His body was a bed of shale deep a three quarter mile at bottom trapped, combustible wealth. We had no way softly to get it out; it wouldn't gurgle up like water at the tap of a prophet's staff....
Dame Edith Sitwell, (1887 – 1964) born into the English aristocracy, attracted some controversy in the 1920s by championing innovative directions in poetry. living in England during the Blitz of World War II, she compares the Nazi bombing of London to the Crucifixion. As befits the historical context, this is a bleak poem about the sinfulness of humanity In addition to her several volumes of poems, she also wrote biographies and one novel about English figures such as Elizabeth I, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift. She converted to Catholicism in 1955....
William Blake (1757 – 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. Holy Thursday is a from his 1789 book of poems Songs of Innocence. The poem is a criticism of the Foundling Hospital. Orphans at the hospital would be cleaned and marched annually to the cathedral to sing. This was seen as a treat for the orphans. The bleak reality of their lives is depicted in Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)....
Palm Sunday. You must have gone for mass and possibly brought palm leaves back home...
Decay the leaves, reek, rot abound. stalk evil slithers underground. Rebellious fist to heaven raised Freedom abused, man's wretched choice Love-gift refused, abandoned grace....
One of the unique ecumenical features of our neighborhood in Halifax is the donkey parade on Palm Sunday. The donkey is an animal named Tabitha who comes from a farm near Enfield (our Fr. Paul Granville was pastor there for many years). She is used to this parade, but one must keep one's distance, especially from her hind legs which can powerfully kick backward. There are other disadvantages as well. No one has been found ready to attempt sitting on her....
Where in one will find some notes for the giving of a Palm Sunday homily as well as some points for a Palm Sunday meditation....
Don't misunderstand me – I value and do find God in the beauty of creation of our world. Especially on the Canadian Prairies, there is the seemingly never-ending vista which proves God's expansive love. One can gaze with awe and reverence over the rich, dark earth during spring seeding, the sky-blue flax blossoms and brilliant yellow canola in the summer, the flowing, golden wheat fields in the fall, and the crisp, white snow sculptures refashioned daily by the winter wind. Yes, even in winter, when other people seem to think that the prairie landscape is boring, we who live here delight in the blue, sunlit sky pouring over the vastness of the fields, with hoar frost and sun dogs to decorate the horizon and the constantly changing scenery. Cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, skating, tobogganing – all delights of the season....
The building of the lakeside cottage was completed by fall but the path curving...
