rejected by the builders.
That became the keystone.
With faith these are the pillars.
We know we are never alone.

I could not sleep.
So I concentrated on breath and scripture.
The effort seemed to work better than counting sheep.
Here was behind closed eyes a calming picture.

What brings joy
It is Lectio Divina
The purest alloy
The most delicate china.

It is a picture into the kingdom.
A country  of so much wisdom.

…….

Where do we find joy
It’s in lectio divina
It’s all so simple

……

See Matthew 21: 33-46

.

I have heard the slander of the crowd.
Fear is all around me.
It’s not necessarily true even if loud.
Best if we neither hear nor see.

But as for me I trust in you Lord.
I say , you are my God.
I keep my reply stored.
Merely giving a polite nod.

Don’t worry about what your enemies say.
Don’t even read it .
Live just for this day .
And remember his holy writ.

How soothing it was to read in mass this psalm.
Suddenly all was calm.

…..

Your thoughts are not you
This life is not permanent
Think on this moment

……

See Psalm 30

Do not treat us according to our sins.

For us our homeland is in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on bad men as well as good.
And his rain to fall on honest and dishonest men alike .
A good rule , the can’t is not as good as the could.
To accept does not mean that you have to like .

The criticism and abuse was wearing me down.
Then I remembered, soon we will be dead and gone.
Everything then falls into perspective, the up and the down.
Who then will remember or care when we are gone.

What did he say, love your enemies.
And pray for those who persecute you.
Think not of decades but centuries.
And not of ours but the other crew.

In all a sense of proportion.
Avoids so much distortion.

…….

Love those who love you
Well that is all so easy
It’s the other bit that hurts

……

See Matthew 5 : 43-48

Anyone who is angry with his brother.
Must answer for it before the court.
We just have to accept every another.
And make sure , before it erupts , our anger is caught.

Yesterday I stood in the basement of an office in Westminster.
I was standing in a trickle of water .
It was the Tyburn River.
My thoughts passed to where the gibbets were.

Here a comfortable modern office block.
Then the martyr’s  rope and misery.
Thus flows time’s unregarding clock.
Now just the commuter’s delay, then grave injury.

I thought back to these words , forgive your brother.
Hardly surely too much bother .

……..

Forgive your brother
Surely that’s not hard to do
But it really is

……..

See Matthew 5 : 20- 26

Remember Lord , reveal yourself .

At the time of our distress.

This is a wicked generation, it is looking for a sign.
The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah.
Four times the Gospel mentions the word sign .
Am I searching for a sign .

Is it because at first we duck our mission.
Then sometimes we relent and do our duty.
Is this the true lesson.
We will be alright, we can find true beauty.

But what is our mission.
What are we required to do.
How will we find fruition.
They who do are so few.

Help me find my resolve.
Before I  finally dissolve.

…….

The sign of Jonah
But then what is Jonah’s sign
Ah I wish I knew

…….

See  Luke 11: 29-42

Yes , if you forgive others their failings.

I have not come to call the virtuous .

Then will your light shine like the dawn.
And your wound be quickly healed over .
Forgiving love is like a sword drawn.
A new  limitless Passover.

Is that what you call fasting.
Is that the sort of fast that  does please.
My fast is so inadequate , hardly testing.
Almost  I’m afraid quite a breeze.

I have promised to give up social media.
At least not reading all the hate .
There’s just too much multimedia.
And so much which does grate .

We can’t always do what’s right.
So we use try and know what’s right.

……..

How much should we fast
Whatever we can manage
There is a balance

…….

See Isaiah 58: 1-9

 
Man who is merely a breath.
Whose life fades like a shadow.
Even content, ours is merely a living death.
Now we are above , soon we will be below.

For anyone who wants to lose his life will save it.
But anyone who loses his life for my sake will save it.
As so we know we will be lifted from the pit.
As long as we attempt to follow his writ.

How these words of his revive me in setbacks.
Even today they helped  me .
Despite all the many kickbacks .
Now I feel more clearly can I see.

So there will always be disappointment.
But we must not fall prey to resentment.

………

So our life passes
Like a shadow ,a mere breath
But then is reborn

………

See Vespers of Today , Psalm 143 and Luke 9 : 22-25