“As Kingfishers Catch Fire, Dragonflies Draw Flame”
“As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.”
-Gerard Manley Hopkins 1918
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| English Kingfisher with a bit of lunch. |
I read this poem a while ago and yesterday it came back to my mind. It always reminds me of how lovely it is to see God in and through his creation. Whether I see it in the birds taking flight, in flowers coming into full bloom, or in the sound of a creek softly bubbling on. Christ is present in all these things as he is their creator. But what is truly lovely is that Christ is present in us. And not just in each believer one at a time, but in all believers all the time and all through the world! Christ in His indwelling of us is what makes us beautiful and unique; unlike any other part of creation. But what is truly lovely is that He is more than enough to save us and it is His great pleasure to do so!
“For Christ plays in ten thousand places” … Him in us all is truly the loveliest thing.
