Saturday 11 April 2020
Easter Sunday morning. (Mary’s journey)
Sunday morning. (Mary’s journey)
First thing Sunday morning,
the birds have ceased their reveille
and the sun is yet to ward off
the remaining fingers of cold.
Two nights with little sleep
toll heavy with a cold of their own.
Friday night was full of anger and hurt,
the six-hour sight of suffering
a lingering bad breath in the mind
fighting off the need for sleep.
Saturday night was full of fear and loss,
fitful remembrances and frightening imaginations,
and the terrible sense of a thing unfinished.
So, less than fresh,
she met the awakening day.
How she came to be here,
already outside the city -
a mystery of preoccupation,
familiar streets merely ghosts in passing.
Now, the aroma of the spices in her hand
slowly bring the day into perspective,
as the road brightens beneath heavy feet.
How she would bribe the guards
to move the stone, still unformed,
a strategy of beguiling, formed from poverty,
may need to suffice.
Why she was going, to perform the ritual,
a disparity of honouring the dead
and a last chance to touch Him.
Entering the garden, an acrid incense
of stale spice and stale bodies
overcomes the well intentioned scent
of the gardeners craft.
Death has its own bouquet.
The path leads quickly to the tomb,
though each footfall is an age of distress,
each turn - a curtain of protection removed,
before the inevitable encounter with reality.
At the tomb, the mouth of an abyss
its jaws open in emptiness,
the world falls apart
and unshed tears
fall unfettered
from a broken heart.
He is not here.
On this hill
For those who are interested, this is my poem, David screened it at
the Good Friday service. The video voiceover and slide show was by Louis
Kasatkin of Destiny Church, Wakefield.
the video link: on this hillthe text:
On this hill
(a contemplation)
In darkest daylight
with all sin revealed
the host is lifted high.
There is no melancholy melody to this sacrifice,
no quietude of choir-filled gentility
to align thought and soul.
This altar of absorbing pain
staggers the senses, grips the mind.
This is a solitary place.
A hermitage,
crowded with broken hearts
and wounded spirits,
oblivious of their fellows.
Let sense be dulled;
for here the sting of death
awaits those who turn their face
for easier vistas.
This unquiet beauty of wracked passion
steals the splendour of simpler creations
and scourges art and word and song.
Tears are the sea
from which this mast arises,
this lighthouse which signifies
wrecking rocks and vicious tides.
The storm which ravages here
breaches time and place,
pulsing of life and void of death.
A lightning flash shears the curtain,
the thunderous roar
a fanfare to sanctity.
On this hill eternity is on trial;
a single soul it’s witness,
the jury - a world of closed eyes.
A timbered, suffering sacrifice
sees my small pain
and weeps
for me.
A hermitage,
crowded with broken hearts
and wounded spirits,
oblivious of their fellows.
Let sense be dulled;
for here the sting of death
awaits those who turn their face
for easier vistas.
This unquiet beauty of wracked passion
steals the splendour of simpler creations
and scourges art and word and song.
Tears are the sea
from which this mast arises,
this lighthouse which signifies
wrecking rocks and vicious tides.
The storm which ravages here
breaches time and place,
pulsing of life and void of death.
A lightning flash shears the curtain,
the thunderous roar
a fanfare to sanctity.
On this hill eternity is on trial;
a single soul it’s witness,
the jury - a world of closed eyes.
A timbered, suffering sacrifice
sees my small pain
and weeps
for me.
Thursday 9 April 2020
Message from David:
Dear Friends,
As we journey through Holy Week together, I’m writing to share with you what will be happening at church over the
next 10 days and how to join us online to share in a range of different meetings and services.
Maundy Thursday ‘Stay with me’
7.45 for 8pm - A Service of Readings Reflections and Prayer
Good Friday Service for All Ages
Easter Sunday Celebration
‘The Joy of Easter’ 10.45am for 11am –
Meeting ID: 689 078 489
On Sunday 19th
please join our Service at 10.45am for 11am
Kosta Ngandu will be leading and Pastor Sammy will be our guest speaker
Meeting ID: 689 078 489
Easter Saturday
the 6-11 years Children’s Group
will gather online. We ask that parents support their children
whenever they are online with us. If you have not yet joined in with this activity please be in touch with me and I will send you the link.
We are also offering craft activities to accompany our worship services for the 3-6 years. Please let me
know if you would like to receive them and aren’t currently.
Prayers at 12.20pm
As we look ahead the next two weeks, I am being advised that we are going to be critical as we face
this health crisis together. Many of our congregation are working on the front line and I would like to invite you to join us for Prayers on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (14-16th) at 12.30pm to pray for them specifically alongside the needs of our community, country and world.
You can join us using the following link
Meeting ID: 872 015 309
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