Hello friend,
Welcome to this guided meditation on the theme of creation in old English literature.
Before we begin,
Settle yourself into a comfortable position,
Either seated or lying down,
Place your hands on your knees or lay them gently by your sides,
Close your eyes and take three deep breaths.
Breathing in and out,
Breathing in and out and one more,
Breathing in and breathing out.
Today's reading comes from the Old English translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
This was a Latin chronicle written in the early 8th century and later translated into Old English.
Cadman's Hymn is perhaps the earliest vernacular poem to survive from medieval England.
The poem in Old English is scribbled into the margins of Bede's Latin text.
The story of how the hymn came to be beautifully evokes the poetic culture of that world.
Cadman's story takes place in the late 7th century and is set at Whitby Abbey,
A religious community in what is now the northeast of England,
Under the direction of the formidable Abbess Hilde.
The Abbey was a centre of learning and culture.
Bede describes how in the evening entertainment was provided by music and verse as people took turns reciting and composing poetry accompanied by the harp.
Not all could take part in this form of entertainment however.
Cadman was an elderly cowherd who worked at the Abbey.
Having never learned to compose songs in verse,
Cadman avoided the hall and fled the festivities whenever it was his turn to perform.
One night,
As the harp player came inexorably toward him,
Cadman ran,
Ashamed,
To the cattle shed.
There,
He lay down to sleep and as he slept he dreamt that a man approached and this man said,
Cadman,
Sing me something.
Then he answered and said,
I cannot sing and therefore I left the party.
And came here because I am not able to sing anything.
Again,
The one who was speaking with him said,
Nevertheless,
You must sing something for me.
Then he,
Cadman,
Said,
What shall I sing?
He said,
Sing to me about creation.
When he got this answer,
Cadman began to sing straight away in praise of God the creator,
In verse and in words that he had never heard and of which the arrangement is.
Now praise the guardian of the heavenly kingdoms.
The might of the creator and his mind's thought.
The work of the glorious father as he established the beginning,
Eternal lord,
Of each of the wonders he first created for the children of earth,
Heaven as a roof,
The holy creator,
Then the middle earth,
The guardian of mankind,
Eternal lord,
He afterwards adorned the world for people,
For people,
The lord almighty.
After this,
Cadman awakes,
He remembers the poem that came to him in the dream and he adds to it.
He tells others in the community about his experience and demonstrates his new poetic gift.
The abbess,
Hill,
Eventually invites Cadman to become a monk at the abbey.
He becomes known far and wide for his poetic compositions and for his miraculous ability to turn the stories of his religion into English verse.
He inspires many others to do the same and so we are told English poetry is born.
The story of Cadman is a story about creation.
It tells of the creation of the world according to the teachings of its time,
As well as the creation of a poet,
Cadman,
And of a new form of poetry.
It is also,
I think,
A reminder to give thanks for the world around us in whatever way we can.
The act of acknowledging the beauty of the world and of expressing gratitude for it is something we can all do and it is something we all have a right to do,
No matter our position or status in the world.
Cadman's story is perhaps also a promise.
When we stop to thank the world for the wonder that it is,
We do not have to do so perfectly.
As long as we try,
The words will come.
Take a deep breath in and a deep breath out.
Begin to notice the sounds around you.
Notice the feeling of your legs on the chair or the cushion.
Notice the light on your eyelids.
When you're ready,
Bring some movement into your body.
Wiggle your toes,
Wiggle your fingers,
Roll your shoulders,
Stretch up your arms and open your eyes.
Thank you for meditating with me today.
