Happy Tree

There was a bright and happy tree; The wind with music laced its boughs; Thither across the houseless sea Came singing birds to house.   Men grudged the tree its happy eyes, Its happy dawns of eager sound; So all that crown and tower of leaves They levelled with...
Not My King! Then Who is?

Not My King! Then Who is?

Love that gives, gives ever more, gives with zeal, with eager hands, spares not, keeps not, all outpours, ventures all its all expends. . Drained is love in making full, bound in setting others free, poor in making many rich, weak in giving power to be. . Therefore he...
Uninhabited Cross

Uninhabited Cross

Not the empty tomb but the uninhabited cross. Look long enough and you will see the arms put on leaves. Not a crown of thorns but a crown of flowers haloing it, with a bird singing as though perched on paradise’s threshold.   R.S. Thomas (1913-2000),...
No cross; no crown

No cross; no crown

No pain; no palm. No thorns; no throne. No gall; no glory. No cross; no crown.   William Penn (1644-1718).
Sainted Glass

Sainted Glass

To one kneeling down no word came, Only the wind’s song, saddening the lips Of the grave saints, rigid in glass; Or the dry whisper of unseen wings, Bats not angels, in the high roof.   Was he balked by silence? He kneeled long And saw love in a dark crown Of thorns...