Heaven in the Ordinary

This title comes from a half line in George Herbert’s magical
poem where he uses a rush of metaphors to encapsulate
the expanse, possibility and potential list of subject matter in prayer.
He ranges from the specific to the universal with a few more things thrown in! (Like the words man well drest…as a bit of a dandy, Herbert took pride in his clothes.The whole thing
is intensely intoxicating and profound. And of course I wanted to steal
Heaven in Ordinary as a title to try to convey this utter sense of wonderment
as the woman in my tiny picture looks out to sea at a rock from a sand bar.
Here is the poem in full - TH

Prayer (I)

BY GEORGE HERBERT

Prayer the church's banquet, angel's age,
God's breath in man returning to his birth,
The soul in paraphrase, heart in pilgrimage,
The Christian plummet sounding heav'n and earth Engine against th' Almighty, sinner's tow'r, Reversed thunder, Christ-side-piercing spear,

The six-days world transposing in an hour,
A kind of tune, which all things hear and fear; Softness, and peace, and joy, and love, and bliss, Exalted manna, gladness of the best,
Heaven in ordinary, man well drest,
The milky way, the bird of Paradise,
Church-bells beyond the stars heard, the soul's blood, The land of spices; something understood.