Rooted in the landscape, spirituality, and imaginative tradition of the Irish midlands, the text interweaves the great biblical “forty” journeys—the flood, the exodus, Sinai, the wilderness, and the risen Christ’s forty days—with the sacred geography of Kildare and its surrounding boglands. Drawing on Celtic Christian imagery and the rhythms of creation, it invites worshippers to see Lent not merely as a season of restraint but as a pilgrimage of reshaping grace: hearts held safe as in the ark, lives inscribed like ogham on stone, courage formed in both the wild places and the quiet ones.
Written for The Rev Philip McKinley, Pioneer Minister in the Community of the Celtic Cross, the hymn reflects that community’s vision of contemplative faith, rooted place, and hopeful witness across Meath and Kildare.
Suggested tunes: Abbot’s Leigh 87 87 D or Manor House 87 87 D or
Forty days the rain was falling,
earth reborn from grief and night;
River waters, slow and shining,
mirror dawn’s returning light.
As the ark once held creation,
hold our hearts in circling grace;
shape us like the ancient high cross
standing strong in Kildare’s place.
Forty years Your pilgrim people
learned the desert’s faithful way;
so our boglands, brown and breathing,
teach us life that finds its day.
Here in Yellowbog’s wide silence,
where the curlew’s cry is prayer,
lead us through our Lenten wandering,
rooted deep in hope You share.
Forty days on Sinai’s summit
Moses heard Your living word;
so on Kildare’s windy hilltops
truth is whispered, wild and heard.
Write Your law like ogham markings
on the grain of who we are;
etch a path of just compassion,
be our steadfast guiding star.
Forty days Elijah travelled,
driven on by wind and fear;
so we walk the pilgrim pathways
through the storms that draw us near.
When the mountains quake and shudder,
when the flames before us rise,
in the hedgerow, with the lark’s song,
speak Your whisper, clear and wise.
Forty days our Saviour wrestled
in the lonely desert place;
so we meet our own temptations
in these quiet fields of grace.
Christ, remake our worn desires,
shape us like the hawthorn’s bend;
teach our souls the Celtic courage
that can break and heal and mend.
Forty days till hidden hearts beat,
forty weeks till life is grown;
so You weave our resurrection
in the womb where hope is sown.
In the thin place of this moment,
where Your grace and earth entwine,
lead us on t’ward Easter’s brightness,
love reborn in bread and wine.
Text copyright 2026 Michael McFarland Campbell. All rights reserved.
Stained glass artwork centered on a large Celtic cross, surrounded by biblical scenes: Noah’s Ark beneath a rainbow, Moses with the Ten Commandments and parted waters, Jesus teaching and offering bread and wine, a dove in flight, a pilgrim walking with a staff, a small church in the countryside, and a mother’s womb with an unborn baby—set against rolling green hills and bright skies.
NeuroDivine 
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