Our students are in the midst of a beautiful class on George Herbert’s poetic renderings of faith in his book, The Temple.
It just so happens that there is some significant pain and mourning that has come into the group this morning (a good friend of one student was murdered), coupled with great joy (a former Masters students who was paralyzed by a water accident is miraculously walking on his own).
The gift of poetry is it’s capacity to inculcate hope into weary souls through indirect communication.
The following is a poem from me, and then a phrase from George Herbert.
return
free form
in light suspended
graceful return to my infancy
when innocence was my handbag
and playfulness my currency
light around me
every crevice filled
turns to shadows
as the ages pass
my mind so growing
to become someone
distinguished from my peers
by smarter living
now wanting home
to be the child
free form
in light suspended
graceful return to my infancy
“Away, despair! My gracious Lord doth hear….”
From The Bag, by George Herbert
