Wild Beasts and Angels: Poems and Prayers of Life and Faith

By Mark Andrew Smith

This book of poems comes from an honest attempt to put the spiritual highs and lows of one person into verse but it also tries to find clues to living the life of Faith by following our great heroes. The poems also tackle some of the crises we have faced recently as well as the pain we all encounter through life.

Wild Beasts and Angels is a strange title, so I should explain. In the Gospel according to St Mark, the temptation of Jesus is described as an experience linking earth and heaven, “he was with the wild beasts, and the angels waited on him” (Mark 1:13). Perhaps St Mark is trying to say that our Lord Jesus holds within himself both the things of this world and the things of heaven. The Christian seasons of Lent and Easter teach us about how to deal with the things of “the world” as well as how to embrace, with joy, the glimpses of heaven. Many of the poems are rooted in these seasons.

This process has been joyful and has drawn me forward and upward every step of the way. I hope that you will also find some food for your soul.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9781728376479

Book preview

© 2022 Mark Andrew Smith. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse    11/02/2022

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7646-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-7647-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Preface

Part 1: Glimpses of Hope

God in The Dust

The Nun of Myanmar

Give Sorrow Words

War

Anger

Discipline

Action Stations

The Good Shepherd

Grace

I Do Not Care!

Part 2: The Life of Faith

Come

Such Love

Remember

May I Come In?

Perseverance

Confession

Here

The Sting of Death

Lockdown

Hope

The Last Rites

Part 3: Nature Speaks

Trees

Safe Spaces

Mother Earth

Water

Waste

Reflected

The Potter

Reversal of the Day

Wood and Nails

Fire! Fire!

Part 4: Words of Life

You Shall Not Covet

The Ark

Abraham

Rahab the Canaanite

The Prodigal Son

The Sword-Pierced Heart

The Philippian Jailer

Where Is God?

Part 5: Resurrection Life

Ash Wednesday

Wow!

Wild Beasts and Angels

Mimetic Theory

Ember Days

Gifts

The Alabaster Jar and the Thin White Tunic

Gethsemane

The Taking of Christ

The Paradox

The Triduum

Remember

Stay

Rejoice

Poems for the Easter Octave

Resurrection

The Easter Way

The Plague

Part 6: Great Lives

Damascus Road

Saint David

Saint Chad

A Song of Saint Patrick

Saint Joseph

Saint Cuthbert

Romero

The Blessed Virgin Mary

Harriet Monsell

Saint Alphege

Saint Anselm

Saint Mark the Evangelist

Christina Rossetti

Peter Chanel

The English Saints and Martyrs of the Reformation Era

Julian of Norwich

Part 7: Heart of Africa

A Surprise on a Visit to Kenya

One Hour

The Cottage

Remember When?

The Canoe

The Tin Shed

Sunset

Joy of Africa

Preface

Discipline doesn’t have to be painful. Sometimes the catastrophising tendencies of the human mind make it so by magnifying the discomfort. The discipline of writing every day, it seems to me, is similar in experience to living the life of faith. The daily practice in solitude, the struggle to see truth clearly, the self-doubt, the frustrations of having to begin again and again, and the joy when a glimpse of heaven is given—all these will resonate with anyone who