The Kingdom, by R S Thomas

Lent, Day 29

It's a long way off but inside it
There are quite different things going on:
Festivals at which the poor man
Is king and the consumptive is
Healed; mirrors in which the blind look
At themselves and love looks at them
Back; and industry is for mending
The bent bones and the minds fractured
By life. It's a long way off, but to get
There takes no time and admission
Is free, if you will purge yourself
Of desire, and present yourself with
Your need only and the simple offering
Of your faith, green as a leaf.

I have often felt that I am blind - blind to the Love which is at the heart of this Universe - but this day I have looked at myself in the mirror, and what has looked back at me has been love, love, and more love.

My sister and my brother-in-law have brought us to Painswick, in the Cotswolds, to the most amazing place - Court House Manor - for two nights, to thank us for looking after our Mum and organizing her funeral. We have had a superb lunch at a serendipitous find of a pub, been for a walk around this perfect little town - cowslips in abundance, yellow and red! ones, and then the sun came out, lighting up the Cotswold stone on the church and houses, and here, into our attic bedroom.

Walked out for another perfect meal, and the sky when we came out! I've not seen such clear heavens since we left Brazil - The Plough was near enough to touch. The church steeple illuminated. Could it get any better??

Well, here we are in The Library - they have lit the log fire and given us each a glass of Cava...

The Kingdom might still be a long way off, but tonight it feels very close.