Praise God in luminescence!
Praise for the semi-iridescence of a kingfisher wing
Praise for viridescence
Praise for the marcescence of a blazing beech tree
Praise for inflorescence of the swaggering wisteria
Praise for the fluorescence of a fearsome scorpion
Praise for the bioluminescence in seas of suspended stars
Praise for effervescence on crested waves
Praise for the opalescence of a crescent moon
Praise for adularescence in a setting moonstone
Praise for the urgency of adolescence
Praise for their efflorescence
Praise for the acquiescence of belovéd lives
Praise for their presence, praise in their absence
Praise for each coalescence of collapsing star dust
Praise God in his incandescence for his Father’s house
Praise God in the swell of liquescent psalm
Praise God in every essence
Praise God luminescence!
Clare Bryden “Praise God in luminescence”, The Christian Century, Volume 142, Issue #8, August 2025 and stand-alone post, 16 July 2025, online.
Copyright © 2025 by The Christian Century. Reprinted by permission from the August 2025 issue of The Christian Century. christiancentury.org
Here is an antiphonal setting of the poem, like a psalm, which you are welcome to download and use in worship.
With thanks to Rev Patrick Ward, Rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit, Orleans MA for the idea.