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Poetry and Prayer

This was prompted by us hosting an open meeting of silent worship led by the South Belfast Society of Friends last Wednesday night, and I had hoped to post it yesteday, since it was national poetry day... But I was prevented by a hectic timetable and internet problems... But better late than never...



Meeting for worship and prayer with Friends
Silently sitting in a prayer room,
A cell or silo, cut through with a single window
Through which, at the right angle
One can see the world go by
One can see the world go buy

Silence suffused by the constant rumble of traffic
Pierced by a wailing alarm crying wolf
And punctuated by prompted words
Through which, in the right light
One can see a wider world
One can see a wiser world

Worship is not a matter of words and music
And prayer is not retreat from the world
But an active interweaving of heaven and earth
Through which, in the right time
One can see another world
One can see in another world

Shalom

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