NeuroDivine
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A Hymn for the Quiet Keeping – “Christ, Keeper of our quiet days” (Common Metre)
The congregational hymn, “Christ the Keeper” emphasizes God’s peace, healing, and confidence in faith, celebrating Christ’s victory over darkness. Continue reading
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The Brittle Border: Why the Abuja Statement Disturbs a Benedictine Autistic Soul
Greetings from the heart of the Church of Ireland. As an Irish Anglican, my faith is rooted in the soil of this island—a tradition that has survived centuries of “hard borders” by choosing the Via Media, the Middle Way. As a Benedictine, my life is anchored by the vows of Stability and Hospitality. And as… Continue reading
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“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
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From Desert Paths to Living Water: A Lenten Invitation – “By stony paths in desert lands” (88 88 D)
The congregational hymn reflects on spiritual thirst, Christ’s grace, and our Lenten journey from doubt to faith, inviting renewal and reconciliation. Continue reading
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Braided Grace—A Hymn on Psalm 129 – “Long have burdens pressed upon us” (87 87 D)
Despite suffering and oppression, God’s enduring faithfulness and promise bring hope, resilience, and strength to His people. Continue reading
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One Faith, One Hope, One Lord: A Hymn for Unity
The hymn prayerfully calls for unity in the Church, invoking the Holy Spirit to heal divisions and reaffirm faith in Christ. Continue reading
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A Hymn of Soil, Saint, and Sacrament – “Here the fields of Erin whisper” (87 87 D)
This hymn celebrates Christ’s presence in creation, uniting diverse traditions in peace and reconciliation through Eucharistic imagery and Celtic spirituality. Continue reading
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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
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Pancakes made the quiet way
Pancakes Made the Quiet Way is a gentle celebration of ordinary ritual—the kind of small, steady act that steadies the soul as much as it feeds the body. In simple measures and unhurried movements, the poem lingers over flour falling, batter smoothing, and pancakes turning in the pan, finding in each step a quiet grace.… Continue reading
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The star that keeps watch
A lone star high up in the skyBeams brightly through the cold,Its shimmer threading winter’s darkWith stories yet untold.From here inside the quiet house,Where stillness warms the air,We watch it through the windowpane—A small, steadfast prayer.The only sound that stirs the hushIs soft and low and whole:Two kitties sharing, side by side,The murmuring of one… Continue reading
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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
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A Quiet House, A Returning Train
Today I found myself writing two small Common Metre poems—companions to one another. Andrew was in Dublin for a course, and the house felt different in his absence. Not lonely exactly. Just altered. Softer around the edges. The Sunday light lay still. The cats took up their posts. The kettle hummed. Pancakes became a small,… Continue reading
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Across the Barrow Viaduct—Writing Between Water and Iron
This evening I found myself standing between layers of movement. The river flowing dark and slow. The canal holding the last of the light. And high above, the long stone ribs of the Barrow Viaduct carrying a train across the fading sky. Across the Barrow Viaduct grew out of that layered stillness. The engine in… Continue reading
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Singing Psalm 98 in an Irish Key
“Sing to the Lord a new song…” Psalm 98 is not shy. It is tidal. It calls rivers to clap their hands and hills to sing for joy. It insists that creation itself is caught up in praise—not as backdrop, but as choir. In the Anglican tradition, Psalm 98 can be used at Evensong as… Continue reading
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Writing a Hymn—and Learning Stabilitas Overnight
This hymn didn’t emerge in a chapel. It came overnight. In silence. In storm. In the unbuilt monastery of the mind. “Wild winds rise fierce across the plain,My refuge be.” The imagery came quickly. But the deeper formation came slowly—as most Benedictine things do. I’m part of a Benedictine community without walls. We are dispersed… Continue reading
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Unknown Paths, Rising Hills: Writing a Hymn for the Second Sunday in Lent (Year A) — “You call us out to unknown paths” (CM)
You call us out to unknown paths You call us out to unknown paths,Like Abram long ago;Through mist along the Barrow’s bends,Your pilgrim people go.You lift our eyes to rising hills,Where skylarks greet the dawn;Your keeping shade, like hawthorn’s bough,Stands guard till night is gone.Not by our striving, strength, or claimBut gift of grace alone,You… Continue reading
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🌿 Morning Reflection for 25 February
Inspired by the appointed readings and psalmody The morning opens gently, the way dawn often does in Ireland—grey first, then slowly revealing colour. The psalms speak of trembling bones, weary eyes, and the long nights when the pillow is wet with tears. Anyone who has ever lain awake listening to the rain on a Kildare… Continue reading
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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
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🌙 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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