Thomas Traherne

1637-1674 17th century Feast day: October 10

Wonder recovered after childhood, as a form of thanksgiving.

Who was Thomas Traherne?

The son of a Hereford shoemaker, a country parson and then a chaplain, dead at thirty-seven, he published almost nothing in his lifetime. His manuscripts were found by accident two centuries later, some on a bookstall, some in a rubbish tip. They revealed one of the most joyful bodies of work in English: the conviction that the world is a gift we have not yet learned to receive.

In their own words

You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.

Centuries of Meditations, I, 29

The corn was orient and immortal wheat, which never should be reaped, nor was ever sown.

Centuries of Meditations, III, 3

Can you take too much joy in your Father's works?

Centuries of Meditations, I, 25