Singing New Songs

Having not used this blog space for a very long time, I want to re-purpose it to share something that I have been remembering how to enjoy over the last 12+ months: poetry.  I'm not great and there is lots that I write that won't make it near this page but I'd like to share little bits here and there and this seemed as good a place as any...  First is something I wrote just over a year ago, sitting on the harbour at St Abbs, watching the light fade on a warm night.  Compline Purple panes with orange lights Shimmering over the rippling tiles. Rocky pillars, dark and stern in their Evening colours.   No bells, save for the chimes Of ropes on masts set aside, Ready for tomorrow’s labours. No choir, but the songs Of birds as they find their night’s rest.   And yet, this is a great cathedral. A place for this pilgrim to rest. To know the power of the Creator As her tired bones settle. To hear the gentle voice of the One Who alone will...

St Abbs Harbour This is my church today. The waves breathe in and out over the rocks and breathe into the harbour.  The wind breathes over the scene, lifting seabirds higher and then bringing them down gently. As for me, I am breathing in the clean, salty air and breathing out the cares of the last half term.  Breathing in the quiet and calm and breathing out the busyness of the new routine, the essay deadline, the reading, the meetings and rehearsals, the busy life that my whole family lead. I am taking the time that I have today - this precious, rare moment of not having to be anywhere or do anything - to breathe in all that has been good about this term so far: the new friends made, the things I have learnt, the kindness and hospitality of my new church. I am taking time to breathe in the sense of being God’s beloved daughter. I know that it’s always there but it does me good to consciously look for it and feel it, listening to him, knowing he deli...