Reciting T.S. Eliot’s Ash Wednesday from Memory – Taylor Wilson
Last year Ron Dart suggested that the Contemplative Order of the Sons of the Holy Cross should read and reflect on T.S. Eliot's Ash Wednesday during Lent. I did as was suggested and found the poem was insightful in a manner that I could not grasp immediately (on account of the heavy use of symbolism).
In the spirit of Lectio Divina I decided to memorize the poem so that when I recited it I could dig a little further into the language that Eliot uses. Over the course of months, I did memorize the poem and have been influenced deeply by it. Often I dream of different verses within the poem as I sleep, and my hope is that it has penetrated to levels of my self beneath the level of the conscious awareness.
As Eliot says in Burnt Norton, "It is only by the form, the pattern, that words or music reach the stillness." This year during lent I am again spending time with Ash Wednesday while supplementing the poem with repeated reading of the book of Ecclesiastes supplemented by Gregory of Nyssa's commentary on the book, and Dante's La Vita Nuova, both of which figure prominently in Eliot's Ash Wednesday.
Three-score and Ten: Tribute to Dad by Brad Jersak
Today I asked a friend how I might best honour my father as he attains the landmark of his seventieth birthday. He wryly suggested that I compose a limerick, which should go over well in any hometown with an Irish name. I’ll spare you. Rather, I’d like to say thanks...
The Jews of India: A Place of Refuge, Peace and Prosperity by CKS
The Jews of India have a long history dating back to the time before Christ. Their initial evidence comes from the Book of Esther in the Bible and during King Xerxes reign over his domain.1 Their dispersion was noted in Xerxes decrees and was seen by Christ’s disciple...
I am a Soldier by Ward Draper
“He was on me. Pounding my face. Threatening to kill me if I screamed. His hand across my mouth muffled my cries. I bite down, hard. His dirty hand flew from my lips and I could taste his blood on my tongue. I parted my mouth to scream fire for help but no one...
Stricken by God? Nonviolent Identification and the Victory of Christ – edited by Brad Jersak and Michael Hardin
"We considered him stricken by God. But..." Did God pour out his wrath on his own Son to satisfy his own need for justice?Or did God-in-Christ forgive the world even as it unleashed its wrath on him?Was Christ's sacrifice the ultimate fulfilment of God's...
A HAWK TOOK FLIGHT by Brian Thomas
A HAWK TOOK FLIGHT: STORIES BEHIND THE SONGS OF BRIAN THOMASListen to the song here. A wedding is a special event, especially when you have watched the relationship grow from a small beginning into a lifelong commitment. This wedding was one I was not going to miss,...
THE ENGLISH REFORMATION: A TALE FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS by Ron S. Dart
But there are remnants left around me… very strange remnants… in this case the Anglican Church which has in it some of the ancient truth and therefore I will live within it. - George GrantThe English Reformation took more than a century from beginning to end, and when...
Into the Silence by Fi Calder
I linger in the doorwayreluctant to step over the thresholdHe stands before meHis hand held out in invitation‘come, Dear One, I’ll show you the way’I take His hand and He leads me into the unknowninto the silence, into the darknessever deeper into the emptinessmy...
Grief by Fi Calder
Grief. A few months ago I was fortunate enough to hear Mike Stewart from St. Matts, give a talk on suffering. He asked us ‘have you got room in your theology for suffering?’ So here was the challenge; suffering and sadness is a part of life, but do we have a...
On the Cure for Self-Loathing by Michelle Elrick
When in a lowly state, a state of craving, melancholy and internal disappointment, there is a thing to do other than indulge. Follow Moses up the mountain. And in the first steps you will remember that Christ is the new Moses and the new mountain is not Sinai and the...
Charles Taylor and the Hegelian Eden Tree: Canadian Compradorisim by Ron Dart
The fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom. Genesis 3:6 Canada may produce more original work on Hegel than any other nation. David MacGregor, Literary Review of Canada (February 1994) The...