Those wayfarers and you called diaspora
Slaves washed in the blood of the Son
Known by the Father in mother’s womb
Souls of light and life sealed by the Spirit
The One is holy, yourselves also be holy
As the flower of your glory will wither
Know now the Lord’s endurance as your own
A precious thing never knowing shame
That you can rejoice in authentic faith
Know this necessary suffering is purposed
So that the fire might make pure gold
And receive the honor of Christ’s return
You keep this the Word of gospel given
Though not having seen with wakened eyes
Find for yourselves that joy inexpressible!
That foreseen end: a salvation full of glory
The fathers sought this affliction out
By prophecy spoken by our brothers
Virgin sisters suffered much in Christ
For glories mothers martyrs confessed
Christ did come at the appointed time
Both afflication and glory made one in Him
So that the stars’ motion from the first dawn
Might be vindicated in these last times
A promise that your purified hearts keep
In fervent love, that incorruptable seed,
Born again in obedience to truth and Spirit
Knowing the Word of God abides forever
Your former appetites offer no real comfort
That fall was in ignorance born in darkness
Now take a sober mind, gird your loins,
The pillar of fire now draws you to holiness
Drive out hate, and with it the spirit of lies
Care not for the wealth or land of others.
As the pure milk of the word passes your lips
So do not bespoil them by speaking evil.
Having tasted that grace of the Father
Set as more incorruptabile than gold,
Keep yourselves blameless without spoil
And prove His impartial justice in mercy.
May He the living stone of this spiritual house
Rejected by men, but chosen by God
Grant to you the holy priesthood that your
Sacrifice in spirit be made acceptable in Him
This is our living hope raised from the dead,
Preserved in Christ Jesus, perfected by the Spirit
Never fading, ever glorious, most radiant!
The Kingdom Triumphant come to pass. Amen.
An excellent chant, in idiom like the ancient fathers, like Clement of Alexandria, this has been posted on my humble blog, to bless the visitors who might come there to take up and read.
Thanks, brother, for your faithfulness, in writing these testimonies.
Axios ei si kai axioi oi logismoi sou!
Dhoxa to Theo.
You do me the greatest kindness.
I do not dare to call my poetry dogmatic (in the positive sense of the word), but I hope that each poem speaks truly about the One who is Truth. If daring to do so makes me like the fathers I cling to, I will at least admit to being their student; but only that I submit my heart to take correction from those who’ve gone before.
I wish I was a better student of Greek so that I might be more precise when chosing words.
I confess, I want to love my poems; but for now I do not trust my heart. If readers find that I am accurately speaking of the faith delivered once for all and lived by the saints who’ve gone before and come after, then I am at peace. If not, I encourage readers to discard my errors with great prejudice.
Thank you again, brother.
David, am I wrong or is this a paraphrase of a whole chunk of one of the epistles of Peter? No wait – there are things here that couldn’t have come from there. But it reads so like it. I love the natural speech-like rhythm.
Generally I write poetry after reading today’s scripture. It would be impossible to avoid pollination; so rather than avoid it, I embrace it. It affords me a sense that my poetry has borders that protect it from overt delusion.
In this particular case, much of the images from this first pastoral’s opening order my words. It provided the framework for me to write something this long (as you can see most of my poems are much shorter).
I have written new page reflecting on this: Kierkegaard
I really like this. I’ve printed it to take home and go over again.
“Know this necessary suffering is purposed
So that the fire might make pure gold”
These lines called to mind the end of Hopkins “The Windhover.”
David,
Thank you. I’ve started my day with the poem. And it needed a good day with a good word. God has provided the good word through your good words. May He bless you!