Today, I would like to share a poem by R.S. Thomas, a Welsh Anglican priest-poet who died in 2000. It’s called the Bright Field:
The Bright Field
I saw the sun break through
to illuminate a small field for a while, and gone my way and forgotten it.
But that was the pearl of great price, the one field that had the treasure in it.
I realise now that I must give all I have to possess it.
Life is not hurrying on to a receding future, nor hankering after an imagined past.
It is a turning aside like Moses to the miracle of the lit bush, to a brightness that seemed as transitory as your youth once, but is the eternity that awaits it.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
The bright field speaks of those shining moments in life…moments of grace, beauty, inspiration, moments when we fleetingly encounter the Divine or feel a deep connection to the universe. The image of the bright field evokes for me a deep connection to the universe. The bright field evokes for me various ideas: the moment you see a spectacular sunset, the moment you realise that you have fallen in love, the moment you become transfixed by a beautiful poem or an incredible piece of music – or, of course, when you pray or meditate and feel a connection to the Divine. Like the poet, we have all seen the sun “illuminate a small field” and proceeded to move on without dwelling on it. Are we willing to give our all to possess it?
B. O’ S.