Oxford Gaudy 18.3.23

 


Oxford Gaudy


Chemistry brought me to Oxford

and a scholarship at St John’s College.

Seven years of study bore fruit in a thesis 

on polythene and Teflon and an open door 

to research and teach as Fellow of St John’s.


Fifty years back I pondered that door.

One Sunday sitting in the College Garden

I saw another door beside it 

and a voice of invitation as if from God

which I answered by opening that door.


Pursuing and uncovering truth

took another turn with Truth pursuing me!

I handed back my Junior Fellowship

once selected to train as a priest

heading back to Yorkshire.


Mirfield, Bentley, Moorends, Guyana,

Coventry, London and Haywards Heath

trace my itinerary over fifty years,

 instrument of Christ’s priesthood bringing

God to man and man to God.


‘Gaudeamus omnes’ acclaimed the narrator

at yesterday’s Gaudy Dinner shared with my peers.

I rejoice with them at being used over fifty years,

some in business, some in education, some in science.

All part of a rich tapestry woven from our lives.


I rejoice especially in my own calling

which has never abandoned the scientific reasoning

schooled in me at St John’s College

for reason and faith are two wings of the Spirit

lifting us to God above and beyond us.


John Twisleton   18 March 2023

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