WHERE THE HIDDEN SEED BECOMES SONG

Baptism is a hidden seed within our souls, which becomes song. As anchorites within a busy world, we go about our daily chores. As we do so, the seed within our souls is growing, branching and then flowering. Eventually the grown plant of baptism-ship bursts into fullness within us, with the beauty of the Orchid Who is Christ.

Where the hidden seed becomes song

Within the hush of Baptism’s unseen grace,
A hidden seed is sown in secret place;
No eye can trace its silent, sacred start,
Yet heaven’s garden stirs within the heart.

We walk the roads where restless thousands move,
Through noise and toil our daily labours prove;
Yet like an anchorite, still set apart,
We keep a quiet cloister within the heart.

Amid the market’s cry, the ticking hour,
There sleeps within a small, unspoken power;
A seed of light beneath the dust of days,
That drinks in silence from God’s hidden rays.

At first a stirring - gentle, faint, and deep,
A rooted dream that wakes from inward sleep;
Then tender shoots begin their upward climb,
Unseen, yet faithful through the press of time.

Through folded tasks and burdens softly borne,
It grows in shadow, like the break of morn;
Each act of love, each prayer we voice,
Becomes the rain that bids the seed rejoice.

Then branches form where once was ground,
A living reach where grace and will are bound;
The soul extends, no longer closed within,
But turns to God, and lets His Life begin.

Slowly, petals gather, still concealed,
A beauty yet in quietness revealed;
Till one bright hour, no longer held in night,
The hidden life unfolds in sudden light.

It blooms - a wonder none on earth could weave,
A form of grace the heart can scarce conceive;
The Orchid fair, in splendour pure and mild,
Is Jesus Christ in soul of God's dear child.

Then all that lay in silence finds its song,
A music deep that has been growing long;
From seed to bloom, from hidden root to voice,
The soul in Christ is radiant with rejoice.

Image courtesy of ChatGPT with CN Whittle "The Offering of the Orchid"

Poem inspired by article "Baptism andCo-existence" by GMA Jansen (Fr Norbert OP) 

https://sahistory.org.za/sites/default/files/archive-files/PvApr67.pdf

With thanks to sahistory.org