The Holy Spirit

Sunlight glows the incense, rising;

Dust billows out the burial urn.

Rarely glimpsed reminders
of a hidden chord that binds us.

Freely given, over all,
let inside, flows through and from us.
Love that multiplies within;
Intimate, invisible, inspired.

Miserere mei! Take not this gift away.
We Believe this force for good;
  this cleansing power;
In stillness found;
In living, working and playing breathes.


Phillip Dawson
Feast of Christ The King 2017

I am reading "Thirsty for God - A Brief History of Christian Spirituality." One of the exercises in the book asked us to research definitions of the Holy Spirit and to write our own. I was struck by these words by Henri Nouwen and this passage by Thomas Merton from 'No Man Is An Island.' and remembered some of the words of Psalm 51 from singing the Miserere "Cast me not away from Thy presence: and take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." I was also thinking about the Light The Well exhibition at St Martin in the Fields - the single cord of light linking the broken pots.

I found it hard to write a definition of my own. On Sunday 26th November we celebrated our Patronal Festival, Christ The King; the incense rising up into the ceiling as we sang the Hymn For Christ Church. After the 10am service the ashes of Joan and Doug Ward were interred. Joan was one of the first people I met when I came to Christ Church Southgate. After the service and between rehearsals for the evening concert, I wrote this poem.

The image comes from the 'Peace' window in Christ Church Southgate by Edward Burne Jones. The image is a cartoon of St Teresa of Avila. The Holy Spirit, which inspired her writings, is shown as a dove on her shoulder.