Around the City - Thoughts of Exeter’s past 7

 The Royal Clarence Hotel  by Rev’d Paul Collings

Luke 14:12-14 Then Jesus said to his host, “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid.  But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,  and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The Royal Clarence hostelry,

The heart of city’s revelry 

Has welcomed travellers there to rest,

A place to dine as honoured guest.

For city folk it marked the place

To celebrate, console, embrace

The rites of passage there to note

And even raise a glass, a toast.

Yet through that devastating fire,

The years of welcome now expired;

It’s image scared, a blot. a blight,

With heartfelt tears I view that site.

And as I stand that scene to view,

I think of lives destroyed, askew.

By perils, pitfalls, lasting pains

With no release from lives that strain.

For such a one I come in prayer

And ask for strength their pain to share.

Lord, of the lifting hand of grace

Raise-up their heads, your face to trace. 

“People will forget what you said, forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou