Frankincense

Frankincense

Last year we had Myrrh, this year Frankincense.

How sweet the smell
rising to the heavens.
A priest at work
Offering thanks and sacrifice.

Round the altar
a choir with ten thousand wings
and countless mouths
sings Hallelujah;
Hallelujah to the Lamb.

But look down below,
beneath the Holy night
another evening passes where no light is seen.

Step down, step down
Bow low and perceive
where the light has yet to shine;
this dark night.

Children die,
Children are born,
Children still await a voice from above.

No home,
No place,
Not wanted,
Rejected.

“If you only knew what darkness I am plunged into”

6 Comments on “Frankincense

  1. Man, I assumed that, if you were blogging today, it would be Doctor Who-related ;-)

    Always good to see an evangelical embracing (Frank)incence! :)

    Merry Christmas to yourself & your family, Peter!

  2. Mostly brilliant, Peter. Yours is the most hi-tec of the blogs I read, but the new design is (happily) clear, simple and easy to read. Light grey is not the most obvious colour (remember when Man U had a grey away strip, and got rid of it after one game as it allegedly made the players blend in with the crowd), so I imagine you spent a while playing about to get to the current colour mix? The (fisherman's?) ring up the top is a nice church. If I *had* to say something negative (and I always do ;)) the font used for "an exercise in the fundamentals of orthodoxy" seems a bit like the kind of thing that Driscoll and pseudy-trendy evangementalists use. Whilst I of course accept that you *are* an evangelical, I think genuine traditional/orthodox Christians do themselves a disservice by association with Driscoll's sub-Coulter nonsense. His frat-boy-expounding-on-p*ssy tone might seem edgy and exciting to those who view Christianity as boring and irrelevant – and even liberals value mission! – but , as a preacher (let alone a 'theologian') there's no there, there. If Driscoll announced that taking the flesh and drinking the blood of another guy is a bit gay, so his red-blooded All-American church would be doing away with Holy Communion, I would not be in the least surprised. He's already announced that the meek Jesus model must be wrong because no guys like him would worship such a deity (!). I'm reminded of those achingly cool kids who describe themselves as Christ-followers instead of Christians, whilst simultaneously damning liberals for being insufficiently 'traditional'!

    That said, it is quite a cool font. Typing this, I realise that U2 might have used a similar one on their Vertigo tour posters/DVD. And, as love for U2 is one issue where I am in *complete* agreement with evangelicals, I apologise unreservedly if this, not horrible Driscoll, was the inspiration! :)
    … now where's that Doctor Who blog? ;-)

  3. lol! He's no +Gene Robinson ;-)

    Or, even, John McArthur.
    I've heard bunnyboiler types singing Driscoll's praises because his advice on sex and relationships turns them on; as if making girls a bit Ally is sensible or moral basis to applaud a Christian preacher! Weird that rhetoric that gets condemned as puerile by secular writers is deemed edgy and cool when invoked by Christians…

    But that's besides the point. If you want an actual score, I'd give the redesign a healthy 8/10 :)

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