This week's selection is from Anglican priest and poet, George Herbert (1593 - 1633)...
Our Life is Hid with Christ in God* (Colossians III: 3)
My words and thoughts do both expresse this notion,
That Life hath with the sun a double motion,
The first Is straight, and our diurnall friend;
The other Him, and doth obliquely bend.
One life is wrapt In flesh, and tends to earth;
The other winds towards Him, Whose happie birth
Taught me to live here so That still one eye
Should aim and shoot at that which Is on high;
Quitting with daily labour all My pleasure,
To gain at harvest an eternall Treasure.
*From "The Temple" in The Works of George Herbert, The Wordsworth Poetry Library, Wordsworth Editions Ltd., Hertfordshire, England, 1994
Octonrt 3 is observed by many as the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a man born into wealth, who died October 3, 1226, and who threw up his wealthy heritage to become a monk and the founder of the Order of St. Francis, the women's Order of St. Clare, and the Third Order of St. Francis, The Little Flowers of St. Francis, compiled anonymously near the end of the 14th century, is a compendium of his sayings and stories of his life and is still in print.
Famous not only for his love of peace and his ascetic life practice, but also for his love of Creation, he is now best known as the Patron Saint of Animals and the Environment. Many churches around the globe will be holding a "Blessing of the Animals" service this weekend to honour this much-loved saint.
The following is a musical adaptation of the Canticle of the Sun, believed to have been written by Francis of Assisi late in 1224 A.D.
