Author: Ian Trimnell

LIGHT By Hafiz  One day the sun admitted, I am just a shadow. I wish I could show you The Infinite Incandescence That has cast my brilliant image! I wish I could show you, When you are lonely or in darkness, The Astonishing Light Of your own being! Good evening and welcome to Evening Prayers That this...

Good morning everyone on this Wednesday morning. The days are getting longer but the weather is still somewhat chilly. Let us not get too miserable about it, we need all the seasons, so let us spend some time giving thanks for our beautiful world. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O Lord my God, how excellent...

THE COLD By Wendell Berry  How exactly good it is to know myself in the solitude of winter, my body containing its own warmth, divided from all by the cold; and to go separate and sure among the trees cleanly divided, thinking of you perfect too in your solitude, your life withdrawn into your own keeping...

Wild Bees by John Clare  These children of the sun which summer brings As pastoral minstrels in her merry train Pipe rustic ballads upon busy wings And glad the cotters’ quiet toils again. The white-nosed bee that bores its little hole In mortared walls and pipes its symphonies, And never absent couzen, black as coal, That...

JUG by Elizabeth Burns    after Vermeer   A thin stream of milk poured from the heavy earthenware jug into a tureen this little slip of liquid tipping over the lip of the jug continually flowing from one vessel to another as we, all our lives, are being filled replenished and replenished Good evening and welcome to...

River by Ted Hughes  Fallen from heaven, lies across The lap of his mother, broken by world. But water will go on Issuing from heaven In dumbness uttering spirit brightness Through its broken mouth. Scattered in a million pieces and buried Its dry tombs will split, at a sign in the sky, At a rending of...

A prayer for the world   God of love and hope, you made the world and care for all creation, but the world feels strange right now. The news is full of stories about Coronavirus. Some people are worried that they might get ill. Others are anxious for their family and friends. Be with them and help...

Unbreakable Links By Mary Oliver  I would say that there exist a thousand unbreakable links between each of us and everything else, and that our dignity and our chances are one. The farthest star and the mud at our feet are a family; and there is no decency or sense in honoring one thing, or a...

Jacob and Esau By Pádraig Ó Tuama  One day I repented my resentment because I realised I’d forgotten to repeat it. For a while—no, for a long while—it was like a prayer, rising to the skies, morning after morning, like a siren that wouldn’t quiet. And then I remembered other things: the way I walk lighter...

The Word  by Zaffar Kunial  I couldn’t tell you now what possessed me to shut summer out and stay in my room. Or at least attempt to. In bed mostly. It’s my dad, standing in the door frame not entering – but pausing to shape advice that keeps coming back. “Whatever is matter,must enjoy the life.” He pronounced...

All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs by Christian Wiman  All my friends are finding new beliefs. This one converts to Catholicism and this one to trees. In a highly literary and hitherto religiously-indifferent Jew God whomps on like a genetic generator. Paleo, Keto, Zone, South Beach, Bourbon. Exercise regimens so extreme she merges with machine....

Good evening everyone, welcome to Friday evening’s prayers. As our country continues to suffer from the devastating effects of coronavirus, we continue to pray for all those we know who are suffering from the disease and all those who have been bereaved. However, I think it is time for us to broaden our view a little...

Good evening friends! Another day comes to an end and as we look forward to presenting our dreams to God and asking him to forgive the wrongs of the day, let us pray together that His Spirit will speak peace to us in our sleep… Pray with me: The day is drawing to an end Lord,...

HOLDING ON IN THE DARKNESS “O Lord the God of my salvation, I have cried out by day and in the night before you. Let my prayer come before You; Incline your ear to my cry!” (Psalm 88:1-2 NASB) This is a Psalm of the sons of Korah. It is an unusual lament in that it...