Hope Holds to Christ

Hope holds to Christ the mind's own mirror out
To take His lovely likeness more and more.
It will not well, so she would bring about
And ever brighter burnish than before
And turns to wash it from her welling eyes
And breathes the blots off all with sighs on sighs.
Her glass is blest but she as good as blind
Holds till hand aches and wonders what is there;
Her glass drinks light, she darkles down behind,
All of her glorious gainings unaware.

I told you that she turned her mirror dim
Betweenwhiles, but she sees herself not Him.

-Gerard Manley Hopkins

For a long while I was looking for books of Hopkins' poems, and could not find any. Then, on my trip to New England, I found two! What finds!

Hopkins was born in England in 1844, and went to Balliol College at Oxford University. He was deeply religious and had a zeal for descriptive words that read like tongue-twisters. A perfect example of this is a few lines from one of my favourite poems, "Pied Beauty":

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise Him.

One book of Hopkin's poems I found in Boston is a beautiful hardback book with floral cover, and thick textured pages. It is pictured above.

"Hope holds to Christ" is one poem from this book that I have not read before  It's a lesser known poem. But it gripped me, for what else is there in life that is completely, utterly dependable and perfect?
Nothing. No one.

This poem by Hopkins is exactly what I need to recall everyday. Turning to God is the only answer I can think of to all my questions. All my uncertainty lingers like a fog refusing to lift. Though surrounded by a patchy fog, I can focus on that which is not seen, Christ. Take the focus off myself.

This poem reminds me that my life should mirror Christ so the world can see more of Jesus through me. That is what the Apostle Paul means when he wrote about us being the body of Christ.

But I too often see myself in the mirror that is reflected, which keeps me blinded to God's path and graces that are already present. I have so much to learn. I feel so young, indeed, and everyday I am learning.