if

Aug 29, 2018

Framed and hanging on the living room wall in the home of my grandparents there was a poem which was a significant influence on my teenage years. I still have a copy on my wall today.

Rudyard Kipling’s “If” was written c.1895 and was well known in the early years of last century. My grandparents and aunt and uncles could slip a phrase from the poem seamlessly into everyday conversations.

The poem has been on my mind today as we mark the feast of the beheading of St. John the Baptist since the poem begins “If you can keep your head when all about you / are losing theirs and blaming it on you…”

I thought you might appreciate it.

2 Comments

  1. Just Perfect for me this morning.Thank you.Love and Blessings

    Reply
  2. I had this poem commissioned as an art piece for my boys to hang on their bedroom walls recently. It’s one of the great poems still and fantastic for young boys especially to meditate on. Thanks Fr John.

    Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

moving waters

moving waters

Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

to dream

to dream

The pics I use on these daily posts are sometimes snapped by me, and often borrowed from free-use websites. I thought it might be interesting to move towards using only my own snaps, and then only those taken in the past 24 hours. We’ll see how I go.
I took the pic above yesterday morning on an early walk.

to really see

to really see

Perhaps we find the miracles of Jesus too difficult to understand. How can we cope with what we may not have seen with our own eyes?
Many people cope with the miraculous by reducing it to what they can understand. They say Jesus just increased the blind man’s psychological vision, or opened his eyes of faith rather than actually giving him physical sight.

the rich earth

the rich earth

Over the years I have celebrated hundreds of funerals, many well prepared with family and friends gathering to celebrate the life of the one they love. There are efficient funeral directors, beautiful flowers, glossy brochures, photographs and video presentations, eulogies and even artificial grass and sterilised sand at the graveside.

Patrick’s day

Patrick’s day

Most people who celebrate on St. Patrick’s day today think of wearing green and enjoying good Irish music, Guinness and perhaps dancing at an Irish pub. But it’s easy to forget that Patrick was a robust disciple of Jesus Christ who brought the Good News of the ultimate and eternal liberation through Jesus Christ to the people of Ireland.