Grace and peace to each of you on this chilly Wednesday in Epiphany! I hope everyone is emerging safely from the icy chrysalis of the past few days. I missed seeing you all at church on Sunday. I was able to get out on the trails a few times, and finally made my way to the counseling center to see after my patients on Monday. With a full moon riding high in the sky, I was entranced by the beauty of the ice on a cold January night, a moment to be treasured, and a luminous gift.
In the quiet stillness of the woods in winter, I am reminded of this lovely poem:
I have seen the sun break through
to illuminate a small field
for a while, and gone my way
and forgotten it. But that was the
pearl of great price, the one field that had
treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have
to possess it. Life is not hurrying
on to a receding future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity that awaits you.
This is a beautiful poem by Welsh poet, R. S. Thomas. Thomas was an Anglican priest, as well as a poet, but I think his words are full of profound wisdom for everyone, regardless of creed. The Bright Field speaks about those shining moments in life — moments of grace, beauty, inspiration, and yes…epiphany — I which we fleetingly encounter the divine or feel a deep connection to the universe. This image of the bright field evokes for me various ideas: the moment you first see your children, or grandchildren, or first fall in love, or adopt a new animal in need of rescue, or when you read and understand some complicated scientific theory about the universe and see God in a new way, or become transfixed by a Shakespeare sonnet, a work of fiction, or an incredible piece of music… or, of course, when you pray or meditate, and feel a connection to the divine.
These moments are almost like—I would say exactly like the moment when the water became wine at the wedding, as we will hear on Sunday. Or that moment when the bread and wine, broken and blessed, become our journey as the Body of Christ in the world. The poet confides that he has often seen the sun “illuminate a small field” for a moment and, continued on his way and “forgotten it”. But, says Thomas, he knows that that field was “the pearl of great price”; that moment was something rare and beautiful, to hold on to and spend your life searching for. He is admitting here that he has experienced moments of profound connection to God, but that he has proceeded to move on, without dwelling on it. However, he has now come to realize that he must “give all that I have/ To possess” that moment — that “bright field” — again.
Another quality of these “bright” moments becomes clear as we enter the second stanza; the poem says that life is not “hurrying on/ to a receding future” or “hankering after/ and imagined past”. These lines deliver to me the notion that these bright moments of grace are in fact moments where we are intensely present. These are the moments we are most alive, and when we feel most connected to life, the universe, and/or God. This is as relevant for prayer and meditation as it is for all the other instances where one might experience a moment of connection to the universe.
The poem ends with the beautiful image of the burning bush from the story of Moses. Thomas tells us that life — and these moments — is about “turning/ like Moses to the miracle/ of the lit bush”. Again, there is a real sense of intense presence in this image. I think the way the bright light — which is God, and grace — is described in the final lines is just exquisite: though it had once seemed “as transitory as your youth”, it is in fact “the eternity that awaits you.”
This coming Sunday will be our Ministry Fair, an opportunity to learn more about the wonderful ministries at Holy Family, and to allow your imagination, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Her wisdom, to discover ways you might become more involved in our beloved Holy Family parish. This is a remarkable gift from Tammy Kirk and the Parish Life Committee in conjunction with all of those ministries represented. Please join us, won’t you, and take time to pause, learn more about these offerings, and as RS Thomas suggests, be present and aware that we are, each of us, standing on Holy Ground. Let’s give thanks for the past year, as lay ministries have flourished in so many ways, and as we are leading the way for a new “lay led, clergy supported” way of being the church in our Diocese, and beyond. I am so very grateful for each of you. As our collect for Sunday, a lovely invitation indeed, reminds us, let us endeavor to shine together:
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ is the light of the world: Grant that your people, illumined by your Word and Sacraments, may shine with the radiance of Christ’s glory, that he may be known, worshipped, and obeyed to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and forever. Amen.
I’ll catch you later on down the trail, and I hope to see you at the Ministry Fair…and in church, this coming Sunday!
Bill+