We try to encourage reflection and creativity in imitation of Christ and his creation. Some members of our community offer here reflections that you may find inspiring.
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Is the earth a minor ball
Tossed into a vacuous void
When Nothing turned to Something
And exploded into Everything?
In this must we bow to the gods of formulae
We are unable to examine
And forbidden to question?
All because of “Gravity,”
The linchpin of heliocentricity
That sits on a throne of philosophical abracadabra
And cannot be proved?
Is the earth a minor ball
Tossed into a vacuous void
Where truth is relative
Art is trash
And Beauty’s face is hated
And, as in the bowels of Pandemonium,
Corruption of innocence celebrated?
Shall we all bow to the gods of Chaos
Because E=mc2 ?
Is the earth a minor rock
Sent spinning in a random toss
Or does the earth reflect the Glory
Witnessed by the Christmas Story,
A Virgin came to Bethlehem,
Emmanuel was born to men,
And died upon a cross?
I have never seen the curve
So I believe the earth is flat
Protected by the firmament
And the seas contained
By ribbons of sand and walls of ice
A place so glorious
The stones might sing
Hosannah.
- Elizabeth Bordeaux
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Creation broken
Christ, divinity en-fleshed
The cosmos mended.
- Zachary Carnes
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“Ode to a Bowl of Oatmeal”
What to eat? Is the question I ask,
Carrots & celery-thrown in a pot,
Cheddar & chicken-I think not.
Meat & eggs, all in the past,
Three weeks into the Nativity fast.
My shelves are hardly bare, take a look,
My problems would be solved if only I could cook.
A diet of beans, chips & salsa,
Can any cuisine ring so falsa?
My mind is racing,
Interspersed with incessant pacing.
And then a thought begins to gel,
My salvation in a steaming bowl of hot oatmeal.
- Terry Cowan
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The caterpillar,
blind, grasping,
only making ruin to fill its maw
renders into stone-sealed broth
And is born again
As winged beauty.
So it is for this fallen world
when the Author of Life
deigns to seed Himself as life
to render it anew
And each one one by one.
- Ross Flowers
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"Star Mountain"
Stars in the heavens
Mountains on the earth—cool snow
on the heights
Ropes and climbing gear
Hopes and dreams.
Climbers everywhere.
Watch different types from
higher ground.
Some climb with eyes shut
or ropes cut.
I want to know them
But to use their ropes…?
I don’t climb with their ropes
Nor see what they see.
Climbers ascend
One by one—do they see?
I see careful climbers
Who fall down the slopes with their ropes.
Take your rope.
Trip, fall, show the way,
and let others see you.
Others fall too—I see you
And I see the stars.
- Leif Pierson
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"Virgo"
Virgo, burning bush,
you brighten the heavens.
Unsurpassed beauty, you watch us
struggle through the dark,
offering us your Son’s endless mercies,
O bride of justice.
On earth, do we long
take up the sword?
Our Champion already bound the enemy.
His soldiers soon forsake the battle.
A few look up, but for most
it’s head-down drudgery.
Much to discourage the wearied warrior.
While He won a new age,
filled with triumphs,
we tread the field like novices
expecting early victory.
O lady, your steady course
defies the shooting star.
You follow the Lion
as you cross heaven step by step.
May those commissioned by your Son
pursue the war already won.
May we follow your trail of light.
May we ever renew the fight.
- Leif Pierson
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"Eye"
The mind fills itself
full of facts and figures,
while the eye takes in the dark.
Brains abhor obscurity,
perplexed by clouds and mist.
But as darkness fills the eye
the more it opens to receive.
Therefore,
the mind stuffs the brain with brightness,
and confuses light with rightness.
Seeing eye and thinking mind entangled,
these multiply data
and fill all the holes.
They grow our pride
and crowd our souls.
Understanding stretches so far,
then will snap.
Better a broken mind, they say,
than a shameful knowledge gap.
Lord, deliver us
from over-information.
The smallest trace of You
feeds all of Your creation.
Save Thy creature from mental flood.
One bite—Thy body cleans my blood.
One candle flame brightens this heart,
and nourishes the poet’s art.
Sleepy inner eye, open yourself wide.
Study the darkness—more than shadows reside
where secrets like to hide.
Find the light inside.
- Leif Pierson
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ST. JOHN OF DAMASCUS ORTHODOX CHURCH 