echo
For myth, memory, and the haunting beauty of cultural inheritance.
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Divinity in Difference: The Window That Says What We’ve Been Trying to Say
Every now and then, an image comes along that says in colour and light what pages of writing have been circling for years. This stained-glass window feels like that. It gathers the heart of NeuroDivine—the essays, the fiction, the hymns, the poetry—and holds them up to the light with one steady claim: Difference is not… Continue reading
ActuallyAutistic, AuthenticSelf, Autism, AutisticFaith, BenedictineSpirituality, CelticChristianity, Christianity, ChristInTheEveryday, ChronicIllness, ChronicIllnessFaith, ContemplativePrayer, Faith, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, Hymnody, InclusiveChurch, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishSpirituality, LiturgicalReflection, ModernMonasticism, MonasticWisdom, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, PoetryOfPlace, QuietMoments, Routine, RuleOfStBenedict, SacredRoutine, SacredSpaces, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney -
🌙 Psalm 139: The Autistic Psalm
Coming back to Compline tonight as a Benedictine feels like returning to a rhythm that knows me better than I know myself. The Office doesn’t ask me to perform or adapt; it simply invites me to rest in its steady cadence. And in that space, Psalm 139 stands out as the psalm that speaks most… Continue reading
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Stay with me in the waiting.
There are days when Jeremiah’s cry—“My anguish, my anguish!”—feels less like something from long ago and more like the body’s own truth. In the dialysis unit, with the soft beeping of the machines and the hush of people doing their best to get through another session, you can hear that same ache. Jeremiah speaks of… Continue reading
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God’s Whiskered Rogues
This hymn was born from a passing glimpse on Facebook—a brief mention of otters warming St Kevin as he stood in the icy waters of Glendalough. The image lingered. It was easy to picture the bold little creatures of the river: curious, bright-eyed, unafraid. Not solemn attendants, but playful companions. Not tame, but gloriously themselves.… Continue reading
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Word. Refuge. Faith.
“Write Your Word Upon Our Hearts” is a hymn rooted in Deuteronomy 11, Psalm 31, Romans 1 and 3, and Matthew 7, the readings for today (Proper 4) in the Church of Ireland. It prays that God’s Word would be inscribed not only on stone, but within our lives—shaping faith, grounding us in Christ’s righteousness,… Continue reading
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Rule. Dawn. Praise.
This hymn and stained-glass image are inspired by Chapter 13 of the Rule of Our Holy Father Saint Benedict, in which he sets forth the reverent ordering of the Divine Office at Lauds on ordinary days. Rooted in the rhythm of psalmody, canticle, Gospel praise, and litany, the work reflects Saint Benedict’s vision of a… Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, Benedictine, BenedictineRhythm, BenedictineRhythms, BenedictineSpirituality, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, ContemplativePrayer, DailyDevotion, DailyOffice, EmbodiedPrayer, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, HeldInLove, Hymnody, HymnWriting, InclusiveChurch, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, jesus, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, LiturgicalRhythm, ModernMonasticism, MonasticWisdom, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, OraEtLabora, Pilgrimage, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, Prayer, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, Reverence, Routine, RuleOfLife, RuleOfStBenedict, SacredRoutine, SacredSong, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection -
Richard. Window. Watch.
In the deep hush of night, wrapped in turquoise warmth, I sit and breathe while Richard keeps his faithful vigil beside me. I sit upright in Andrew’s chair,The window open wide;My coughing stirs the early air,Yet Richard stays beside.Wrapped in a soft Sherpa’s hold,A teddy‑bear‑like hug,I brace against the night‑time coldWithin its gentle snug.Across the… Continue reading
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Grace in humble things
In quiet parks at break of day,Your footsteps go before;You bless the paths we daily tread,The commonplace made more.In sparrow-flight and drifting leaves,In laughter on the green,You show us grace in humble thingsWhere You have always been.In benches worn by waiting hearts,In puddles after rain,You sit with those who long for peaceAnd share their hidden… Continue reading
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Before Your holy altar
This hymn was written as a prayer of presence and sending — rooted in the Celtic landscape, centered on the Eucharist, and alive with the missionary fire of the saints. It gathers altar, land, and people into one act of worship: Christ present among us, Christ restoring us, Christ sending us forth. May it be… Continue reading
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Stop. Start. Stay.
Not every journey is straight. Some of us live by detours. Some of us measure time in appointments, recoveries, resets, and the quiet courage it takes to begin again. This new hymn was written from within that kind of landscape. It blesses the roundabout and the restart. The traffic light on a rain-washed street when… Continue reading
Autism, AutisticFaith, bible, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, Faith, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, god, Hymnody, InclusiveChurch, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishSpirituality, jesus, LiturgicalReflection, NeurodivergentFaith, NeurodivergentTheology, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, Prayer, QuietMoments, SacredSpaces, Spirituality -
Incense. Whisper. Hope.
This hymn is inspired by Psalm 141, the Church’s ancient evening prayer: “Let my prayer rise before you like incense.” Set in the landscape of Clonmacnoise, it joins the psalmist’s cry to the Shannon’s air and the long vigil of those who prayed on these stones before us. As night gathers, it asks Christ to… Continue reading
Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Clonmacnoise, Contemplation, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInTheEveryday, Hymnody, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishSpirituality, MonasticWisdom, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, Prayer, QuietMoments, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, TheLostCity -
Grace. Place. Presence.
This hymn grew out of a quiet attentiveness to place—to fields, water, stone, and memory—and to the way faith so often takes root through landscape rather than abstraction. Drawing on the life and legacy of St Mel, it traces a spiritual geography shaped by County Longford and Ardagh: hills walked slowly, wells where prayer lingers,… Continue reading
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Claimed. Accompanied. Sent.
I wrote this hymn slowly, paying attention to water. Not water as an idea, but water as something that moves, waits, gathers, seeps, and returns. Water that has weight and sound and temperature. Water that holds memory. Baptism is often talked about as a moment—something that happens and is done. For me, baptism has always… Continue reading
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Succession. Loss. Continuity.
For more than seventy years, the sixth of February carried a singular weight in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms. As Accession Day, it marked the moment when private loss and public duty first converged, and over time it became a fixed point in the national memory—quietly observed rather than celebrated. I wrote this… Continue reading
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Courage. Gentleness. Wisdom
This hymn grew out of listening rather than certainty. It brings together two women who never met, yet somehow recognise one another across time and land. Saint Agatha, standing her ground in the hard stone world of Rome, and Saint Brigid, whose holiness took root in hearth-fire, field, and care for ordinary people. One knew… Continue reading
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Seedtime. Light. Pilgrimage.
This hymn is offered as a prayer for the turning of the year, when winter loosens its grip and the first signs of new life appear in field, garden, and soul. Rooted in the landscapes of Kildare and shaped by the rhythms of early spring, it gives thanks for creation renewed and for God’s living… Continue reading
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Carried. Promise. Radiance.
Written for Candlemas (The Presentation of the Lord), this hymn celebrates Christ as the Light of the nations at the turning of the year. Drawing on the witness of Simeon and Anna, and set within the landscape and seasonal rhythms of Ireland, it weaves biblical faith with themes of light, hope, and patient renewal. 87… Continue reading
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Starfield. Shadow. Covenant.
This hymn is shaped by the daily readings at Morning Prayer for today from the Church of England. It draws together the promise God makes to Abram beneath the night sky, Christ’s faithful obedience in the garden, and the Spirit’s work of forming trust and courage in us today. Set in the landscapes of water,… Continue reading
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Spark. Fire. Blaze.
As a parish organist who grew up singing in a church choir, I have always been captivated by the power of music to lift the spirit, unite a community, and make the divine feel present in our everyday lives. Music in worship isn’t just decoration—it is prayer in sound, a living, breathing offering that moves… Continue reading
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Faith. Truth. Welcome.
With the twelve bells of St Patrick’s overhead, I offer this hymn as a prayer for Ballymena: for its people, its churches, and Christ’s light in the valley we call home. Continue reading
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