T.S. Eliot’s Ash Wednesday – Analysis & Reflection by Ron Dart
Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?
Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is
nothing again
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice
And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us
Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.
Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
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Nothing can be farther from the truth than the facile belief that God only manifests himself in progress, in the improvement of standards of living, in the spread of medicine and the reform of abuses, in the diffusion of organized Christianity. The reaction from this...
Wave of Sorrow – U2
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"The hand of the Lord was upon me And He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord And set me down in the middle of the valley And it was full of bones. And He caused me to pass among them round about ...
Pay by Chris Janzen
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Intrest (working title) Sullen corporate beggarscut throatsin their quest for dollarslooking for buried treasurein the flesh of those struggling to surviveswollen fingers proddingswollen belliesfor pennies they do not haveIt's a matter of interest on...
Walter Brueggemann’s 19 Theses
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St. Isaac the Syrian – Homily 60
If a man readily and joyfully accepts a loss for the sake of God, he is inwardly pure. And if he does not look down upon any man because of his defects, in very truth he is free. If a man is not pleased with someone who honors him, nor displeased with someone who...
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Recently I have been hearing a lot about people with titles of ‘spiritual father’ or ‘spiritual mentor’ or, conversely, about someone being a ‘spiritual son’ or being ‘under cover’ of someone in the church. Also along similar line of thinking, there has been a...
All Stories Tear by Brita Miko
There is the scream. The scream so loud it will be the last word. The scream so loud it will render the man mute. The scream so loud the man will die. You cannot release such a cry and survive. You can only release such a cry if it is the last thing you do. You...