[Marginalia]
Appreciating the graces of Jesus Christ
Reading a number of various writings on Jesus Christ, the Lord of the
Christians all over the world, one becomes convinced Jesus was one of
the noblest humanists in the world.
Piety comes from within and devotion flows from it and Lynn Ockersz
makes it expressible as poems, prayers, hymns and pleas for a better
world desiring kingdom on earth.
How he does it is basically by allusions and relating them
particularly to Moses from whom we learn the Ten Commandments.
Having studied in two Catholic Schools – St Michael’s College (Batticaloa
or Maddakkalappu) and St.Joseph’s College, Darley Road, Colombo)- I am
familiar with the religiosity and disciplines in such excellent
secondary schools. And yet as a born Hindu that respects other religions
I did not probe into a study of other religions, although all faiths
stress the same in different ways
In this background how can I express my appreciation of the
devotional poems of Lynn except to quote from the book the lines that
appealed to me.
One thing I noticed was as Prof D C R A Goonetilleke had said about
the author’s first book, Flame and Sparks, -“ Ockersz’s poetry is fresh,
strong, convincing, and is also free of echoes of well-known Western
religious poets.”
Let’s look at his some of the lines selected at random from his 25
poems collected in this collection. These lines reveal the content and
the poetic use of words.
Fed by ill winds sweeping North and South.
The flames scorching the Pearly earth now fiercely spread,
Turning homesteads into burnt-out memorials of the dead,
And humans into flayed flesh of pity and dread.
Nothing Green may survive on this carpet-bombed patch,
Save that One Vine which brings the life giving sap,
And its Branches which brave the savage onrush of strife,
In testimony to the Word which defieth time and its blight. (Scorched
Earth)
The divine from the human dross,
Turning Earth Man
Into Spirit Man. (Maker and the Mould)
For, the Peace thou givest,
Is beyond all mortal understanding,
But as real as Thy presence eternal. (The Peace Thou Gives)
No, this is the power of virtue,
Of goodness which never fails,
Of innocence which disarms
And brings to their feet
In stunned reverence,
Hose clothed in regal might,
Like the magic of old.
No, this is the power of Selfless Love,
Which came to birth long ago, in a humble
Stable in Betheleham. (Goodness and Governance)
Still unbowed by
My heart’s long chill. (The Castaway’s Claim)
Would be heavenly repose in Thy care sublime (Heads, Storm-Tossed and
Sublime)
No ‘sign’ did Thee give, but to their hearts’ silence did Thou speak:
‘Fear not, with thee I M from now to eternity. (Moment of Recognition)
For, they are the monstrous machinery of control,
That is wiping out the Heart and the Mind. (Beach Battering)
On Thy head Thou Thou carried our evil,
Every piercing thorn, every crack of the whip,
Marked the times we blissfully strayed,
And every drop of Thy blood bore Thy sorrow,
For our cruel, unconcerned ways. (The Crown of Questions)
In my quest for the Holy Grail
Of a life brimming with Thy redeeming grace. (O’ Silence Take Me)
Am I not like Moses who felt
Small before Thy Writ?
But Thou his spirit did lift,
I took look to Thee O giver of grit (Ghost Writer)
Lynn Ockersz is a senior journalist in the country familiar with both
English and Sinhala literature in the country. He writes poetry and
criticism and an analyst of international affairs.
[email protected] |
