"Anchored in the love of God, open to grace"

Thomas Traherne

Today I found myself spending time with some of the English mystical poets - Donne, Herbert, Traherne - and I found these lines at the end of a longer poem:

I am His image, and His friend,
His son, bride, glory, temple, end.

I'm so struck by the poet's delighted, unselfconsciously gender-mutable celebration of how he, himself, is viewed by God. The poem is Love by Thomas Traherne and you can read all of it right here. Also, please take a look at the Church Times article entitled "I delight in all, and all in me" for more about Traherne and the stained glass window shown above.