When mid- September comes, the study group will begin David Adam’s The Eye of the Eagle: meditations on the hymn ‘Be Thou My Vision.’ With three weeks of vacation between now and then, I’ve begun reading it now – I don’t want to rush through it, and I don’t want to be unprepared. That’s why I found a Carmina Gadelica, a collection of poems and prayers from the Hebrides. I’ll be spending some time meditating on it. I hope you join me, and add your thoughts to mine…
I II
God to enfold me, God in my sleeping,
God to surround me, God in my waking,
God in my speaking, God in my watching,
God in my thinking. God in my hoping.
III IV
God in my life, God in my sufficing,
God in my lips, God in my slumber,
God in my soul, God in my ever-living soul,
God in my heart God in mine eternity.
[Found in David Adam’s The Eye of the Eagle (London: Triangle, 1990, p.83; reference to Carmina Gadelica, vol 3, p. 53. Alexander Carmichael published this work, based upon the poems, songs, and prayers he gathered from many sources. His translation and interpretation of the material are not literal as much as literary.]