Monthly Archives: December 2022

Prophet Isaiah amidst Christmas preparation

On that day, a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
a spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.
Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
but he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide aright for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid;
the calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall be neighbors,
together their young shall rest;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the cobra’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
There shall be no harm or ruin on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,
as water covers the sea.
On that day, the root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the nations,
the Gentiles shall seek out,
for his dwelling shall be glorious.

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Finding God in the world

“Sometimes the friendship reached white heat, as when, a few months later, Melville wrote in a mood of valediction, having learned that Hawthorne had given up the place in Lenox and was about to move back east: Whence come you, Hawthorne? By what right do you drink from my flagon of life? And when I put it to my lips-lo, they are yours and not mine. I feel that the Godhead is broken up like the bread at the Supper, and that we are the pieces.” Hence this infinite fraternity of feeling. Evoked here in the mystical language of the Eucharist, this feeling of inseparability was much more than collegial; to Melville, it was as if their minds and hearts were linked by a common network of nerves and veins. “Your heart beat in my ribs, and mine in yours,” he wrote to his dear friend, ” and both in God’s.” –Melville: His World and Work by Andrew Deblanco

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Toy Boat

yellow plastic
black sea

eye-shaped shard
on a darkened map

no shores now
to arrive — or
depart
no wind but
this waiting which
moves you

as if  the seconds
could be entered
& never left

toy boat — oarless
each wave
a green lamp
outlasted

toy boat
toy leaf  dropped
from a toy tree
waiting

waiting
as if the sparrows
thinning above you
are not
already pierced
by their own names 

Voung Ocean

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Contemplative Focus

Uncrowd my heart, oh God
Until Silence speaks
in your still small voice;
turn me from the hearing of words,
and the making of words,
and the confusion of much speaking,
to listening
waiting
stillness
silence.

Thomas Merton

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