tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96320722024-03-06T23:40:14.423-08:00kairos : kissesevery hour ['chronos' time] is pregnant with possibilities for God's Kingdom to break in with transforming significance ['kairos' time]Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.comBlogger2835125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-5597827439339337682024-02-14T06:15:00.000-08:002024-02-14T06:20:42.690-08:00Ash Wednesday<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">A
poem written for <a href="https://sunderlandsermons.blogspot.com/2024/02/ash-wednesday-2024.html" target="_blank">Ash Wednesday</a> 2024:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">You
have heard it said that you are too little, or too much, to be accepted;<br />
and, taking those words to heart, you have been consumed by their flames.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">You
have heard it said that you are more deserving than others;<br />
and, internalising that mantra, you have been razed by its fire.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But
I say to you, rise up:<br />
by the grace of God<br />
arise from the ashes,<br />
O Phoenix,<br />
dust stirred to life by the kiss of love,<br />
by the breath of God<br />
that gives life to the dead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">You
are the phoenix of Christ,<br />
given new beginning in his name.<br />
Neither too little nor too much,<br />
nor deserving nor undeserving,<br />
simply loved to life,<br />
again and again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Do
not fear returning to dust.<br />
Receive this mark upon your head,<br />
a sign of hope, and trust.<br />
And by the grace of God,<br />
arise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span face=""Bierstadt",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-56739063402846875772024-02-13T03:26:00.000-08:002024-02-13T03:26:12.660-08:00Nicodemus<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">There have always been autistic people among us, we
simply haven’t always understood or valued them. I love Ann Memmott’s take on
Nicodemus, a friend of Jesus who displays autistic traits:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He is an expert in the scriptures – they are his
specialist subject – and offers expert advice to his peers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He first comes to Jesus at night when there would
be less sensory stimulation and crowds of people to overwhelm him. In their
conversation, Jesus offers him a metaphor, which he takes literally and
therefore as impossible, so that Jesus needs to unpack the idea in a different
way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">After Jesus has died, Nicodemus brings spices to
embalm him, but he brings an excessive amount – wanting to help, but totally
over the top.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">All these things are common autistic traits, within
the spectrum of lived experiences of autistic people.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I also love that as a neurodivergent, autistic
vicar, who recognises myself in Nicodemus, I am Priest in Charge of St Nicholas
Church. For Nicodemus and Nicholas are the same name - Victory of the Common
People - in two different forms [<i>nike demos</i>, <i>nike laos</i>].<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-87390632960941859592024-02-08T04:32:00.000-08:002024-02-08T04:32:05.993-08:00Tyre<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In the Gospel reading set for Holy Communion today,
<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+7.24-30&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">Mark 7.24-30</a>, Jesus visits Tyre.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Tyre is one of the world’s oldest cities, her
ancient walls rising out of the Mediterranean, a jewel of the sea, a drop of
human creativity in the ocean.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It was famous for two things: firstly, purple dye.
The story goes that Tyre was founded by the god Melqart for his lover Tyrus.
One day they were taking a romantic stroll along the beach with her dog, when
it bit into a shell and its fangs dripped purple. Tyrus requested that Melqart
make her a dress in the same colour: he gathered up every sea snail he could
find, boiled them to extract the dye, and presented her with her prize. From
then, it became the choice of kings and queens and emperors: Mark (and John)
will report that at Jesus’ coronation as King of the Jews, the Romans will put
a crown on his head and a purple cloak on his shoulders, a Tyrian robe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The other thing Tyre was famous for was high
quality wood from the cedar forests of Lebanon, that part of the mainland they
controlled. This wood made the best ships – Tyre had two harbours, one facing
north and the other south, and a fine merchant navy, crossing the Mediterranean,
founding colonies on her shores, including Carthage and Cadiz, through trade
not conquest, and even venturing out into the Atlantic – and the best temples.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">David, king of Jerusalem, was friends with Hiram,
king of Tyre. When David made the arrangements for the temple his son Solomon
would build, he contracted Hiram to supply wood and purple yarn and cloth –
including the great curtain that hung in front of the Holy of Holies – in
exchange for wheat, Tyre possessing no arable land of its own.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Such alliances were often cemented by marriage,
including Solomon, and the later king Ahab, who married Jezebel, daughter of a
king of Tyre. Jezebel championed the worship of the gods and goddesses of the
Canaanite pantheon, reigning in tumult and eventually being thrown to her death
from a window, her blood licked up by dogs, reminiscent of the dripping fangs
of Tyrus’ dog.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">No one could capture the island, though many tried.
Nebuchadnezzar besieged and captured Jerusalem but besieged and failed to take
Tyre. Again and again, they withstood enemy armies, until Alexander the Great.
They held out against his siege, too, until in frustration he had his army
throw great stones into the sea, building a causeway they could march along,
all the while the Tyrians throwing boulders and flaming arrows back at them.
Eventually, causeway complete and a mercenary navy recruited from Tyre’s treacherous
neighbours in Sidon, Alexander’s forces captured the city. The women and
children had already been evacuated by sea to Carthage, but the men were struck
down, including 2,000 who were crucified – the Romans weren’t the first or only
ones to use crucifixion to make a point.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The Greeks settled the city, the Romans following,
though all the while Tyre managed to emerge, Phoenix-like, from its own ashes –
the word Phoenician, meaning worker-of-purple-red-dye, and phoenix, or
purple-red bird, share the same root.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">To this city, now connected to the mainland, Jesus
came. Trying to lie low, the word gets out. A Hellenised woman of Syrophoenician
origin (that is, the Phoenicians of this coast, rather than the Phoenicians of
their daughter colonies around the Mediterranean) comes to see him. Her young
daughter has been taken captive by an unclean spirit, and she begs him to cast
it out.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The following exchange is enigmatic, a weaving of
several threads of yarn. In saying that it is not good to take the children’s
bread and throw it to the dogs, Jesus may well be making the point (his own, or
the view of his disciples) that he must attend to his own people before the
neighbouring peoples. But the relationship between them has always been more
dynamic than that. Perhaps we might hear, in his words about throwing down and
dogs, in this Tyrian context, a concern about violence. He makes the point that
young children should be fattened up first. Perhaps he is implying that the
casting out of demons is a violent business – later, in Mark 9.14-29, we see
Jesus cast such a spirit out of a boy, who is convulsed terribly, such that, at
first, he appears left dead – and it would be better to wait until the young
girl was bigger, stronger.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">But the mother responds by pointing out that even
the dogs get to eat the crumbs that fall from the table. Crumbs falling is far
gentler than bread thrown or cast out. Perhaps she is indicating her trust that
Jesus can cast out the occupying spirit without causing further violence to her
little daughter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And Jesus says, It is done, as you understood it
could be when you came to me.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Jesus comes, not as an invading conqueror – not
making a way, where there was no way, for control over another's autonomy and
dignity – but hidden; proclaimed by a whisper on the wind; to restore us to our
own self, and to one another, and to the God who made us in and for love: you
shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind and all your
soul and all your strength, and love your neighbour as yourself. He treats all
with gentleness and compassion, with concern for their dignity and choice and
partnership.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">He comes that we might all be Phoenicians,
phoenixes, rising to new life from the ashes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-9310703741618335742024-01-28T07:26:00.000-08:002024-01-28T07:26:07.379-08:00blessing<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2.22-40&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">Accompanied by her husband, a young mother brings her firstborn son to public worship for the first time, at forty days old.</a> As they come into the space and look around,
an older man approaches, takes the child in his arms (always ask for, and be
given, permission before doing this; and don’t take offence if permission is
not forthcoming) and sings a song of praise. First, he honours God; then, he
blesses the father and mother, and their child. As he does so, an older woman
joins them, takes up the theme, and extends it to include others who had
gathered in that place.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Simeon
was not a priest, not the public face of the faith. Anna was recognised as a
prophet, an oracle who spoke words of godly wisdom; but she had no official
role or office. They were simply human beings who were well-soaked in the ways
of God. And uttering blessings is central to such a life—not something reserved
for vicars. You don’t even need to be Christian.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">To
bless something—whether a person, or some other part of creation, or a place,
or a tool, or a circumstance—is to affirm its essential goodness. From our
faith perspective, that essential goodness is God-given.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Jewish
blessings always begin, ‘Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe …’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Christian
blessings, which derive from Jewish blessings, are similarly framed, ‘Blessed
are you, Lord God of all creation …’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">If
we are to bless, we first need to meet what we find, where we find it, and then
pay it attention. Simeon meets Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus in the temple
court, takes the child in his arms, and pays close attention. Then, he speaks
out what he sees.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">My
back door faces east, and I can stand there a while and watch the sunrise. ‘Blessed
are you, Lord God of all creation, giver of light and love. And blessed be you,
O dawn, that paints the sky in pink and orange to welcome the day.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Then,
as I stand there, I become aware of the dawn chorus. ‘Blessed are you, Lord God
of all creation, who feeds the birds of the air. And blessed be you, garden
bird, who fills the sky with your song.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Or
perhaps this morning it is raining, and I can choose to be grumpy about that or
I can choose to bless the rain. ‘Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, who
gives the water of life. And blessed be you, rain, that refreshes the earth.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">If
we can get into the habit of blessing, it will form us over time, so that we
meet all things open to the goodness hidden within them—even if that goodness
is not immediately apparent. So, for example, if you fall and break your leg,
‘Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, who has fashioned our flesh and
bone. And blessed be you, O femur, who have borne my weight all these years,
and who now calls me to rest and to heal.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So,
let us have a go, and together learn how to bless. Who, or what, might you
bless today?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt Display",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-42912028703893342352024-01-21T06:00:00.000-08:002024-01-21T06:10:13.507-08:00winter wedding<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I wonder what the furthest distance is that you have
travelled to attend a wedding. In the straw-poll conducted with our
congregation this morning, the top 5 distances were: 5. Toronto, Canada. 4. Lexington,
USA. 3. Chingola, Zambia. 2. Kochi, India. 1 Melbourne, Australia. In our Gospel
reading today (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+2.1-11&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">John 2.1-11</a>) Jesus and his disciples and his mother Mary had
travelled 25 miles to attend a wedding, which isn’t far by car, but cars hadn’t
been invented.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Weddings are a big deal, and they were a big deal
then. The whole village would turn up, along with other guests from miles
around.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">If you’ve ever been on any journey, you’ll know that
often the first thing you want to do on arrival is splash some water on your
face. In Jesus’ time, guests would be welcomed by servants pouring water on
their feet and hands and splashing water on their heads, as a way of saying,
‘You are welcome; we are so glad that you have come to us.’ At this wedding
there were so many guests that they poured out the equivalent of 900 modern
.75l bottles of spring water, or wine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Weddings are a big deal, and they were a big deal
then. The whole village would turn up, along with other guests from miles
around, and they would stay for as long as it took to consume all the food and wine.
When all the wine was drunk, that was the social cue to go home. And so,
eventually, Mary turns to her son and says, ‘The wine has all been drunk;
that’s our cue to leave; round up your friends, say goodbye to the bride and
groom, it’s time to go.’<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jesus replies, ‘Woman,’ Woman. What a beautiful,
tender moment. It resonates with the creation story. God had made a human from
the soil and breathed life into it; but whereas everything else God had created
was good, or very good, it was not good for this human creature to be alone. God
saw that the human needed someone to stand alongside them, to sustain them, at
times rescue them. So, God drew it into a deep sleep, took it up, broke it in
two, and gave each part to the other. And the man cried out, in delight and
relief, ‘Here at last, this one is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this
one shall be called Woman for she was drawn out from man.’ In my culture, to call
your mother ‘Woman’ may seem dismissive, but when Jesus calls his mother
‘Woman’ that delight in their shared humanity, their intimate biological belonging
to one another, and the sense that Mary is the one who stands alongside him and
sustains him are all there.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Woman,’ says Jesus, ‘what has this social cue to do
with us? My hour has not yet come.’ Other than the sense that he is not ready
to leave, that is a rather enigmatic statement that will just hang there for
the next ten chapters until, speaking of his imminent death and resurrection,
Jesus reveals that his hour has come (<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+12.27&version=NRSVA" target="_blank">John 12.27</a>). Ah, now we recall the
wedding at Cana, and see that it was the first sign pointing to this moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Mary tells the servants to do whatever Jesus asks of
them. And what he asks them to do is something very ordinary. He asks them to
refill the water-jars. Something they would have done many times. An ordinary task
for a servant, involving a trip to the well; something they would undoubtedly
have done later as part of the clearing up after the guests had gone. But instead,
they do it now. And when Jesus asks them to draw out some water, it has been
transformed into wine.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The master of ceremonies is livid. He calls the groom
aside and gives him a dressing down: This might be your first wedding, but it
can’t be the first time you’ve been to a wedding!? Everyone knows that you
serve the best wine when the guests arrive and hold back the cheaper wine until
they’ve had plenty to drink. You have totally messed up!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The master of ceremonies doesn’t understand what is
going on. But what <i>is</i> going on?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The water of hospitality had run out. The wine of
hospitality had run out. But this is not the end of the story, only a necessary
moment within the story. Jesus demonstrates the principle of death and
resurrection, of the new life that is only possible because the old life has
come to an end. It is a principle we see at play in the world around us, in
nature. It is winter, and the plants and animals have withdrawn deep into
themselves. The trees look dead, but something profound and necessary is going
on beneath the surface. Only we humans are hard-headed and hard-hearted enough
to live as if every month, every season, were the same. It is winter, and yes,
spring is coming; but we cannot force it to arrive before winter has done its work.
The world is renewing itself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Our youngest son is in his second (final) A-level
year. And he is flying. He is excelling academically, he has an active social
life, he is making hopeful plans for his future. But there was a time when, for
over two years, he could not face leaving the house, didn’t leave the house. I
can tell you, that was a long, hard winter. I don’t mean December, January,
February.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jesus is the God who became one of us, who entered-into
the death and resurrection of creation. Who blesses the life that we cannot
hold onto, and the life that we receive if only we let go of the life we had.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This happens to us over again. This coming Saturday,
at a service at the cathedral, we will mark Bishop Paul’s ten years of service
among us as our bishop, as he retires. And we will pray for Paul and Rosemary
as they begin a new life, in a new place; a life that is only possible because this
life and ministry is coming to an end.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Sometimes we have varying degrees of choice, sometimes
not. No one chooses bereavement; but Jesus says, just as I was with you, just
as I blessed, the life that has run out, so shall I be with you, and so shall I
bless, the life that still lies ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">What
Jesus does at the wedding in Cana is the first signpost on this road.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It
is such a beautiful, tender, and hopeful gospel.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Here,
then, are some questions for those who would consider following him:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Where
have you experienced death? It could be the death of a dream, the death of a
marriage, a literal bereavement. In what part of your life are you dying right
now?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Where
have you tried to resist death, or deny the reality of dying? It could be in
resistance to change or by masking the natural process of aging.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Where
have you known resurrection—new life, not necessarily better than what was
before, but different, and hopeful? What did that awaken in you? Is there any
part of your life where you are experiencing resurrection life right now?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-78941694610055230592024-01-04T00:52:00.000-08:002024-01-04T00:52:40.541-08:00Carpenter<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">For most of his adult life, Jesus was a carpenter
in an agrarian society. This meant that he would have built houses; and also
constructed, and repaired, agricultural tools: ploughs and yokes for breaking
the soil, sickles for harvesting, threshing sledges for breaking open the
harvested grain. This, in turn, would have involved a process of development
that included trial and error, the deconstruction of certain received
practices, and the construction of new ways that built on tried and tested
traditions. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Reflecting, many years later, on the experience of
having known Jesus, one of his disciples, John, wrote that anyone who
constructs justice is a child of God, while anyone who practices missing that
mark is a child of the devil; indeed, the children of God cannot construct
injustice, for God’s own seed (which produces a harvest of righteousness) is
planted in them. (See 1 John 3.7-10)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It is possible to imagine two ways of being a
carpenter, one that intentionally constructs justice and another that
deliberately undermines it. The latter makes tools they know won’t last, so
that their customers will have to return again and again; perhaps they also cut
a deal with some powerful figure to ensure their own monopoly, preventing the
community from seeking better. In contrast, the former works to develop their
skill, their craft, to put quality tools that will last generations into the
hands of those who worked the land, by the sweat of whose brows the community
was fed. Tools made with love, given in love.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">And whichever way you choose to put into practice
becomes second nature in time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The regular discipline of Confession is a
disruptive practice that undermines the possibility of constructing injustice
before we can get going. It prevents a habit from forming, or, indeed, weakens
a habit that we want to break and move on from. But it also has planted within
it the seed of a new habit, the habit of loving God with every part of our
being, and loving others as ourselves, wanting for them what we want for us.
This is the seed that, in the fulness of time, produces a harvest of justice.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Confession is the plough that turns over the hard
soil of our hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-49134773191619533292024-01-02T01:35:00.000-08:002024-01-02T01:35:40.429-08:00fruitful<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">The fruitful vine is a metaphor employed by several
of the prophets whose words are recorded in the Hebrew Bible. It stands for a
community that has been restored, sometimes having been transplanted from one
place to another, that has been re-established and is enjoying a new security,
following a time of distress, defeat and (often) displacement. Isaiah sees it
as something waiting three years from now (three being a symbolic number) with
the grace of God and nature bridging the gap (2 Kings 19 // Isaiah 37).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">It becomes a national symbol for Israel. On the
night of his arrest, Jesus takes up this image, blesses it, breaks it, and
shares it with his disciples, saying that he is the vine and they are the
branches: alone, they can bear no fruit, but if they hide their lives within
his life (which is about to pass through death, and rise again on the third
day) they will bear much fruit.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">As often the case with metaphors, living a fruitful
life is easier to understand than to explain. And easier to see in others than
in ourselves. But the world around us tells us that we should be fruitful and
that the way to be more fruitful is by greater resolve, planning, and action;
and especially if last year was a hard one, if our resolutions ground to a halt
in the deep gravel run-off of February:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">“2024 will be the year that I run that
marathon/lose weight/become a better person/fill in the gap.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">In contrast (not that plans, or action are
necessarily bad) Jesus says that the key to fruitfulness is connection to him,
in whom humanity and divinity are joined.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I am grateful to those who reveal to me the
fruitfulness of my life, expressed in what I write and how I live. For the
person who wrote to me to let me know how helpful something I had written and
shared had been to them at this moment in their life, something of which they
trusted me with knowing. For the person who wrote to let me know that the
decisions I had made and actions I had taken over the past year had inspired
them. For the person who trusted me enough to ask to come and talk to me, that
I might listen, and perhaps even offer some wisdom. All these, just in the
final weeks of last year. All helpful, not to massage a fragile ego, but to
reveal fruitfulness I myself might struggle to recognise.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">I share this not to ‘big myself up’ but to
encourage you that if you see fruitfulness in someone's life, let them know.
And may someone reveal to you your own fruitfulness. Or, at least, point to it,
waiting for you, three years from now, keeping hope alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-70893287387769015142023-12-24T00:20:00.000-08:002023-12-24T00:20:00.129-08:00Advent 2023: Day 22<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjTaJIzJXZRJLLRNrg4pIDBbJaA8wF3wx9-Q7jlqxIFp-Cq2o5qOXzqmgBgxDtnRih3zrfS6Iro4OhITzAKQaWCDvzp1K5yNnc16KGCeoymvTnuyMge1f15rP4-w0nYYBEaafgj23vCtTHkW3iqgJ4XM__9cfzuxFRDqVL-mZb-M_oz7jCUBf/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqjTaJIzJXZRJLLRNrg4pIDBbJaA8wF3wx9-Q7jlqxIFp-Cq2o5qOXzqmgBgxDtnRih3zrfS6Iro4OhITzAKQaWCDvzp1K5yNnc16KGCeoymvTnuyMge1f15rP4-w0nYYBEaafgj23vCtTHkW3iqgJ4XM__9cfzuxFRDqVL-mZb-M_oz7jCUBf/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Stepping forward, I launch myself<br />
across the gap,<br />
momentarily suspended between above<br />
and here below<br />
sole touching solid ground<br />
once more: look down (intake of breath)<br />
look up (and exhale, slow)<br />
and turn to scan beyond the press of coats<br />
and rumbling cases, a jostling crowd<br />
—humanity—<br />
and find you, reaching for my gaze<br />
arm raised in joyful welcome<br />
home.<br />
I rush forward, let go my case and sink<br />
in your embrace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the carriage and the platform.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-44396596677317376462023-12-23T00:18:00.000-08:002023-12-23T03:08:55.886-08:00Advent 2023: Day 21 O Emmanuel<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3FktsU3872HWPwRwf6loc4Rk0nqpwB8fzfzgQ_tPCt8wMcEqW9_74QyUO8vuBbAUgDiJu9ccoeResmLjCJen-20GWj42eYyGE9tlMVrwfYPLd78bqPMZ2ofKWz5dtK3_JuOMZjh6seDiYpy1Jd2SwTq3peBAq8XwQqkzZAsHecI1O_lWvQKp/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3FktsU3872HWPwRwf6loc4Rk0nqpwB8fzfzgQ_tPCt8wMcEqW9_74QyUO8vuBbAUgDiJu9ccoeResmLjCJen-20GWj42eYyGE9tlMVrwfYPLd78bqPMZ2ofKWz5dtK3_JuOMZjh6seDiYpy1Jd2SwTq3peBAq8XwQqkzZAsHecI1O_lWvQKp/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
O come, all you sons and<br />
daughters, come on home<br />
carried from every compass bearing<br />
gifts, now is the time<br />
of your rejoicing<br />
born again in arms of mothers, fathers,<br />
hugs of siblings, embrace of lovers.<br />
Do not delay.<br />
All awaits you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the kingdom come among us<br />
in the life you have been given<br />
and the chill dread that it lies<br />
beyond our reach.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-45424457951291949012023-12-22T00:16:00.000-08:002023-12-22T12:14:29.845-08:00Advent 2023: Day 20 O Rex Gentium<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptVKkPED1_boAbTnO7sYk2itd_7GmQY2qLLMrfkBupED8xAGHrRhnjicPpKQT0oxdNjvj0oNzGmBFf_5iV3IG7o2wIrDZrazbC2EQAhQT5Sf7xLyR5ofz6krmLe9w-omomyTpGcLycc9TV9vdzyPX20_RnJGw2domT0mgBZjOouG2kB541r8G/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgptVKkPED1_boAbTnO7sYk2itd_7GmQY2qLLMrfkBupED8xAGHrRhnjicPpKQT0oxdNjvj0oNzGmBFf_5iV3IG7o2wIrDZrazbC2EQAhQT5Sf7xLyR5ofz6krmLe9w-omomyTpGcLycc9TV9vdzyPX20_RnJGw2domT0mgBZjOouG2kB541r8G/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Across the aisle, a group of women<br />
dressed in red sarees trimmed with gold,<br />
regal in bearing, bold<br />
companions of a fiery affirmation<br />
of Life, intent upon<br />
great celebration—birth, or a wedding?<br />
Throughout the carriage,<br />
many faces, many tongues<br />
light many graces,<br />
and all now journey on together,<br />
bear gifts, wrapped up in skin<br />
of many colours,<br />
while laughter lines and furrowed brows<br />
map out the well-worn roads<br />
that brought us to this holy moment.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between our heritage and<br />
our inheritance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-57268587233981460552023-12-21T00:14:00.000-08:002023-12-21T00:22:31.624-08:00Advent 2023: Day 19 O Oriens<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphengYxB7kOkT-r-PP2inv8y4WeaoV23OMH8cMO99QmRyH4q8ImtPM9IrM6xECDxK7KWQImlFtAmpZ5tthUIU6Om_8IrLaeVFz9ak7f7wbBJZ73LNidnZTh7Afa5SyfSYDf8ppDvJ4lbZ93-8UbOL_YVUVOoq9jimYYYPDJAeSEqrv_BxLLPVRa/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihyphenhyphengYxB7kOkT-r-PP2inv8y4WeaoV23OMH8cMO99QmRyH4q8ImtPM9IrM6xECDxK7KWQImlFtAmpZ5tthUIU6Om_8IrLaeVFz9ak7f7wbBJZ73LNidnZTh7Afa5SyfSYDf8ppDvJ4lbZ93-8UbOL_YVUVOoq9jimYYYPDJAeSEqrv_BxLLPVRa/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
An early start, cold brightness in the air:<br />
the dawn is on its way<br />
with healing,<br />
unfurls resplendent wings across the Sky.<br />
The winter sun will rise in time,<br />
trace its low arc, as if to wed itself to Earth<br />
and not be parted for the world.<br />
A humble crown.<br />
It’s shining will not overcome the moon<br />
today, as long as it is Day; as yet<br />
bright Venus cries ‘Prepare!’<br />
He must increase<br />
I, disappear.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between permanence and beauty<br />
between greatness and glory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-70828488333353220962023-12-20T00:11:00.000-08:002023-12-20T00:14:08.420-08:00Advent 2023: Day 18 O Clavis David<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqo6ZKAjd7zSW0pQyjmq5X8Ldh9KclEQVLbZk51bHCExL7dhrH88Q8pMPWeYplNptzZSeVN3Y-28c4mVlFA9p71IkVebOCyft4VVa-wXgP0REEzPsVAMjMhLqP73-5wOGPAHI_eUXMmEgTI7H0XbW9Eg44ZUPFtvIfXnCM_3a3oeArd8lO5aox/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqo6ZKAjd7zSW0pQyjmq5X8Ldh9KclEQVLbZk51bHCExL7dhrH88Q8pMPWeYplNptzZSeVN3Y-28c4mVlFA9p71IkVebOCyft4VVa-wXgP0REEzPsVAMjMhLqP73-5wOGPAHI_eUXMmEgTI7H0XbW9Eg44ZUPFtvIfXnCM_3a3oeArd8lO5aox/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
We are approaching, now<br />
but no one’s certain<br />
if we will leave to left or right<br />
until the platform rises to meet us.<br />
We stop; there is a pause<br />
as fingers stab the {{open}} button<br />
and we are held; the lock released,<br />
lights turn to green: and yet we wait<br />
a moment more, as fingers<br />
fumble, press {{close}}<br />
and now, at last, we spill out—<br />
mind the gap—<br />
to blink and take<br />
our bearings and stride home.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between release and being free.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-50333425969879226422023-12-19T00:10:00.000-08:002023-12-19T00:12:11.695-08:00Advent 2023: Day 17 O Radix Jesse<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtXz52ubeE19RRrCtMNZKzM87CS-n30vlhbJNXgJTrpwxA0YiCegzv3phCkQ4ZF-s2L6rYZZBpn0VdzwJQH89Z8nQZQrqrMV0xvjwXe1K5oBsvWHl1yxJTEC5gPLmSSvq0pYWZfUDZGC8VdfB-QrJtIh21bLxHaFQE7a2Qi1IhaHT1Ouoks0k/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFtXz52ubeE19RRrCtMNZKzM87CS-n30vlhbJNXgJTrpwxA0YiCegzv3phCkQ4ZF-s2L6rYZZBpn0VdzwJQH89Z8nQZQrqrMV0xvjwXe1K5oBsvWHl1yxJTEC5gPLmSSvq0pYWZfUDZGC8VdfB-QrJtIh21bLxHaFQE7a2Qi1IhaHT1Ouoks0k/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
All platforms<br />
Tickets<br />
Information<br />
Customer lounge<br />
Bus station<br />
Taxis via bus station<br />
Toilets (Shower; Baby changing)<br />
Lift<br />
Escaltor<br />
Woman, praying the Rosary<br />
while every nation heads in all directions<br />
following signs.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the forest and the tree.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-81789046647716714232023-12-18T01:21:00.000-08:002023-12-18T01:23:08.217-08:00Advent 2023: Day 16 O Adonai<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_IxEaJg4otz6Or82Yx39mXT2sVWwoQy-lotAsG7TPPVpN_GrHDoysq7fQG_q39HFZj2zLYz_qp8ut-oGhD_RnQNb0gyusAKF5RyQAWF-7loPuDzlMq1YyG2flNhkpWLjmHJuSOMTjKFroo5jyYjZL8V_LsORYHwwA8tbch_zX6vjYnpfiNZPz/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_IxEaJg4otz6Or82Yx39mXT2sVWwoQy-lotAsG7TPPVpN_GrHDoysq7fQG_q39HFZj2zLYz_qp8ut-oGhD_RnQNb0gyusAKF5RyQAWF-7loPuDzlMq1YyG2flNhkpWLjmHJuSOMTjKFroo5jyYjZL8V_LsORYHwwA8tbch_zX6vjYnpfiNZPz/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
‘Ladies and gentlemen, we<br />
apologise for the delay.<br />
It would appear a cow<br />
is wandering along the track; we will resume our journey once<br />
it has been moved.’<br />
Monks took St Cuthbert’s bones at fitful rest<br />
on ox-cart, drawn by wandering cow<br />
that led them up to Dunholm’s crest;<br />
and there they built a holy shrine<br />
raised to the glory of God Most High.<br />
And now a cow, descendant<br />
turns—transforms—us, fellow passengers,<br />
to pilgrims of that higher law:<br />
Forgive us our trespasses, as<br />
we forgive those who trespass against us.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the holy and the profane.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-55966190956899304722023-12-17T00:29:00.000-08:002023-12-17T07:33:41.940-08:00Advent 2023: Day 15 O Sapientia<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvZEeQraSkzlOoyq4io7Aclyi4RIbyYdbLM-JDzKzSdb_5xeaLzBKBtz8_u5G1JyQ8Bdlkv7uTtwtJdQMh0-3niVLCoHdolj_oumEEoygYa1foN253xyjXZxOaZPEFpC46OsZZ3_PKXnkESohOzkjM1Y-uF8Q8WitKcV82_pvl1R2tetOmtZ5/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixvZEeQraSkzlOoyq4io7Aclyi4RIbyYdbLM-JDzKzSdb_5xeaLzBKBtz8_u5G1JyQ8Bdlkv7uTtwtJdQMh0-3niVLCoHdolj_oumEEoygYa1foN253xyjXZxOaZPEFpC46OsZZ3_PKXnkESohOzkjM1Y-uF8Q8WitKcV82_pvl1R2tetOmtZ5/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Birds wheel as one across the sky<br />
high over woods whose trees<br />
have shed their leaves, as tears<br />
to bare their souls to highest heaven;<br />
roots stretching for a neighbour<br />
in the dark, a fellowship<br />
of those who know<br />
and who have come to welcome<br />
winter. Some of these trees are dying,<br />
know full well this winter is their last,<br />
lay down their lives beginning<br />
with won wisdom, passed on root to root,<br />
that other trees may grow in strength.<br />
They call out to the birds,<br />
Return to rest.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between what we have lost and gain,<br />
between what we have given and received.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-64125641822922571482023-12-16T00:17:00.000-08:002023-12-16T00:17:35.094-08:00Advent 2023: Day 14<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNsV8osh2ARJgndnc1GA2rS0WGkDY_BZhhV1rfT_nMVmaR-Nz5YGo-nza0wLHF1pYRmnCkVermDtH7HFgr412jexxREVyKoC2CIjlaa_ln24xPb1mDv-Kqqsat4Yzd1X_-YPlB0Ub3DuBXhKgR44DSl4lP_RNlQNucJmgirT4EWrDIcD3iVnmC/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNsV8osh2ARJgndnc1GA2rS0WGkDY_BZhhV1rfT_nMVmaR-Nz5YGo-nza0wLHF1pYRmnCkVermDtH7HFgr412jexxREVyKoC2CIjlaa_ln24xPb1mDv-Kqqsat4Yzd1X_-YPlB0Ub3DuBXhKgR44DSl4lP_RNlQNucJmgirT4EWrDIcD3iVnmC/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
A train is steel and space,<br />
and sings, a duet between wheel and rail;<br />
and as the carriage bears my body home,<br />
so the song bears my soul,<br />
a lullaby,<br />
rocks me to rest,<br />
heart falling into time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between body and soul,<br />
between the physical and the mystery<br />
that animates material<br />
artefact.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-72690530139668427012023-12-15T01:06:00.000-08:002023-12-15T01:06:37.791-08:00Advent 2023: Day 13<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwV42krRi7aY-lJTECefwiIXZhrXjRdFPsRCHeMOEI3eC5knWHHPNdt48Utt8RxvvDROfOK8Nv4I1_4lUYu95_r7NK5M-vBQAtJ5YIeQfGU_v2xNU1aLhGMYhMy3rnDQN2bAoa-3OiCip0lZE8bxLMj7N60BgyjuCJUYCYQr_8EtZTC8nLoSK/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqwV42krRi7aY-lJTECefwiIXZhrXjRdFPsRCHeMOEI3eC5knWHHPNdt48Utt8RxvvDROfOK8Nv4I1_4lUYu95_r7NK5M-vBQAtJ5YIeQfGU_v2xNU1aLhGMYhMy3rnDQN2bAoa-3OiCip0lZE8bxLMj7N60BgyjuCJUYCYQr_8EtZTC8nLoSK/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
I have seen the light from above<br />
reflected—twice given—for us<br />
from either side, bestowing<br />
shadowy travelers with a halo;<br />
haloed angels in our midst, or hallowed saints<br />
made holy by this grace?<br />
Look hard, and faces fall from grace,<br />
too solid—no, but look again,<br />
out of the corner of your eye:<br />
flesh, blood, and bones,<br />
these are the raw materials of heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the earth and heaven,<br />
for it is smaller than at first appears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-1368296976247566752023-12-14T00:36:00.000-08:002023-12-14T00:36:36.291-08:00Advent 2023: Day 12<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92Kc5mSrwqfWNKaTuwcIvI061fUIf0zPN9YEjUwzNpIzK0WLQwFBXDqe_p94Y5iyD3aorLyAFiDUa39mNTTopl4Si8YbDoKHmZKG6B4L_s5kNjhXfyL4_8gY747MLG-YlY9JQupR1F_lhrKjsip4uP9wvuxkiWJcoM77HtvNgh4Wp3lbsQLTw/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi92Kc5mSrwqfWNKaTuwcIvI061fUIf0zPN9YEjUwzNpIzK0WLQwFBXDqe_p94Y5iyD3aorLyAFiDUa39mNTTopl4Si8YbDoKHmZKG6B4L_s5kNjhXfyL4_8gY747MLG-YlY9JQupR1F_lhrKjsip4uP9wvuxkiWJcoM77HtvNgh4Wp3lbsQLTw/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Through the window, icy<br />
rain has turned the world to monochrome;<br />
sky the colour of milk, spilt<br />
on furrowed fields, broke-open, black as coal.<br />
Life knows it seasons: spring times of new<br />
beginnings, some unwelcome as cold showers;<br />
summertime of ease; autumns of fruitful<br />
gain for labours given; winters,<br />
when days are short and nights are long,<br />
some mild, some bitter—<br />
and in our time, all running out of order,<br />
unpredictable as weather.<br />
How many seasons does this carriage carry,<br />
in limbs, and wombs, and<br />
sun-kissed, rain-kissed, faces?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the seasons and the shelter.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-35501741955962199512023-12-13T00:38:00.000-08:002023-12-13T00:38:54.033-08:00Advent 2023: Day 11<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDkkhyphenhyphenu6X3R83zl0OWVZV2qBou3P66jEpDyLHLG4WGxNILqdqnjpptPV_9dLKEnw-KIDwiDBValS8NeUuVpIjwoaaznqwLfX1eW1GEZfAjA7Z_kboEcHGaVc_FVoJLETwMAU9mFiCVvNb8Nuvo-2kmOBW51hP6LHtkdcqi_MUIIERncqYisDQ/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmDkkhyphenhyphenu6X3R83zl0OWVZV2qBou3P66jEpDyLHLG4WGxNILqdqnjpptPV_9dLKEnw-KIDwiDBValS8NeUuVpIjwoaaznqwLfX1eW1GEZfAjA7Z_kboEcHGaVc_FVoJLETwMAU9mFiCVvNb8Nuvo-2kmOBW51hP6LHtkdcqi_MUIIERncqYisDQ/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
My thoughts turn to my destination:<br />
I am anticipated—longed for, even—<br />
I am loved,<br />
but am I <i>known</i>? Not fully, no<br />
for I have changed.<br />
‘My, how you’ve grown!’ the grown-ups used to say,<br />
until our outward growth is done;<br />
yet I grow still,<br />
grow, as a tree upon the headland stands,<br />
both sentinel and sign, my limbs<br />
make visible the prevailing wind.<br />
And should they seek who I once was<br />
then I may not be found at all;<br />
and should I fall in with their search,<br />
all is in vain.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between who you have been (and may yet be)<br />
and your true self.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-92008889638293343672023-12-12T00:24:00.000-08:002023-12-12T00:24:05.840-08:00Advent 2023: Day 10<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaSNzmrEzOnxysTArES2rorA-eAglNIoXKJ61T-z4zZXbE1T4NlNfpG9yLlYF9UVg1ofV5Yt-CDdpXlFYInbkmXbaLSDkElJrXf1ex_CkZTT4cKxd2Cps2Q2aORZxX2-lsqj73Vlce45ErXxKAfrh5gD6cuHfV9IHGt9K-Hm5ZShGJvKqeZmV/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinaSNzmrEzOnxysTArES2rorA-eAglNIoXKJ61T-z4zZXbE1T4NlNfpG9yLlYF9UVg1ofV5Yt-CDdpXlFYInbkmXbaLSDkElJrXf1ex_CkZTT4cKxd2Cps2Q2aORZxX2-lsqj73Vlce45ErXxKAfrh5gD6cuHfV9IHGt9K-Hm5ZShGJvKqeZmV/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
‘Tickets, please.’<br />
I lean and push hand deep in pocket,<br />
pull out my phone, as if<br />
I were magician, pulling flowers and<br />
rabbits from a hat: <i>ta-da!</i><br />
Once, I would purchase paper tickets<br />
from a booth, another human, behind glass,<br />
as in a zoo; now,<br />
only digital traces track me as I flee<br />
from screen to window seat to screen,<br />
and ‘Tickets, please.’<br />
and I glance off each other,<br />
sleight of hand.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the polished surface<br />
and our common substance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-92232572530885306542023-12-11T00:42:00.000-08:002023-12-11T00:42:58.083-08:00Advent 2023: Day 9<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3no1yHrbR0Jj_ZoWKiv6EuQSCfXhiEbE_rfuVIcmzY7T12iHBul_kDNcdzbW21EbFsWwP1k8KZZ3lMD5PeyoYH0_pcNgnj0TDYCahxWmchyphenhyphenssLel6UKyq9FcjDBskie8hkffJYMR7D4AFPEy5oLM2JZeSh1AKTsIWVMCW2CPSRimilzm-ie5/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip3no1yHrbR0Jj_ZoWKiv6EuQSCfXhiEbE_rfuVIcmzY7T12iHBul_kDNcdzbW21EbFsWwP1k8KZZ3lMD5PeyoYH0_pcNgnj0TDYCahxWmchyphenhyphenssLel6UKyq9FcjDBskie8hkffJYMR7D4AFPEy5oLM2JZeSh1AKTsIWVMCW2CPSRimilzm-ie5/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
I settle into my seat:<br />
a small child<br />
appears, over the seat in front of me<br />
looking back, holding my gaze.<br />
I smile, instinctively<br />
cover my eyes with my hands,<br />
then—peekaboo—reveal my face<br />
blinkered between palms, thumbs pressed<br />
against my cheekbones,<br />
cupping my smile,<br />
and hide, reveal, and hide, reveal again.<br />
The child delights, in their shy way,<br />
at once inquisitive and coy;<br />
but where does adult end and child begin?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the inner child and<br />
the weight of the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-73490036593252272252023-12-10T00:55:00.000-08:002023-12-10T00:55:11.252-08:00Advent 2023: Day 8<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0L2wFoNtuFSEe0hPW1FdlMxcSD_fSFfR4a1dTmo0I89rxPHurMU4SscKmJe2hmtEG0x4gg1kJe2KZ5hQZPJ0Jgmbjjj78lvSeSqqtIvT9VcpjGPIBWjQolgz_r6aHRzSofOPG3-ogd6Zt-UkQOX_axZRSuGDphwUaG2h6-fiXLfwMA6knGcW/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl0L2wFoNtuFSEe0hPW1FdlMxcSD_fSFfR4a1dTmo0I89rxPHurMU4SscKmJe2hmtEG0x4gg1kJe2KZ5hQZPJ0Jgmbjjj78lvSeSqqtIvT9VcpjGPIBWjQolgz_r6aHRzSofOPG3-ogd6Zt-UkQOX_axZRSuGDphwUaG2h6-fiXLfwMA6knGcW/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
This is where I change<br />
disembark and cross the platform<br />
scan the scene for information:<br />
where am I headed? how much time do I have?<br />
plunge through the crowd, stuck<br />
behind the slow-moving and the<br />
heavy-laden, dance<br />
side-step.<br />
I follow signs and strike out<br />
in the wrong direction:<br />
retrace my steps, begin again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between familiarity and<br />
disorientation.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-83416900670387097202023-12-09T00:42:00.000-08:002023-12-09T00:42:00.128-08:00Advent 2023: Day 7<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLbbSgy8xVXJrge2zRsDhJq3GgLCu-c5Oo2XID1jLgCmZyMRqMee6ZCuKNfvsdCSQLRKGAu4M-ZEBt4AXjZhxR9hYnuhcUg01wl-bbWdSCL6T0ylH-gGNSJpRATjPustBe91GaDdaKd-2fjWUyi533UmuMW3ZHN4_b_dSpoW6fxs82iZ60_Gx/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoLbbSgy8xVXJrge2zRsDhJq3GgLCu-c5Oo2XID1jLgCmZyMRqMee6ZCuKNfvsdCSQLRKGAu4M-ZEBt4AXjZhxR9hYnuhcUg01wl-bbWdSCL6T0ylH-gGNSJpRATjPustBe91GaDdaKd-2fjWUyi533UmuMW3ZHN4_b_dSpoW6fxs82iZ60_Gx/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Yet here we are<br />
at stand-still, caught somewhere between<br />
two stations;<br />
giving way, that others may go on<br />
ahead of us, make up their own delays.<br />
All through the carriage,<br />
restless heads are turned, as if<br />
in search of answers<br />
to be found, under our neighbour’s seat,<br />
perhaps; as if we were in an<br />
Escape Room.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between the anxious clamour<br />
of our needs and<br />
making space to meet<br />
the needs of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-83694918746145434852023-12-08T00:42:00.000-08:002023-12-08T00:42:32.298-08:00Advent 2023: Day 6<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxZnI8lMes05NnzJMtLqjF98ZH2qkkFL8NfBeckpOtpuPCN34bUn_k1rCJutRDd3j5q7UpWqg4YITO8IZtLV3RGiabAGwzwiTd8vGuj0i9CrcvnBxuuQXg0JIYC-X86AtFR9tRl75ADLcbj-dTdeWKGD-Oh5HBsq92P5TTbZNiQ8ZJyNaRXEu/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZxZnI8lMes05NnzJMtLqjF98ZH2qkkFL8NfBeckpOtpuPCN34bUn_k1rCJutRDd3j5q7UpWqg4YITO8IZtLV3RGiabAGwzwiTd8vGuj0i9CrcvnBxuuQXg0JIYC-X86AtFR9tRl75ADLcbj-dTdeWKGD-Oh5HBsq92P5TTbZNiQ8ZJyNaRXEu/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
<i>Thrum</i>-b<br />
(rudely jolted from the page I hold<br />
with care, lest I contaminate forensic traces)<br />
a train rushes by, travelling against us<br />
with violent intent, rattling windows;<br />
momentary glimpse of other lives,<br />
scrolling screens<br />
or passing time in conversation<br />
all unaware<br />
how violently they hurtle to the end.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between observation<br />
and passing judgement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9632072.post-52525165175663277262023-12-07T00:49:00.000-08:002023-12-07T00:49:11.377-08:00Advent 2023: Day 5<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z_t_22VY7OusNY9r5budUMQzFRtRL-HBtY2yVXEggZeFRvGtdafO3Gd4kejPbxsv1zzMlHsoqowdRMFDL4iFh6vq9n6gk_TlN_QRLVMiuwx_0waX08hl62G-QqZeVQHF34XsCj7UBK1ewLhn1PQfvkC4SMtLbTfuVEGruDa0LyiZ3JTDcQf-/s1643/mind_the_gap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1643" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Z_t_22VY7OusNY9r5budUMQzFRtRL-HBtY2yVXEggZeFRvGtdafO3Gd4kejPbxsv1zzMlHsoqowdRMFDL4iFh6vq9n6gk_TlN_QRLVMiuwx_0waX08hl62G-QqZeVQHF34XsCj7UBK1ewLhn1PQfvkC4SMtLbTfuVEGruDa0LyiZ3JTDcQf-/w640-h360/mind_the_gap.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Image: a railway platform with the words MIND THE GAP painted for the
benefit of those alighting from the train, so that the letters are upside-down
from the perspective of those waiting to board the train.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now is the season for journeys home by train<br />
(it has been too long)<br />
Fields to the right of me,<br />
stretching to the sea;<br />
and in the distance,<br />
on the left, a town<br />
church spire rising to meet dark clouds.<br />
We plunge into a tunnel:<br />
and from behind black mirror<br />
I hold my gaze,<br />
a drowning man, pale as death.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Passengers a-lighting,<br />
please mind the gap<br />
between your darkest days and years,<br />
and the extinguishing<br />
of hope.<br />
This, too, shall pass.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Bierstadt",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Andrew Dowsetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05417088521258450446noreply@blogger.com0