"Pity" - William Blake, ca.1795
The Garden Of Love
I went to the Garden of Love,
And saw what I never had seen;
A Chapel was built in the midst,
Where I used to play on the green.
And the gates of this Chapel were shut,
And 'Thou shalt not' writ over the door;
So I turned to the Garden of Love
That so many sweet flowers bore.
And I saw it was filled with graves,
And tombstones where flowers should be;
And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds,
And binding with briars my joys and desires.
William Blake - Songs of Experience
Both Fr Scott and MadPriest posted on preparing to preside at funerals. Funerals can't be the easy part of clergy ministry. I think that, too often, we don't properly appreciate the work of our clergy, those in parish work, those in the trenches with their people.
As I was feeling a little somber, William Blake came to mind. He was somewhat of a mad mystic, misunderstood and mostly unappreciated in his time. Perhaps that's why I'm quite fond of his poems and art.
Image from The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
UPDATE: Father David Heron had seven funerals last week and word of two more to come today. Lord, have mercy. Lord, give Father David strength.
Somber indeed. Funerals, life, death.
ReplyDeleteI am praying a lot.
The words you put forth are truly lovely though.
Yes -it takes a special kind of strength to do that and especially the ones who are involved with it all the time such as our deacon Brother Tom we have in our church- he's our choir director and one of our 2 deacons but his main work is ministering to people in Hospice care as part of the Hospice of Orange and Sullivan County. He's an amazing person- He's a Gregorian like Tobias actually. But we should always keep our priests and brothers and all who do this important work in our prayers..
ReplyDeleteThank you Grandmere
ReplyDeleteI love the Blake poem, and I am praying for both MP and Fr. David Herron.
ReplyDeleteYou're quite welcome, Father David.
ReplyDeleteThank you, grandmere. The image speaks rather directly to my feelings about "Chip".
ReplyDeleteScott, from what you've said about "Chip", I understand how it would.
ReplyDelete