Finished in the New Creation The flourishing hand of Bach, interweaving the sum of his works, leaves unfinished his Art of Fugue, interrupted, solely, by the glory of God. The measureless hand of Coleridge, dreaming an early work, leaves unfinished his Kubla Khan, interrupted, perhaps, by the person from Porlock. The impressive hand of Turner, … Continue Reading
The Hostage Deal Between the rolling of the stone and the crying of the name came the agonising. Shuddering, Jesus stares into the tomb, Making a deal with death in the depths. A greedy exchange is strangely agreed: Lazarus comes out and he will go in, The prize of life for the price of death. … Continue Reading
Mandela Beyond Imagining by Graham Kings Before nineteen eighty six, theology in the Reformed Church was mistakenly myth-taken, double Dutch and in a State. People on whom God had set his stamp were stamped upon; That which God had joined together, man put asunder. Then came pressure from the Spirit through the Word, through the … Continue Reading
The Vestry Busy, anxious, checking, calming Dressing, processing, light bearing Waiting, announcing The aisle Silence as the full church waits The silence deepens, becomes experience of itself Attentive, expectant, delight brimming over, flowing into waiting The nave Candles burn, choir poised, parents proud, daughters excited The story is repeated Hodie Christus natus est … Continue Reading
The child enters the world in pain The mother’s cries giving way to his own Blood absorbed in animal stained straw Smells of life and death, Beginning and ending Surround him from the first. There is nothing simple about This birth This child No simple joy No simple story No easy beginning No easy ending … Continue Reading
the cup holds all things my hopes, my dreams is it empty or full? the cup holds all things the stuff of life that overwhelms filled to the brim what if it spills? the cup holds all things the wrath which will save me if I drink will I stand? the cup holds all things … Continue Reading
Pentecost Prose Poem by Graham Kings It seems to me that the Holy Spirit may appropriately be called ‘He’ or ‘She’, but not ‘It’, for the Spirit is profoundly personal not a simple force. For a change, let’s try ‘She’. She bubbles like a spring, tumbles like a waterfall, meanders like a river and welcomes … Continue Reading
S. T. Coleridge: Religious Thinker by Mary Anne Perkins republished with permission from The Cambridge Companion to Coleridge (Cambridge: CUP, 2002), pp. 187-199 the first part of a Fulcrum series of Eminent Anglicans of English Literature The categories according to which Coleridge’s various admirers and critics have represented him often appear irreconcilable: he has been … Continue Reading
Eminent Anglicans of English Literature A Fulcrum series in partnership with Cambridge University Press Over the next four months we shall be republishing, with permission, essays on the religious views of four eminent Anglican writers: John Donne (1572-1631), poet, preacher and Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), poet, lexicographer, critic, and biographer. S. … Continue Reading
Song of the Messiah Jesus, the Seed of Abraham, blesses the nations; Jesus, the Prophet like Moses, frees the oppressed; Jesus, the Lord of King David, leads his people; Jesus, the Servant of the Lord, suffers and saves; Jesus, the Son of Man, destroyed and raised. Anglican Church of Kenya, Our Modern Services (Nairobi: Uzima … Continue Reading