(no subject)

[tree_and_leaf]

Bishop Alan has had a couple of interesting posts about clergy recruitment in the Church of England, and on the roles of priests, which I mean to go back and read properly later (after I've finished being terrified about this evening's presentation). However, what really caught my eye was a GK Chesterton poem the good bishop quotes, which I didn't know.


Hymn for the Church Militant:

Great God, that bowest sky and star,
Bow down our towering thoughts to thee
And grant us in a faltering war
The firm feet of humility.

Lord, we that snatch the swords of flame,
Lord, we that cry about Thy ear,
We too are weak with pride and shame,
We too are as our foemen are.

Yea, we are mad as they are mad,
Yea, we are blind as they are blind,
Yea, we are very sick and sad
Who bring good news to all mankind.

The dreadful joy Thy Son has sent
Is heavier than any care;
We find, as Cain his punishment,
Our pardon more than we can bear.

Lord, when we cry Thee far and near
And thunder through all lands unknown
The gospel into every ear,
Lord, let us not forget our own.

Cleanse us from ire of creed or class,
The anger of the idle kings;
Sow in our souls, like living grass,
The laughter of all lowly things.

- GK Chesterton.



I'm not at all sure about st 3, but st 4 - wow. It's also rather interesting to read it against Chesterton's (much better known) hymn, 'O God of Earth and Altar'.

Heigho. Must stop procrastinating and instead read through presentation, and see if I did manage to cut enough out of it last night (honestly, who ever came up with the format of a twenty minute paper followed by an hour of discussion wants their head examined - it's the discussion that's making me nervous...)

Comments

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

I'm not at all sure about st 3

I think that you may actually be right about the relative levels of madness and blindness, but that it is important to ignore this as much as possible for many purposes, as otherwise one can become far too confident of one's one righteousness.

[tree_and_leaf]

I think that you may actually be right about the relative levels of madness and blindness, but that it is important to ignore this as much as possible for many purposes, as otherwise one can become far too confident of one's one righteousness.

Actually, I was thinking in terms of the quality of the verse - otherwise, you're quite right, and so is GKC....

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

Possibly the fact that it has to carry the moral means that the actual *poetry* is taking a back seat here ...