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Meditation 1
“Grace has drawn nigh to mouths, once blasphemous, and has made
them harps; sounding praise.” —Homily on Our Lord, (1)
“Let your speech always be with grace.” —Colossians 4.6
Grace wields transforming power. Not even speech
is free from its effects. Diffusing from
a sin-cleansed soul, renewing grace will reach
the world-besotted tongue where it will come
like an invading army on a beach,
to break out and subdue a troublesome
old enemy. Transforming grace knows each
dark redoubt or secluded place where dumb,
vile foes lurk, waiting like a loathsome leech
and clinging to the tongue-ground that has come
into their power. In time, though, grace will teach
the tongue new purposes and skills, the sum
of which no worldly foe can fill the breach
against for very long, but overcome
by thanks and praise and edifying speech,
surrenders all its holdings—all, not some.
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Meditation 2
“But our Lord was trampled on by Death; and in His turn trod out a
way over Death.” —Homily on Our Lord, (3)
“He will bruise your head, and you will bruise His heel.” —Genesis 3.15
No doubt Ol’ Nick was smarting still
from that first putdown long ago,
when Jesus blocked his fiendish will
and told him just where he could go.
And after that, for three long years,
the carpenter from Galilee
punched Satan’s nose and boxed his ears
and set the demon-harried free.
Nick helpless watched as multitudes
streamed after Jesus and were healed,
and winced to hear them say, “This Dude’s
for real!” But he refused to yield.
And then he saw his chance to nail
Him and to show Him who was boss.
He took aim at His heel to whale
Him with a rugged Roman cross.
The blow struck home, and down He went,
but short-lived was the victory,
for three days later Jesus rent
the bonds of death and took that tree
and buried it in Ol’ Nick’s brain.
Now, though he’s wounded mortally
and destined for eternal pain,
he still seeks woe for you and me.
But Jesus has him on a chain
and lets him wander there and here
while He shuts down Nick’s vanquished reign
and plunders all his stuff and gear.
So when Ol’ Nick comes slinking by
to turn you from the Jesus way,
remember: Every word’s a lie
that he suggests or he might say.
So send him packing, lest he know
from you complicity or fruit.
He is a broken, beaten foe,
so just give him the Jesus boot.
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Meditation 3
“Thy Word has become a mirror before them, that in it they might see
death, secretly swallowing up their lives.” —Homily on Our Lord (5)
“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” —1 Timothy 1.15
Mirror, mirror, of the Word,
who’s the foulest, most absurd,
most self-centered, cruel and crude,
most impatient, curt and rude,
most inclined to stray from You
and what You forbid, to do?
Mirror, mirror plainly tell
him who would be marked for hell
but for your long-suffering grace.
Show Him, show the world the face
of the sloth who fails to pray
and consult You every day,
who more likely is to waste
time and energy to taste
idleness’s vanities,
more a lazy soul to please
than to know God’s filling grace
and to gaze upon His face.
Mirror, mirror, show it true–
he to whom the crown is due
as the chief of sinners! He
whose faint heart You know and see,
he whom death would swallow whole
were it not that You his soul
have redeemed and made Your own,
and throughout Your truth have sown.
Is it the apostle? So
he insisted, but I know
there’s another who could claim
this dark honor, this grim fame.
Mirror, mirror, him I see
with heart-rending clarity
as I search Your every line:
That dread title could be mine!
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All quotes are from St. Ephraim the Syrian. Hymns and Homilies of St. Ephraim the Syrian, Paul A. Böer, Sr., ed. Veritatis Splendor Publications. Kindle Edition. Scripture quotes are from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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T. M. Moore is Principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He and his wife and editor, Susie, make their home in the Champlain Valley of Vermont.
Meditation I is a fantastic use of twin rhymes for the extent of the poem. Besides that, it is a wonderful poem about transforming grace.
Meditation II is a well written poem about Satan as portrayed in the Bible and the concept that Jesus has him on a chain that can restrain “Nick” from those who are Christians through our faith and prayers.
Meditation III: Beautiful in words, images, and reflections on our own human failures.
T.M., these are deep and well-woven meditations. To begin with, you have paired the epigraphs very insightfully! In your first meditation, it seems quite a feat to limit yourself to only two rhymes, yet they work well. “All, not some.” is an eye-opening ending. What intrigues me most about the second meditation is how you have managed to combine such serious subject matter with a humorous tone. I think it’s well done. I have to admit I laughed at multitudes / Dude’s! “Told him just where He could go” and “saw his chance to nail Him” are among other well-chosen phrases.
“Mirror, mirror” is my favorite, a perfect metaphor that joins the two epigraphs, and fleshes them out. This whole poem was a wonderful idea.
Thank you both. I find reading older theologians and poets (Ephraim is fourth century, Syrian) somehow engages my contemplative bent more than most modern writers. And contemplation always sets me thinking about poetry. So thanks again for your thoughtful comments. Blessings. T. M.
All three of these poems are skillfully wrought and offer insight into the nature of grace, the conflict between Christ and Satan; and the nature of Satan as it manifests in vain mortals.
The tone of Meditation 2 is unique — contemporary, colloquial and playful despite the gravity of the subject. Although styled “a meditation” it is not meditative. Nor is it satiric, nor devotional. I’m reminded of Tim Rice’s irreverent lyrics in “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” I would be interested to know what your poetic intent here was.
Meditation 3 is also possessed of an interesting tone with an incantorial rhythm and language which improvises on the Wicked Queen’s “mirror, mirror on the wall” from Snow White. Your borrowing from the fairy tale story is a good vehicle for a discussion of vanity and Satan’s influences historical and contemporary.
Of the three, my favorite is Meditation 1 which offers a muscular interpretation of Christianity. It reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote: “If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” You present the receipt of grace as something of a commission which is not easy and which is all-consuming but which is yet the best possible gift.
Brian: Thanks for those helpful insights and for your overall encouragement. I confess that I do find, in certain seasons of meditation, things that bring such delight to me that I’m provoked to, if I may call it, a kind of holy hilarity. Like God, laughing at the rebellious world in Psalm 2. I laugh, for example, to contemplate some white-coated scientist trying to explain their evolution to a community of leaves. They would not be able to restrain from laughing at such a nonsensical idea. I do not find humor, satire, or irony to be out of bounds for meditation. I see no reason why meditation, contemplation, and the like should be only somber and serious. But maybe that says more about me than about those disciplines. T. M.