“In the respects in which the soul is unlike God, it is also unlike itself.” St. Bernard You were born a poet, slow to affiliations otherwise. You do not belong but to elements and instincts, just the basics, in a place, embodied, of a home and a small handful of people. You were familied, churched, […]
Tag Archives: freedom
“Faith itself sometimes needs to be stripped of its social and historical encrustrations and returned to its first, churchless incarnation in the human heart.” Christian Wiman This day is for the breathing in and breathing out of solemn thoughts and steady prayer. This day is for the walking long and quiet on the trail […]
The child sang free in early years of fading radiance until she learned of ashes and drear of inner substance. This is the great satan we call the use of shame. We glory in our lurching constrictions and holy ordinances, all for fear of life, all for fear of life. What is this mark we […]
I Near yourself to the fire. We will pour the coffee and warm our hands. The plow is on the truck, the tractor is in the barn. Dogs that would otherwise snort off the call indoors are whining for a place to curl and close their eyes. Now, we wait for the snow to […]
I reckoned the hues of autumn upon the house; Robust crimson, muted green, dry gold on russet brown. I brushed with currant, willow, sage and earth in the warm afternoons of October. To obey the night to night visitations of a white dream with a voice persuading “paint!”, I took up with buckets and pollocked my way […]
For a time, we harbor… we live among our own, in bounds of law and whims of culture. There are mores and norms and rituals to observe, for we believe that God inhabits them. In the teaching of children lies the distillation of our substance. A learned scrutiny will reveal our absolutes. Yet, there is […]
James Scott Smith 