A SoulWerker: Recent Episodes
A SoulWerker
The sometime musings of an Episcopal priest living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When people ask me "What do you do for a living?" My go to response is, "I work with souls." This often invites further conversation, and sometimes an awkward silence. :-)
The reflection is from Mark 15:1-41. The sonnet quoted is "Crucifying" by Malcolm Guite:
See, as they strip the robe from off his back
And spread his arms and nail them to the cross,
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
And love is firmly fastened onto loss.
But here a pure change happens. On this tree
Loss becomes gain, death opens into birth.
Here wounding heals and fastening makes free
Earth breathes in heaven, heaven roots in earth.
And here we see the length, the breadth, the height
Where love and hatred meet and love stays true
Where sin meets grace and darkness turns to light
We see what love can bear and be and do,
And here our Saviour calls us to his side
His love is free, his arms are open wide.
The reflection is from Mark 7:1-23.
(Please ignore the wrong year being cited at the beginning of the recording!)
The reflection is drawn from Isaiah 52:13-53:12.
Here are the two sonnets by Malcolm Guite mentioned in today’s recording:
See, as they strip the robe from off his back
And spread his arms and nail them to the cross,
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black,
And love is firmly fastened onto loss.
But here a pure change happens. On this tree
Loss becomes gain, death opens into birth.
Here wounding heals and fastening makes free
Earth breathes in heaven, heaven roots in earth.
And here we see the length, the breadth, the height
Where love and hatred meet and love stays true
Where sin meets grace and darkness turns to light
We see what love can bear and be and do,
And here our saviour calls us to his side
His love is free, his arms are open wide.
The dark nails pierce him and the sky turns black
We watch him as he labours to draw breath
He takes our breath away to give it back,
Return it to it’s birth through his slow death.
We hear him struggle breathing through the pain
Who once breathed out his spirit on the deep,
Who formed us when he mixed the dust with rain
And drew us into consciousness from sleep.
His spirit and his life he breathes in all
Mantles his world in his one atmosphere
And now he comes to breathe beneath the pall
Of our pollutions, draw our injured air
To cleanse it and renew. His final breath
Breathes us, and bears us through the gates of death.
This is the live recording of an Adult Forum at Trinity Episcopal Church in Wauwatosa, WI. It is unedited. If you would like any of the documents mentioned in the presentation, contact me at tosapriest@gmail.com
The reflection is drawn from John 19:38-42.
The poems quoted are from the book, “Sounding Seasons: Seventy Sonnets for the Church Year” by Malcolm Guite.
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/
This is a series of reflections on St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans, using the reading plan established for the Episcopal Church as we read through this important letter for the season of Epiphany. You may find the schedule of readings here: http://www.goodbookclub.org/readings/