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Psalm 33 paraphrase

Lay your loving-kindness on our souls, Lord,
like a healing leaf, our hope of wholeness.

Rejoice and praise God, my friends,
this is what we were made for.

sing with the strings, dance with the drums,
a new song, rejoicing, singing.

God made us, marvel and sing, and the stars’ multitude,
the wild waters, marvellous he made them.

God’s eye is over us in wisdom
watching, attentive. over the peoples.

Attend to God, my friends,
this is what we were made for.

Align your life with God and you are right,
all is well, it falls into place.

God guides your life in wisdom if you wait:
we wait on God and trust the holy name.

God is shield and strength and wisdom,
God’s guidance is for ever. Alleluia.

Lay your loving-kindness on our souls, Lord,
like a healing leaf, our hope of wholeness.

 

tRuth 2013

Begin in closeup

Begin in closeup:
A base of polished oakwood, smooth and shining,
Dovetailed joints as tight as when they were first made
With a sharp chisel in a workshop
Redolent of shavings and shellac,
Long ago.
Shining brass pans and chains, butter-yellow,
Speaking of long and careful use,
The love of a craftsman for the tools
Daily familiar and warmed by his hand.
And a pointer, delicate, needle-thin,
Trembling at a breath.
These are goldsmiths’ scales for measuring
The very precious, the very small.
Next, let your gaze pull back to see the whole:
A precision instrument made with love for one purpose.
These scales are like a soul in this:
Made to know the joy of being a creature,
Something made to do one thing superbly well:
To hold, respond, to speak truth,
Fitted to the Maker’s hand.
A thing that by doing its work
-carrying, reflecting, pointing –
Becomes what it is.
But a soul is unlike the scales in this:
The soul grows through carrying, reflecting, pointing;
It changes, warmed by his hand.
A soul lives more deeply and puts out new green
Tendrils, leaves, blossoms.
It is shaped by what it carries
-choosing, affirming, rejecting-
Until it points only to its Creator,
The tremulous needle stilled due Christ.

 

tRuth 2015

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