On the moorlands above the town of Ilkley , in West Yorkshire , there is a trail of some forty seven miles that has become known as the Stanza Stones trail. It is the home for six poems by Simon Armitage, recently appointed to the Chair of Poetry in the University of Oxford .

The project was finished in June 2012. The poems have been carved into stones across the moorland forming a permanent ‘Poetry Trail’ from Armitage’s home town of Marsden , north to the Dales town of Ilkley .

There is a permanency about stone that is evident in the ancient monuments scattered across Europe , its hardness and texture, formed by exposure to wind and rain over many centuries. It was not without reason that we are told that Peter was the rock on which the Church would be built. 

Just as with the carving of the moorland poems, letter by letter by the artist Pip Hall, so the story of the faith of the Church has been shaped over many years, through the Councils and the lives of Christian people. That faith has not been formed in an isolated place but within the milieu of the times, informed and shaped by experience.

The Church of our time has its own contribution to make, reflecting on life as it is now, with our knowledge, stresses, joys and fears influencing the outcome. We are contributors to a dynamic faith in the goodness of God.

Like letters carved in stone, some feel that truth is ossified in its first interpretation and that any further reflection has to conform to the language that determined its initial statement.

The Synod has found itself wrestling with this very problem in its discussion of marriage. It is the outcome of this exchange that will determine the credibility of its work.

Secrecy is the birthplace of rumor. It has been the way of the curia over the years and it still persists. You have only to look at varied instances of those summoned to Rome to account for their views to see the default position; toe the line or face the consequences.

It speaks volumes that many of those who have been so badly treated have remained faithful to their Christian belief in spite of it all.

Returning once again to the Stanza Stones. The image that heads this posting shows the stone mason carving the last words of the piece entitled Snow- Then it wakes and thaws and weeps. That has been our story since the high days of the Council, a steady thawing and the re-emergence of running water. The years through the papacy of John Paul II and subsequently Benedict, saw a consistent attempt to regain the sharp definition and certainty of earlier years. It became so often a time of weeping.

Our appreciation of the gift of Francis must be shown by our patience with his struggle. The Bishop of Rome requires our help, loyalty and prayer.  The Snow, Rain, Mist, Dew, Puddle and Beck titles of the Armitage poems, reflect is, in so many ways, the weather of our Christian pilgrimage across the open moorland of faith.

Walk the trail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp4crENSomM

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