“I want to understand something of the truth which my heart believes and loves. I do not seek thus to understand in order to believe, but believe in order to understand.”   St Anslem of Canterbury c.1033-c.1109

The Apostle Thomas . . . believed only because he wanted to believe, and maybe he already fully believed in his his innermost heart even when he said, "except I shall see, I will not believe".          Dostoevsky "The Brothers Karamazov" 

                

 

A Quiet Moment at Erindale

Thin shafts of sun-light

Stream through assembled storm-clouds

In cold air; the Mall's wet pavements in quietness,

Undisturbed, in stillness set.

In silence and peace, where, too, my soul is at rest,

A different light diffuses; where the spirit is

There is no sound, no footprints on the pavement;

Only thin shafts of light in rarefied air.

A myriad drops of rain on the windscreen

Appear diamond-clustered, pin-points of purest gold

Transformed by lesser gleams, utter unspeakable truths

The Word incarnate: love.

Watching and waiting, inner recesses

Are by this love illuminated; neither dispersed in rain,

Chill air, or by cloud diminished; by this same

I too, have access to your house.

Ineffable light of God, uncreated Word and

Fount of life. Illumination of soul's deep,

Spirit's gift; implant of intellect and secret sense;

Beauty beyond compare.

Now dimly seen, from purest vision hid,

Your gift, desired beyond all sense and images;

Object of faith alone and kindled hope

This is my resting place where Spirit says, 'my home'!

No intellect unformed by faith informs the heart,

Nor memory when hope is its neglect

Or will, untouched by love, in truth alone

I must believe, and so, by this, to understand.

Geoff Wellings

1995