Free to be bound for where I willed
I tramped; by-ways, cross-paths, bent
My footsteps; what turned my campaign?
What stumbling-block hampered me;
What damped? No end appeared,
However long my feet stamped
Or my muscles struggled. With no lamp
To lead, nothing in which to confide,
What tampered with my will? Justice, that Rock,
Broke me, blocked me, drove me from my own way.
But where to hide? Where I ventured
Storms mock and shafts of lightning
Deride meagre strivings. That Sinai
Cannot provide a shelter. Yet truth
Is my only Rock and Refuge:
Oh grace and truth deploys
The cleft in which, safe, I abide;
Mercy was guide up to this haven.
Blood poured, a saving tide
From the stricken side of the Son of God.
After these ways and such protection
Rescued by mercy and by God's grace,
Saved, sustained and nobly elevated.
From being cock of my own dunghill,
Set among nobles, one stone
In its place; with a princely people.
These feet once grazed now prancing,
Hinds feet, firm on the Rock.
What power to convey a lofty degree:
Co heirs with the pre eminent Man!
From my new stance, seeking sweetness
For enhancement of fresh modes of love,
Joy to my countenance, power to make me
Dance, where should I go? The Rock,
Sublime answer to each circumstance,
Seemed to unlock the honey poured.
No time or chance will now meet me
For which there is no solution: Christ
For me to gather, His undeviance,
His loveliness, my model, my way of advance.
So long deplored, the old structure
Lies shattered, not to be restored
Nor rebuilt. Where can I Build? The Rock
Rejected once, now adored, constitutes
The only Foundation. Here God has worked
This sure place. Knock and chisel
The stones till their curbed forms afford
Virtue of the bed-rock; ignore no fault
But relish quality, a good hoard
In each exploring consonances of Christ.
Fruits flourish; the tree sprouts
By the pure spring whose attributes derive
From its source, the struck Rock; psalms
Erupt from hearts; bruiting with joy
Clear compositions. The Spirit's flow
Contributes the music. By still waters
The bright flock, rested in safety,
Imbibes what distributes health,
Fresh responses. Through water free
From pollution or harm the purity wells.
Oil exudes; sucking from the Rock
Let us exploit what God provides
From It to employ our hearts in praise
As anointed servants; let light shine
From us who walk in the Spirit's power
To express God's goodness in voice
And ways. Employ priests lips,
Priest's members in all our days.
From our Rock towards our God loose
Rejoicing, admiration, adoration, love!
(29 February 1992)
On the East Lothian coastline, Scotland
