In the Beginning
In the quiet of this morning I recall the prayer and gestures of the priest as he stands ready at the lectern before reading a gospel narrative each week. I make the sign of the cross on my forehead and say, dear God, may your Word be upon my mind; and then the gesture again […]
Courage Unparalleled – Dec. 24, 2021
She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’She did not submit with gritted teeth, raging, coerced.Bravest of all humans, consent illumined her.The room filled with its light,the lily glowed in it, and the iridescent wings.Consent, courage unparalleled,opened her utterly. –Denise Levertov, from her poem Annunciation
Roads of Light – Dec. 21, 2021
Aren’t there annunciationsof one sort or anotherin most lives?Some unwillinglyundertake great destinies,enact them in sullen pride,uncomprehending.More oftenthose momentswhen roads of light and stormopen from darkness in a man or woman,are turned away fromin dread, in a wave of weakness, in despairand with relief.Ordinary lives continue.God does not smite them.But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.…. […]
Annunciation
by Denise Levertov We know the scene: the room, variously furnished, almost always a lectern, a book; alwaysthe tall lily.Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,whom she acknowledges, a guest. But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentionscourage.The engendering Spiritdid not enter her without consent.God waited. She was […]
