General (Vol. 1)

Article Sections

Contents

  1. The Drama of Life
  2. River of Baptising Water
  3. Faith, Hope and Love
  4. God's Earth
  5. Nicodemus
  6. Wedding
  7. Relationships
  8. Mothers
  9. Forgiveness
  10. Testaments
  11. The Bethanies
  12. Retrenchment
  13. Donkeys
  14. Learning
  15. Catastrophe
  16. Mercy
  17. Shepherd
  18. The Trinity and its Virtues
  19. Lamb and Shepherd
  20. Peter's Burden
  21. Grandmother
  22. Confirmation
  23. The Way, The Truth and The Life
  24. Puzzles
  25. Comfort
  26. Bethlehem's Legacy
  27. The Church on Earth
  28. Mary's Pentecost
  29. Prayer
  30. Always
  31. Power
  32. Trinity
  33. Responsibility
  34. Strength
  35. Everyone Can Call Upon Jesus
  36. Unity
  37. Jesu of the Desert
  38. Judgment
  39. Sacrifice
  40. Pressure
  41. God in Us
  42. Vocation
  43. Commitment
  44. Jesus of All the Ages
  45. The Spiral
  46. Commendations
  47. Retreat
  48. Lamb, Child, Servant, Shepherd, Priest
  49. The Path
  50. For Victims of Human Failure

Retrenchment

  1. Our faithful banners gather dust,
    Marching no longer gives us cheer;
    And when we creep to show our trust
    Our feebleness evokes a sneer;
    Our churches, prey to mould and rust,
    Are destined for the auctioneer:
    Then let us not grieve for such loss
    But for our Saviour on the Cross.

  2. No longer born of poverty,
    Our hope of heaven is imprecise,
    No contrast with the cruelty
    And grind of daily sacrifice,
    A promise of banality,
    Of everlastingly being nice:
    Then let us not abandon prayer
    But gather as if He were here.

  3. Our former sense of charity
    Has been diluted by routine;
    Unsettled by disparity
    And yet uncomfortably mean
    We shrink from solidarity
    In case our neighbour is not clean:
    Then let us part from the elite
    And beg for mercy at His feet.

  4. What virtue we may yet possess
    Seems pallid in the glare of greed;
    And in the paradox of distress
    We reach for what we do not need;
    Consumed in crowded loneliness
    We lose our appetite to lead:
    Then let us not give up our part
    But lose our passion in His heart.

  5. What love our love of power spares
    May save us from our worst conceit,
    For though our earthly power ensnares,
    Heavenly freedom is complete,
    So may we bravely march with prayers,
    Standards of love, and not retreat:
    Then let us not presume to stand
    But kneel in prayer at his command.