{"id":1814,"date":"2016-04-04T00:00:45","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T04:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/mission-and-identity\/?p=1814"},"modified":"2019-09-18T16:47:50","modified_gmt":"2019-09-18T20:47:50","slug":"april-4-life-is-not-hurrying-on-to-a-receding-future-r-s-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/2016\/04\/04\/april-4-life-is-not-hurrying-on-to-a-receding-future-r-s-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"April 4 – “Life is not hurrying . . . . on to a receding future . . . ” R. S. Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, April \u00a04
\n<\/strong>\u201c . . . \u00a0and gone my way \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0and forgotten it\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another good friend, Springs Steele, emailed this poem to me early today. \u00a0I had not been familiar with R. S. Thomas. \u00a0Since opening Springs\u2019 email I\u2019ve been learning a little about this Anglican pastor (Church of Wales), who lived with passion for simplicity (“Thomas’s son, Gwydion, a resident of\u00a0Thailand<\/a>, recalls his father’s sermons, in which he would “drone on” to absurd lengths about the evil of refrigerators, washing machines, televisions and other modern devices\u201d \u00a0Wikipedia). \u00a0He acquired a reputation for dour theological attention to questions of meaning and earned a reputation for remoteness. \u00a0Robinson was not given to excesses of joviality, but his personality was balanced by a rich capacity for attention to stillness and beauty. \u00a0In the words of Archbishop Barry Morgan, “R. S. Thomas continues to articulate through his poetry questions that are inscribed on the heart of most Christian pilgrims in their search for meaning and truth. We search for God and feel Him near at hand, only then to blink and find Him gone. This poetry persuades us that we are not alone in this experience of faith – the poet has been there before us.”[15]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

In my reading of this fine poet, a new acquaintance,\u00a0 \u00a0stillness trumps frowning. \u00a0 As with every strong poem, \u201cBright Field” rewards reading out loud, with pauses.<\/p>\n

Have a blest week.<\/p>\n

john sj<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today\u2019s post: \u00a0\u201cThe Bright Field\u201d
\n<\/strong>R S Thomas<\/p>\n

I have seen the sun break through
\nto illuminate a small field
\nfor a while, and gone my way
\nand forgotten it. But that was the
\npearl of great price, the one field that had
\ntreasure in it. I realise now
\nthat I must give all that I have
\nto possess it. Life is not hurrying<\/p>\n

on to a receding future, nor hankering after
\nan imagined past. It is the turning
\naside like Moses to the miracle
\nof the lit bush, to a brightness
\nthat seemed as transitory as your youth
\nonce, but is the eternity that awaits you.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/emilyspoetryblog.com\/2013\/10\/23\/the-bright-field-by-r-s-thomas\/#sthash.fsFRwquc.dpuf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday, April \u00a04 \u201c . . . \u00a0and gone my way \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0. \u00a0and forgotten it\u201d Another good friend, Springs Steele, emailed this poem to me early today. \u00a0I had not been familiar with R. S. Thomas. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11641],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1815,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1814\/revisions\/1815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.udmercy.edu\/poetry\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}