Where earth encounters heaven

The seraph sings before the manifest

God-One, and in the burning of the Seven,

And with the full life of consummate

Heaving beneath him like a mother's

Warm with her first-born's slumber in that

The poet sings upon the earth grave-riven,

Before the naughty world, soon self-forgiven

For wronging him, and in the darkness prest

From his own soul by worldly weights. Even so,

Sing, seraph with the glory! heaven is high;

Sing, poet with the sorrow! earth is low:

The universe's inward voices cry 'Amen' to either song of joy and woe:

Sing, seraph, poet, sing on equally!

~ The Seraph and The Poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Our first reading on Sunday featured the delicious word painting which appears in the Book of Isaiah (6.1-8).

The picture that the writer of Isaiah paints for us of Seraphs singing as they circle the throne of God in the Temple, amidst clouds of incense, is one that comes to mind whenever clouds of incense fill the cathedral and the choir and congregation are in full voice.

It is an image that reminds me that worship is a space of encounter; one of the places where earth encounters heaven. 

I was attracted to Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s, The Seraph and The Poet, because of the way it connects the singing and ministry of the Seraphs with that of the poet.

I think the poet has an important role to play in our society today. The way our society operates can be somewhat reductive and utilitarian. Economic efficiency and allocating a monetary value to complex living structures like the Great Barrier Reef, has become something of a model for how we operate in other spheres of life as well.

The poet uses words in ways that disrupt our tendency to use words in reductive and clinical ways. They, like the writer of Isaiah, paint word pictures and identify connections that helps us view the world through different eyes. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem suggests that the poet, like the Seraphs, also help us to offer proper praise; praise that turns everyday life into an act of worship.

Peace,

Peter+