poetry
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Blessed are they that Mourn
1. As Blossoms Smitten by the Rain When did you last shed a tear? Was it a tear of joy, sadness, or some other emotion. I am prone to well-up when something gets to me in terms of humour. Tim Vine—a contemporary English comedian—in particular gets to me. When I listen to him, the first Continue reading
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Psalm 126: Dancing with Tears in Our Eyes
This Vale of Tears This psalm speaks of a tension in this life between joy and tears. As human beings we tend to learn of both joy and tears before we even have any serious understanding of the world in which we live. Who hasn’t seen (or heard!) a baby’s tears? Who hasn’t been delighted Continue reading
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Psalmtweets: A spriritual project
I have been ‘Psalmtweeting’ for around a decade. I work through the Psalms, one-by-one and day-by-day, starting with Psalm 1 and working through them in canonical order. The main reason I decided to do this was to give me a focus each day for engaging with Scripture as a spiritual discipline. Having done the whole Continue reading
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Julian of Norwich and Leonard Cohen’s Window
For various reasons I have been reading Julian of Norwich’s Revelations of Divine Love over the past month, or so. By chance a month ago I heard Leonard Cohen’s song The Window, and since then I have been left pondering whether he had Julian in mind when he wrote this song. For two reasons I Continue reading
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Where Did It All Go Wrong?
A Reflection on Genesis 3:1–24 1. Certain Death Many people are quick to dismiss the Bible—often without pause to think what it is they might be disowning. There is, however, an assertion of the Bible that is difficult to deny. Written on most pages, in different ways, is the bad news that precedes the good Continue reading
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Nick Cave’s Seven Psalms
Generative Possibility Nick Cave’s album, Seven Psalms, was released on the 17th June 2022. I discovered this collection because of the title’s likely nod to the Penitential, or Seven, Psalms. This post is a review of Cave’s short album, but one with a difference. By considering seven features—or signs—of the biblical psalms I address the Continue reading
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Psalm 102: Bird on a Wire
This is the third of a series of occasional posts on the penitential psalms. Here we will focus on a single aspect of Psalm 102: its use of ornithological imagery. Pictorial language is not only central to the very nature of the psalms, but it is also key to understanding them. Focusing on the threefold Continue reading
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The Scorpion: Jesus in the Wilderness
This post is inspired by The Scorpion, one of Stanley Spencer’s Christ in the Wilderness series. Here the painting is not a replacement for the Bible but rather a means to a fresh perspective on some aspects of Jesus preparing for his ministry. Given recent world events we don’t need to work hard to remember Continue reading
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A Review: Rachel Mann’s ‘Spectres of God’
Rachel Mann, Spectres of God: Theological Notes for an Age of Ghosts, My Theology, Darton, Longman and Todd, 2021 Rachel Mann writes as poet-priest in a short book which is one of fifteen in the new ‘My Theology’ series. These books can be read in a single sitting but might be better imbibed more slowly. Continue reading
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Jesus and the Holy Innocents
Readings: Psalm 123; Mark 10:13–16; Matthew 2:1–20. The Magi: Pursuing Wisdom We don’t know much about the Magi. There are lots of theories and ideas— snippets of both fact and fiction. There may, or may not, have been three Wise Men—three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh do not necessarily imply three Magi. They were Continue reading
About Me
This blog’s central aim is to explore all aspects of how the Psalter (the biblical psalms) functions as Scripture today.
To this end it will also include book reviews on the Book of Psalms and related topics.
Some posts will reflect more broadly on biblical interpretation or hermeneutics.
If you like what you see here and want to arrange for me to give a lecture, run a teaching event or a short retreat based around The Psalms then contact me so we can discuss how this might work.
PsalterMark 