Inspiring Poems – “A world … vast and meaningful…”

~ In this poem, nature is blurring the boundaries between the man made and the eternal: "...the green tideOf grass creeping perpetually nearerThis last outpost of time past." Hardly anything happens in this village in Wales: "the black dogCracking his fleas in the hot sunIs history" But the human dimension brings about a change of …

Inspiring Poems: “living souls…bright-faced as dawn” – R.S.Thomas

"My understanding is darkened,It is no gain to enquire;Better to wait the long night's ending,Till the light comes, far truth's transcending..." This is a poem about peering beyond the darkness, about seeking beyond the long night. Yet there is certainty that beyond the darkness is light: "Yet living souls, a prodigious number,Bright-faced as dawn, invest …

Standing Up to Violence – Thomas Becket

850 years ago, Thomas Becket, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, was killed. Thomas Becket is remembered on this day, 29th December. There was a complicated personal and political story behind the events that led to his murder, but his example does show the vulnerability of those in leadership positions to forces they cannot control. Other …