Contemplation
-
Storm. Shelter. Morning. Guarded by Otto

The wind is roaring through the dark,and rain beats on the pane;yet here my bed is warm and still,a refuge from the rain.With Otto resting in my hand,I breathe in soft and slow;while storms go wandering where they will,I’m held in gentle glow.The shadows dance upon the wall,The world is tucked away;Young Otto guards the… Continue reading
-
A hymn celebrating the Eucharist — “Upon the hill where grasses bend” (DCM)

At the table, heaven draws near: ordinary bread, quiet grace, and Christ present among us—sending us back into the world bearing peace, love, and holy presence. Continue reading
AltarHymn, CelticChristianity, Christianity, ChristInCreation, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, HeavenOnEarth, HolyStillness, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, Pilgrimage, Prayer, QuietMoments, SacredSpaces, Spirituality, SpiritualReflection, TheEucharist -
A hymn giving thanks for the Mothers Union — “O God who gathers us in love” (CM)

Celebrating 150 years of Mothers’ Union worldwide. A Mothering Sunday hymn of thanksgiving for faithful service, for Ireland’s witness, and for my own mother — and mothers everywhere. Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, MotheringSunday, MothersUnion, NeuroDivine, OraEtLabora, Prayer, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, SacredSpaces, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney -
A hymn of the New Covenant — “In whispered winds You speak again” (CM)

In whispered winds You speak again 1.In whispered winds You speak again,Your covenant made new;Not carved on stone of Sinai’s height,But written deep and true.2.You trace Your promise on our heartsLike sunlight on the dew;As meadowsweet in summer fields,Your mercy rises too.3.The shadows flee the morning light,The ancient rites give way;The tent of cloth and… Continue reading
bible, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, Faith, FaithInAction, FindingConnection, Hebrews8, InclusiveChurch, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, NeuroDivine, NewCovenant, Pilgrimage, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualReflection -
Compline hymn – “Beneath Your wings, O Holy One” (Common Metre)

A hymn rooted in the Irish landscape inspired by the ancient compline psalm 91. Continue reading
AnglicanBenedictine, AnglicanTradition, Benedictine, BenedictineRhythm, BenedictineSpirituality, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Compline, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, DailyDevotion, Faith, FaithInTheEveryday, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, LiturgicalRhythm, ModernMonasticism, MonasticWisdom, NeuroDivine, NightPrayer, PoetryOfPlace, QuietMoments, RuleOfLife, RuleOfStBenedict, SacredSpaces, Spirituality, ThresholdOfGrace -
“At Evening, God Has Spoken”: A Vespers Hymn on Psalm 110 (76 76 D)

110 has long been one of the traditional psalms of Sunday Vespers. My new hymn, At Evening, God Has Spoken, reflects on that ancient text through the quiet landscapes of the Irish midlands—heathered hills, the Barrow’s waters, and the stillness of evening prayer—resting in Christ our High King through the night. Continue reading
AnglicanBenedictine, AnglicanTradition, Benedictine, BenedictineRhythm, BenedictineSpirituality, bible, CatholicChurch, CelticChristianity, Christianity, ChurchOfEngland, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, ContemplativePractice, ContemplativePrayer, DailyDevotion, DailyOffice, ExploringIreland, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, god, HeldInLove, HolyStillness, Hymnody, HymnWriting, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishLandscape, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, Kildare, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalMeditation, LiturgicalReflection, LiturgicalRhythm, ModernMonasticism, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, PilgrimageIreland, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, Prayer, Psalm110, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, Reverence, Routine, RuleOfLife, RuleOfStBenedict, SacredRoutine, SacredSong, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, ScriptureAndSilence, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection, SundayVespers, ThinPlaces, WalkingIreland, writing -
The muted blue

I found myself shaping these lines in the crisp hush of early frost, walking toward the station as the birds lifted their chorus into the pale blue morning. The early frost along the lane,The breath that clouds the morning air;The jays cry out their sharp refrain,And rooks rise ragged from their lair.Blue tits dart quick… Continue reading
-
The hum of lines

I wrote a poem this week called The Hum of Lines. It is not a bright poem. It sits in the quiet room. It listens to the machine. It hears the slow, steady movement of blood through borrowed pathways. Dialysis has a soundscape. The hum of the pump. The soft alarms. The rhythm that is… Continue reading
ChronicIllness, ChronicIllnessCommunity, ChronicIllnessFaith, CompassionInCare, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, DailyDevotion, Dialysis, DialysisAndDignity, DialysisDays, DialysisDiaries, DialysisJourney, DialysisLife, DialysisSpirituality, Faith, FaithAndIllness, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, HeldInLove, IrishReflection, LGBTQStories, LiveWithADisability, NeuroDivine, PatientVoices, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, Prayer, QueerIrishVoices, QueerLove, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, ResillienceInIllness, Routine, SacredRoutine, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection, ThresholdOfGrace -
In the Thin Place of Forty Days

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… Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, bible, BiblicalRoots, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, ContemplativePractice, ContemplativePrayer, CreativeSpirituality, DivineLight, Eucharist, Faith, FaithAndHistory, god, GodsCreation, Hymnody, HymnWriting, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishLandscape, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, jesus, Kildare, Lent, Lent2026, LiturgicalReflection, ModernMonasticism, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, PoetryOfPlace, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, SacredPerception, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, ScriptureAndSilence, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection, ThinPlaces, ThresholdOfGrace -
Andrew, this is you.

Some love stories are written in grand gestures. Ours has been written in endurance. This Valentine’s Day, I honour fifteen years of partnership with Andrew—and ten years of civil marriage later this year—not because the dates fall now, but because love that has lived this much deserves to be named whenever the heart nudges. Our… Continue reading
AnglicanBenedictine, Christianity, ChronicIllness, ChronicIllnessCommunity, CompassionInCare, Contemplation, Dialysis, DialysisLife, DialysisSpirituality, EmbodiedPrayer, Faith, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, health, HeldInLove, LGBTQStories, life, LiveWithADisability, NeuroDivine, Poetry, PoetryOfPlace, QueerIrishVoices, QueerLove, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, Reverence, SacredRoutine, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection -
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 -
Shepherd. Host. High King.

This hymn began with a simple wondering: What if Christ doesn’t only meet us at the table, but walks the whole week with us? Faith is rarely confined to sacred hours. It unfolds in Mondays heavy with responsibility, Wednesdays full of noise, Fridays marked by grief, and Saturdays thick with waiting. This hymn traces the… Continue reading
AnglicanTradition, AutisticFaith, bible, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, Eucharist, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, god, Hymnody, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHymnody, IrishSpirituality, jesus, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, ModernMonasticism, NeurodivergentFaith, NeurodivergentTheology, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, Pilgrimage, Poetry, Prayer, QuietMoments, Routine, SacredRoutine, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney -
Silence. Suffering. Steadfastness.

A day of uneasy memory, quiet courage, and layered history. On 30 January, NeuroDivine holds space for complexity, conscience, and the land’s long remembering—and offers a new hymn rooted in Leinster’s fields for those who honour your servant Charles with tenderness rather than triumph. Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, AutisticFaith, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FindingConnection, HeldInLove, Hymnody, InclusiveChurch, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishHistory, IrishHymnody, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, LiturgicalReflection, NeurodivergentFaith, NeurodivergentTheology, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, Prayer, QuietCourage, QuietWitness, Reverence, SacredRoutine, SacredSong, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, Spirituality, SpiritualReflection, ThresholdOfGrace -
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
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, Ballymena, bible, Christianity, ChristianUnity, ChurchOfIreland, Connor, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, EmbodiedPrayer, Faith, FaithAndHistory, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, family, FindingConnection, god, HeldInLove, HolyStillness, Hymnody, HymnWriting, InclusiveChurch, Ireland, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishClergy, IrishHymnody, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, jesus, KilconriolaAndBallyclug, KnownAndLoved, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, LiturgicalRhythm, MidMorningMoments, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, PilgrimageIreland, Poetry, Prayer, PrayerAndWork, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, Reverence, SacredRoutine, SacredSong, SacredSpaces, Sanctity, ScriptureAndStillness, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, ThresholdOfGrace, TravelWithPurpose, writing -
Lamb. Light. Courage.

St Agnes, lambs, and the Irish wind woven together — a hymn where Roman witness meets Celtic ground in a sheltering breath of grace. Continue reading
-
Psalms. Places. Presence.

Psalms. Places. Presence. Hymns shaped by landscape, memory, and the quiet work of beginning again. A small book of thresholds for anyone who finds prayer in the ordinary. Continue reading
APilgrimsPsalter, Autism, AutisticFaith, BenedictineSpirituality, bible, Christianity, ChurchOfIreland, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, EmbodiedPrayer, Faith, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, god, InclusiveChurch, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, jesus, LiturgicalReflection, ModernMonasticism, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Pilgrimage, Prayer, QuietMoments, Routine, SacredRoutine, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney -
Andrew. Richard. Niamh.

Home woven in three strands: partner, creatures, grace Some prayers begin in silence. Others begin in the small, ordinary movements of a home—the click of the kettle, the soft thump of paws on the stairs, the familiar presence of the person who shares your days. This new hymn grew out of that kind of holiness:… Continue reading
AttentivePresence, Autism, AutisticFaith, Cats, CatsOfCompassion, Christianity, Contemplation, ContemplativePrayer, DailyDevotion, DivineHealer, Faith, FaithInTheEveryday, family, FindingConnection, god, GodsCreation, HeldInLove, HolyStillness, Hymnody, Ireland, IrishReflection, IrishSpirituality, KnownAndLoved, life, LivingFully, MentalHealthMatters, Neurodiversity, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, Poetry, Prayer, QuietMoments, QuietWitness, Reverence, Rhythm, SacredRoutine, SacredSong, SacredSpaces, SacredTime, Sanctity, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualReflection, SupportSystems, UnexpectedGrace, writing -
Machines. Mercy. Meaning.

In the long, measured hours of dialysis, I began to notice how healing is carried not only by machines and medicine, but by the people who sit beside us, the families who steady us, and the landscape we carry within. This hymn‑poem grew from that stillness—a way of naming the courage found in ordinary care,… Continue reading
AnglicanTradition, Autism, AutisticFaith, bible, Christianity, ChronicIllness, ChronicIllnessCommunity, ChronicIllnessFaith, CompassionInCare, Contemplation, ContemplativeCare, ContemplativePrayer, Dialysis, DialysisAndDignity, DialysisDays, DialysisDiaries, DialysisJourney, DialysisLife, DialysisSpirituality, EmbodiedPrayer, Faith, FaithAndIllness, FaithInAction, FaithInTheEveryday, FindingConnection, god, HealingPrayer, health, healthcare, HeldInLove, Hymnody, InclusiveChurch, InclusiveSpirituality, IrishAnglicanVoice, IrishSpirituality, jesus, life, LifeOnDialysis, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, LiveWithADisability, NeurodivergentFaith, NeuroDivine, NewHymn, NewHymns, NewSong, PatientSupport, PatientVoices, Poetry, Prayer, QuietCourage, QuietMoments, ResilientSpirit, Routine, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection, SupportSystems -
Rain. Silence. Mercy.

When silence becomes praise and mercy meets the rain-soaked soil, even the overlooked find their place in the liturgy of being seen. This week’s reflection honours the quiet dignity of showing up—without performance, without apology. Continue reading
AnglicanCommunion, AnglicanTradition, Autism, AutisticFaith, Benedictine, BenedictineRhythm, BenedictineRhythms, BenedictineSpirituality, bible, Christianity, ChronicIllness, ChronicIllnessCommunity, ChurchOfIreland, CompassionInCare, Contemplation, ContemplativeCare, ContemplativePrayer, DailyOffice, Dialysis, DialysisLife, DialysisSpirituality, Faith, FaithAndIllness, FaithInTheEveryday, god, HeldInLove, IrishAnglicanVoice, jesus, LiturgicalLife, LiturgicalReflection, LiturgicalRhythm, ModernMonasticism, MonasticWisdom, NeurodivergentFaith, NeurodivergentTheology, OraEtLabora, Prayer, QuietMoments, Routine, RuleOfStBenedict, SacredRoutine, SacredSpaces, ScriptureAndStillness, SmallMercies, Spirituality, SpiritualJourney, SpiritualReflection
