FROM "TO GISLEBERTUS"

Did I ever go over with you my notion

Of the ideal village, such as will inhabit

The world to come?  These are the archetypes

Which would dwell there: firstly, the priest,

For I understand that priests on earth

Will officiate again.  Then the head man,

To a Scot, the Laird.  Under the shepherding

Of these two will be the ploughman or peasant,

Garnering abundance; the shepherd or fisher,

Folding abundance; and the soldier or sailor,

Wars now over, pensioner of the abundance.

There will be the pilgrim, the village’s journeyer

To Jerusalem – for the nations will flow to it.

Finally the poet, or psalmist, or bard.  

From this developed the custom of testing

Persons against the archetypes.  King David

Or King Charles, James Graham

Or Jacob – Rosalie, and Marina and me:

We have all been measured against this standard.   



And since perfection in manhood is Christ

These have been measured rather against

Him. If He is priest we have to expand the title

To Great Priest, for the quality of His priestliness,

To High Priest, for the dignity of His priesthood,

And for the scope of His service – Minister

Of the holy places.  To whom else could belong

The title, Prince of the princes of the Levites!   



And He is Lord of all; certainly because

Of who His is in those other dimensions

He is at home in, but because, too,

Of His worth, of His walk and of

His achievements.   He has displayed Himself as Sower – but all

Of the landsman’s crafts have correspondence

In the Lord’s activities; but He has exceeded

By graciously broadcasting seed irrespective

Of the quality of the ground.                                



As shepherd The Good Shepherd has expended His vigour

For us, and deliberately offered Himself;

As the Great Shepherd has forged through death

A path for us; and as Chief Shepherd engaged

Shepherds for our good.                          



But who is conqueror

Like Christ?  That constrictor death, and that

Venomous serpent Satan both dungen:

Surrexit Dominus de sepulchro!   



Someone questioned my referring to Christ

As a pilgrim.  To me a pilgrim is a person

With an objective – and who fulfils the description

As fully as Christ?  For He came from the heart

Of God to the cross and pioneered for us the path

From the cross to the heart of God. 

                                        But what

Of psalmist?  Each production of the range

Of poet and hymn-writer from Pentecost -

And the ancient psalmists and prophets – were makars

At the hand of the great Maker.



"To Gislebertus" was a bit of a blog before blogs had begun.  Not all 

of the snippets from it are so positive!