Invictus

William Ernest Henley (1849 - 1903)

This Victorian poem, by English poet, William Ernest Henley, has remained on my mind today after watching the film, “Invictus” with Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon last night.

It’s one I’ve not heard until yesterday and find it hauntingly beautiful:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Invictus, means “unconquered” in Latin. These evocative words found their way into the heart and mind of Nelson Mandela during his many years in prison and provided a much needed sense of inspiration and hope.

I find it encouraging to a weary soul, yet the lines, “Beyond this place of wrath and tears / Looms but the Horror of the shade” revealing of a tarnished hope. Still, it's that mark of the Divine in the human spirit -that unfathomable resilience- that intrigues me so!

Christ is in our midst, wherever we shall go...

View from Long Point, in the New River Gorge

I should seriously consider renaming this blog, since “Daily” hardly describes my time here. Sigh. Thanks for checking in, anyway. It does my heart good to know this blog is still finding its way in the search engines and can offer some words to people looking for prayers, scripture, or something about the lives of a saint. That is an answered prayer.

This blog is never far from mind though, even in my busiest times I am weaving words together in my mind to share here at a later date. One such occasion was a few months ago, during May as I was on location photographing members from a blue-grass band. The photo shoot - gleefully - took me out to one of my favorite spots in West Virginia: Long Point.

Long Point is accessed by a 40 min. hike into the New River Gorge, eventually arriving at an awesome outcropping of rock and wind-swept tenacious shrubs and evergreens. The view from Long Point is spectacular, with a full-length, unimpeded view of the New River Gorge Bridge in the distance and the New River winding its way through the narrow gorge over 800 feet below. It's a place of inspiration and natural beauty - and, to be able to go to this place and work, well... I feel blessed indeed!

We arrived at Long Point just as the sun rose over the Appalachian Mountains... a glorious morning, with a gentle fog lifting slowly out of the gorge like soothing wafts of incense stretching upward to heaven. It was sheer bliss and I relished the idea of coming back again and again just to sit and watch the dawning of day. How can anyone witness such a singular moment and not see the Creator’s Hand?!

Rhododendron, West Virginia's State Flower

Add to this euphoria my love of photography and the excellent people I was working with and you have a morning that went way too fast. Upon our hike to and from Long Point, I enjoyed the conversation of my companions and realized I was in the company of those who love and serve God. It dawned on me, not for the first time, that where I go, Christ goes... there is no secular society where believers are.

Christ is in our midst; He is and ever shall be!