Our fevered society
looks forward, not backward,
thinking the future is bright.
We are eager to get there.
We race towards its promise.
We will escape the past and
its sad lessons, won’t we?
Is not the present
a moment soon forgotten?
God, forgive our foolish ways!
Re-clothe us in our rightful minds.
Let our ordered lives confess
the beauty of your peace.
Cool us with the silence of eternity.
Photo of my wife’s shoes and a colossal marble foot wearing a sandal, Greek, 150 to 50 B.C., at Chatsworth House, Bakewell, Derbyshire, England. The text is inspired by the hymn “Dear God and Father of Mankind” whose antique words were written by John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892, an American Quaker poet and advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. Photo and text copyright 2018 by Danny N. Schweers.
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Comments
Ellyn wrote:
You are a gift. I so love your thought provoking writings along with amazing photos. The present, of course, is the only gift we have. How do we not recognize it? Placated by the check list as we miss the moments and miracle of now.
Dave wrote:
That final line is fantastic. [Danny says: I lifted the phrase “silence of eternity” from John Greenleaf Wittier's hymn. Elsewhere he talks about cooling the heats of our desires. I combined those two sentiments into that last line, shaking up the elements.
Wanda wrote:
As always, my family and I appreciate your camera work and thoughtful messages. We loved seeing the Chatsworth colossal foot again. As I remember it from 1980, it was in an undistinguished hallway. Maybe still is. It really impressed our children.” [Danny says: Yes, that foot is near the end of a long, dead-end hallway, along with lots of large rock samples.]
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