As I mention in 'About Me' inspiration for this blog comes from George Herbert's poem:
¶ Prayer. (I)
PRayer the Churches banquet, Angels age,
Gods breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav’n and earth;
Engine against th’ Almightie, sinners towre,
Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,
The six-daies world transposing in an houre,
A kinde of tune, which all things heare and fear;
Softnesse, and peace, and joy, and love, and blisse,
Exalted Manna, gladnesse of the best,
Heaven in ordinarie, man well drest,
The Milkie way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bels beyond the starres heard, the souls bloud,
The land of spices; something understood.
Relevant definitions of 'ordinarie' from the Oxford English Dictionary below for those who like that sort of thing. For me the point is in the potential play on words and definitions. God might be met within the fixed and unchanging worship of the Church (the ordinary of the Mass), or in the pub; eating, drinking and all the activities of daily life can also be numinous or transcendent.
I. Rule or ordinance.
3. Christian Church. A rule prescribing, or book containing, the order of divine service, esp. that of the Mass; the established order or form for saying mass; the service of the Mass, or that part preceding and following the canon. In the Roman Catholic Church (usu. with capital initial): those parts of a service, esp. the Mass, which do not vary from day to day; spec. those unvarying parts which form the mass as a musical setting (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei). Also in extended use.
III. Something ordinary, regular, or usual.
12. a. Customary fare; a regular daily meal or allowance of food; (hence, by extension) a fixed portion, an allowance of anything. Obs
c. An inn, public house, tavern, etc., where meals are provided at a fixed price; the room in such a building where this type of meal is provided.
No comments:
Post a Comment