Category Archives: Orthodox Theology

A Cage

depression5

I feel like a bird trapped in a small birdcage,

A birdcage hidden at the bottom of a dark basement.

And all I want to do is break out of the blackness,

And fly into the Sonlight which waits outside.

I can feel it, the Light –

It’s all around the basement.

The Light is greater than the basement.

All I want to do is get into that Light,

And loose myself in it.

But it is an impossible task – I can’t get out.

And the thick, murky black air closes in…

 *

I feel like I’m in a room with invisible walls.

But it’s so black in the room,

That I can’t see through the walls.

And I am the centre of the room.

Where I go, the room goes – I can’t get out.

I wish someone would chain the room still,

So I could get out into the Light outside.

… 

Oh Jesus, You are the Light of the world.

Please shatter this darkened prison I live in,

And take me into Your light.

Let it consume me, encompass me, surround me.

Let me become one with You, You in me, me in You.

 *

http://cornerstonethefoundation.blogspot.gr/p/depression-poems.html

…

The Robin

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Matthew 6:26  “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

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The robin hopped out of the hedgerow

To say “hello”.

He displayed his blood red breast

Head tilted and inquisitive.

He looked with meekness at

The giant that stood before him.

This little bird was bold in his quest for food.

Unafraid, he made his holy dance in the snow.

The prints of his path traced a pattern of expectant joy.

This little creature paused to look at me,

Utter reliant on what God supplies.

Were you there at Calvary, Robin?

Did you stop to gaze on Him who made you?

God knows.

This little icon of apostolic zeal brings warmth

To those who on Christmas day smile at his cheery coat.

Would that we too too could be such a disciple,

Living on God’s Providence.

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To the Glory of God

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robins

“Love the One, so that even wild beasts will love you.”

Elder Amphilochios

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By Father Jonathan Hemmings

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To my little friend who so encouraged me on the Theotokos Nativity Forefeast!

The Pearl

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O Lord, Almighty, aid me! Grains of sand

Their way inside me ceaselessly find

Afflictions provoke my widow heart

Harass me, vex me, pester and grind.

*

May your beautiful veil over

My soul drape, Thy Love wrap.

Forgive, hapless soul,

Pardon, evade the trap.

*

O, may resentment and anguish desert,

O, may my wounds be moulded to pearls.

Thy Grace, Redeemer, my soul of thorn

Heal, pray, aid me, suffer Thy nails.

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Like Your Glory Resplendent on Cross,

Assist me, Redeemer, to die with Thee.

O, bless, sweet Jesus, restrain, impede

Prevent me an oyster barren to be!

*

THE PEARL: SEVEN HYMNS ON THE FAITH

By St. Ephraim of Syria — Translated by J.B. Morris

http://www.voskrese.info/spl/pearl.html

” …Shadowed forth in thy beauty is the beauty of the Son,
Who clothed Himself with suffering when the nails passed through Him.
The awl passed in thee since they handled thee roughly,
As they did His hands;
And because He suffered He reigned,
As by they sufferings thy beauty increased … “

(c) University of Exeter, Fine Art Collection; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Mud and Wax

This week, my Lord, mud I became,

Broken and fractured, cracked mud.

All my bones, Out of joint,

Mud I became, cracked mud.

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Too fierce the heat,

Too scorching inferno.

The sun beat down

Beat down on me.

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Oh, through fire I went

And I dried

Withered away

And I cracked.

Mud Cracks

Oh, would Your Grace softly wrap me,

When I walk through fire and tears

Oh, would my heart not crack but soften

Melt at Your fire like wax.

melted-candles

Might Your blaze thaw me and melt me,

Mould me like wax under the seal

Engrave me, Heavenly Jeweller, Engrave Your signet

Seal Thy Icon upon my heart.

god's seal

Bless me, my Master, Your struggling servant,

Render me Holy, Bridegroom Divine.

‘Holy to LORD’, Redeemer Celestial

My Prince of Peace, UnBounded Love.

Year of Grace

Upon Entering the Year of Grace

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“And they shall build the old wastes,

they shall raise up the former desolations,

and they shall repair the waste cities,
the desolations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:4)

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A Prayer at the Dawn of the Liturgical Year (I)

Lord, Help me my Life Declutter 

Relentlessly Focus, Subtract, Become poor

Unburden, Curtail, Reduce and Empty, 

Until my rebellious bones sore.

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May My Waste be Salvaged this Year

 Never again pride and sin bind me,

Redeemer, Almighty, my Lord and my Master

Teach me this year to kneel before Thee!

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Amen, Amen, Amen!