The mystery of faith …

… Poetic Orthodoxy | Peter J. Leithart | First Things. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The God who haunts Thomas’s poetry is a hidden God, known by his absence. “In a Country Church” shows “one kneeling,” but “no word came / only the wind’s song.” Wings stir above, “bats not angels, in the high roof.” In another poem, Thomas wonders whether the church is “where God hides / From my searching?” In “The Empty Church,” another worshiper keeps kneeling in desperate hope that one of his prayers “will ignite yet.”

The practice of faith is not as simple and straightforward as many are inclined to think.