(from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead) Just whence is that “thence” He shall come from? And – while I’m asking – how often, if ever, Sunday mornings apart, does anyone nowadays ask about “thence” around anything? Quaint words, to express quaint ideas? All this heavenly to-ing and fro-ing between this world and the next? And then there’s that far-away spot, the remote place where he “sitteth,” that holy right hand of the Father – no less – which right hand should surely be present and active right here and right now. Not reserved in some distant preserve until heaven knows when. Spare us, handy Lord, our fumbling attempts to grope our way on toward mystery. And grant us the redeeming wisdom and grace to smile, every once in a while, at our folly in face of your glory. … [Read more...]

Didn’t mean to go this far, but my insistent terrier – all eight pounds – tugs me toward the lumbered steps that lead beyond the woods onto the bluff. Lingering patches of last Monday’s snowfall make me step careful, leaning wary on the cane, while savoring the icy crunch of boots, crisp imprints where, till then, only dainty-hoof deer had trod. Leaning across the split-log fence along the edge, I pause to monitor the gulls patrolling of the shoreline, check out a bobbing congregation of brown ducks and eiders – no tiny brood as yet, to cluster alongside. The sun, through snowbank-heaps of cloud, transforms the surface dark-blue/green to momentary swaths of vivid aquamarine, out there toward the horizon. While to the north, along the bay, distant figures of other walkers with their ecstatic off-leash companions swirl the sands of Higgins Beach. And in the woods behind the silent sap is headed upward, long dormant foliage is pressing hard against old winter’s buds, … [Read more...]