Tag: Religion
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Day of Wrath: Sweeney Todd and the Search for Salvation
Perversely, Sweeney seems to believe this type of purging will be his “salvation”, which he sings in the jarringly brilliant number “Epiphany”, as he challenges men to come and sit in his barber chair and be “welcome to the grave.” Read more
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Nothing Human
Nothing human is a stranger to God on the tree in agony. He is in one place, and in all, the Calvary of Mankind. He is not safe from our iniquity, nor is He absent from our misery. Read more
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Easter to Me: A Personal Reflection on Holy Week
My childhood memories of Holy Week, when Christians the world over commemorate the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, are a kaleidoscope of images and impressions, turning from lighter colors to deepening hues. Read more
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Our Lady of Britannia
Thou stood on Newgate Arch and graced Pendragon’s shield; Cardigan bore thy taper and Walsingham thy seal. Humbly we now beseech thee as at thy feet we kneel: Our Lady of Britannia, ora pro nobis! Read more
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Christ in a Waiting Room: An Early Spring Spiritual Epiphany
The painting showed the body of Christ being taken down by the cross, about to be placed in the arms of the sorrowing mother, and all at once I imagined the tears trickling down her face and the blood trickling from his heart, and it felt that everything around me dissolved in that one moment. Read more
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Saint Hubert’s Hunt
Hail, Cross between the antlers beaming, brighter than the brightest pain! Hunted as the wild stag, white as host-to-tongue, we long to savor Thee! Read more
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Slaves, Sons, and Submission: Christian and Muslim Understandings of God
As with verses from the Quran dealing with violence and warfare, it seems many Christians tend to emphasize the names of Allah that deal with dominance and power and de-emphasize or skip over others involving love, mercy, and forgiveness. Read more
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Arbaeen
Everything is shimmering in the shrines of the slain, starlit crystal capturing song and the moan of the mourners, fermented, yet fresh, like the River of Wine that flows beside the Milk. Read more
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Come, My Love: An Analysis of Thomas Merton’s Mystical Poem “Pass Through My Will”
The poem calls for the coming of the Divine Lover, as “all through the night I lay longing, eagerly to wait for love’s union”. There is no shame in this, but rather a reveling in the anticipation as it was meant to be, not cheap, not base, but holistic between body and soul. Read more
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The Crossing of Christopher
The salmon that swam around his legs spoke to him in their ancient tongue, “Thou bear upon thy shoulders the weight of the universe.” Read more
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Abraham’s Sacrifice: Reflections from Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Sometimes we see Abraham’s hand pressed over the boy’s face, as if to cover it, lest they make eye contact, and he lose his nerve to go through with the sacrifice. Some have the boy lying on his belly, his mouth agape, waiting in horror to have his throat slit. Read more
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Scour the Horse Anew: An Analysis of G.K. Chesterton’s Epic Poem “The Ballad of the White Horse”
The White Horse on the hill is the main motif, a chalk etching against a grassy backdrop of Wiltshire, continually scoured by the English people so that it would not fade. Read more
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Paschal Mystery: The Death of God and the Paradox of Salvation
All sin, in a sense, “wounds” God, causes rifts in our relationship with Him. We pierce Him through the heart, and each other through our hearts, constantly. It has real consequences, and real restitution must be made before reconciliation can take place. Read more
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God’s Good Chaos: A Reflection on the Problem of Evil
The problem of Evil is one of most staggering dilemmas for the human mind. If we define it as such, then we acknowledge a spiritual component, and yet if we do that, we also acknowledge a greater power which allows for the existence of this evil, or more specifically, anything in this world which is… Read more
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Adam, Christ, and Evolution: Seeking Meaning in Our Primordial Past
The very fact that we are able to say “Thou” to God means that we are able to disobey and reject Him, to turn away from the “Eden” of spiritual union with Him and choose our own path of disorder. Read more
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Hidden Queen
Look into the poorest eyes, and find the hidden queen. This pool of liquid light reveals the depth of the Red Sea, and she will lead us through the waves, the first upon dry ground. Read more
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Hussain at Karbala
I wander the sands, smeared crimson o’er gold; the blood of my house runs red as dusk. The children are crying, their throats parched earth. Read more
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Mother of Sorrows
I’ve never seen him…dead before, he who was always so full of life, more fully alive than anyone I have ever known, pulsing with youth, agility, vigor. Life…now drained out. Read more
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Nativity
Lady, Lady, marvel deep on what has come through thee! Lady, Lady, we will weep for what must pierce through thee! But we cannot turn back… Read more
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Good People and Paradise: Is There Salvation Outside the Church?
In order to get to heaven, is it only necessary that we be a “good person”? This is a question that has been asked, and slapped down, within Christian rhetorical circles on a regular basis. But perhaps we are too quick to do the slapping and less keen on analyzing what goodness truly means, and… Read more