And all her journeyings was a caressing
Within her mind of secrets to be spoken.
The simple fact of birth soon overshadowed
The shadow of the angel.
The Visitation,Elizabeth Jennings
Love: So near
You who were darkness warmed my flesh
where out of darkness rose the seed...
I wither and you break from me;
yet though you dance in living light,
I am the earth, I am the root,
I am the stem that fed the fruit,
the link that joins you to the night.
Woman to child, Judith Wright
Love: In action
And this will be the longest task: to attend,
to open myself.
The Other, Ruth Fainlight
Love: Is here
All mankind will see God's salvation.
Luke 3:6
Love: Day-spring cheer
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
Love: Yearning
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
Psalm 42:1-2
Joy and Laughter: Anna
Could we but look more clearly and wisely
We might discover somewhere in the garden
A strange new flower and an unnamed star.
The World, Czeslaw Milosz
Joy and Laughter: Simeon
God of mystery, God of glory, we will laugh with you.
Candles and Conifers, Ruth Burgess
Joy and Laughter: The Shepherds
[Happiness] comes to the monk in his cell.
It comes to the woman sweeping the street
with a birch broom, to the child
whose mother has passed out from drink.
It comes to the lover
Happiness, Jane Kenyon
Read MoreJoy and Laughter: Elizabeth
I am born for the second time,
happiness of the world
came to me again.
My body effervesces.
Anna Swir
Joy and Laughter: John the Baptist
'.. the baby in my womb leaped for joy.'
Read MoreJoy and Laughter: Mary
My soul reaches out to God
My spirit rejoices in my saviour
God sees that the humble heart is open
And implants his vision into it.
Vaux.2003 (Magnet Magazine)
Read MorePower: Strong women and strong men
Mary and Elizabeth
Two strong women
Whose wombs
Carried two strong men
Joyce Rupp
Power: The awestruck angel
You, Lady, are the great, high door
that soon shall open wide.
You, most beloved ear to my song
Now I feel: my word is lost
in you as in a wood.
The Angel speaks, Rainer Maria Rilke
Power: The place of deep meeting
Each reflects the other’s face
Till heaven in hers and earth in his
Shine steady there.
Annunciation, Edwin Muir
Power: The sum of power
Aren't there annunciations
of one sort or another in most lives?
Denise Levertov
Power: Power of God hold us?
Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. Luke 1:11
Read MorePower: Waiting is not powerless
Let it come, as it will, and don't
be afraid. God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.
Jane Kenyon
Light: My own star?
'Twinkle, twinkle little star,
how we wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
like a diamond in the sky.
Bringing visions from afar,
how we wonder what you are.
Alix Brown, Candles and Conifers
Light: Enough to take a step
Be not too curious of Good and Evil;
Seek not to count the future waves of Time;
But be ye satisfied that you have light
Enough to take your step and find your foothold.
TS Eliot, The Rock
Read More