BOLD ANTIPHONY
Meditations in Contrasting Moods
by
Leonard Mason
1912 - 1994
Contrasting meditations are presented in pairs of poems, to
represent the tensions that are
characteristic of people open to
many dimensions and options of belief.
| People Commingled - The Centred Self | Smooth
Pebbles - Words Of Flint
The Poetry Of Living - Prosaic Litany Other People's Sanctuary - My Own Place |
Forward
Liberal religious worship as found in Unitarian churches is marked by a blending of tradition with novelty. Traditional moods need re-interpretation in order to connect them with modern concern. Equally, the rugged phraseology of contemporary speculation needs to be set in a context of continuing meanings in order to avoid novelty just for the sake of novelty. Hence the antiphonal arrangement of these meditations. Contrasting moods are presented, not in named opposition, but in mutual balance, to represent the tensions that are
characteristic of people open to many dimensions and options of belief.
Meditation is an intensely personal activity, and this collection represents the gathering of many quiet hours removed from my professional duties. In private perusal I hope that the reader may be able to stand awhile where I have stood, may see what I have seen and feel what I have felt. Privacy shared in this way gives an added dimension to one’s thought and aspiration.
Other antiphonies are detectable in the collection. Its foreground is Canadian, its background is English; its accent is secular, its intent religious; its predominant phraseology is humanist, its tone an undisclosed theism.
The ways of holiness are many;
Man that travels along them
Shall one day learn to kneel
Each in his brother’s sanctuary.
~ Leonard Mason ~
April 1966
Montreal, Canada