Posted in Different Moments

Ireland: Day 5

Another day dawned for exploring
To the Hill of Tara we went
Where ancient kings and their kingdoms
Assembled for whom they were sent

On this hill of archaic importance
Saint Patrick came to address
To show Kings the way of the Triune
As path to be divinely blessed

A place of such legend and wonder
Yet Truth only can set all free
The Kings of old, no longer reigning
His Kingdom spreads out globally

Next to the Hillsborough Castle
Where more recent royalty stays
Lush gardens proclaiming in opulence
We’ve moved on from our ancient ways

Strolling through beautiful gardens
Each bed gently weeded and pruned
Reminds us the care of our gardener
Who waters and tends every wound

Yet hidden in tapestried corners
Desires to be those now blessed
Relying more on our politic
Than on the faith once confessed

A drive up the East Coastal Causeway
We’re cleared of all cobwebs or crown
Reminded, in God’s good creation
The Creator Himself has come down

Each sharp turn a prayer reminder
“Lord, guide both our drive and our path
May we walk as those always with You
Instead of avoiding Your wrath”

Posted in Different Moments

Ireland: Day 4

An earlier dawn we saw coming
To go acquire one more steed
For to launch into further adventure
More engine and seats did we need

We journeyed south to Wicklow
Glendalough, valley of the two lakes
Surrounded by green, every corner
Our souls to creation, awakes

The roots of St. Kevin’s order
Shapes both the landscape and myth
Beholding the beauty and history
And the hand of the one I came with

Round tower and old leaning gravestones
A deer quietly munching on greens
The ruins of churches like castles
And we, their new kings and queens

A kingdom which time has abandoned
Remembered, and calling us back
Through labyrinths and stories of prayer
To slow down and see where we lack

For though we have constant connection
So often we miss living Word
Confusing our constant scrolling
For the Love He desires be heard

A slow winding coffee-filled journey
Back to the city we came
To simmer in family’s presence
In their welcome, we were entertained

Posted in Different Moments, Uncategorized

Ireland: Day 3

We slumbered longer than intended
Refreshed by each deep breath drawn
Beginning to stir to our wonder
When our bodies expected the dawn

We walked well-tread paths toward coffee
Some slow morning hours, we took
We sipped as we laughed over Uno
We perused both earrings and book

We wandered to ancient Aideen
A princess known less every year
Imagining how such a formation
May have been positioned right here

A stone which is called still a portal
Offering our own minds a tension
To wonder if somehow thin spaces
May offer glimpse of more dimension

The heartbeat of green pulses loudly
In visions of forests and glens
To pause over mosses and flowers
Giving thanks to Whom all it depends

We boarded a small ship in water
We rounded the Ireland eye
The puffins and million others
Watched as our group passed them by

We closed out the day at the tavern
By the Abbey of St. Mary’s name
Feasting on Ireland’s treasures
Remembering why here we came