Theologica Bibens et Fumigans and “Buy Me a Beer”

Picture by David Russell Mosley

You may have seen that I’ve added a new page to the website. If you like what I’ve been writing here and elsewhere around the internet, please consider supporting my by “buying me a beer.”

In light of that, here’s a poem I wrote about a group of PhD students who used to meet at the University of Nottingham. We called ourselves the Theologica Bibens et Fumigens or Theological Drinking and Smoking group. I hope you enjoy.

“To the TBF”
We gather round the wooden table, all
Ready to uncover the mysteries divine. 
These holy mysteries on which we dine
Are our food, the inn provides our glasses, tall
For beer or cider, but for whiskey, small. 
Pipes lovingly, liturgically incline
Us to our topics for the day. We shine
With smiles, with eyes made bright by light eternal. 
But the bells and bustle call us back to life.
We pack our things, prepare ourselves to leave, 
Our holy pipes expire, our glasses empty,
And we return to home, to love, to strife. 
For none can live in aether lest they cleave
To air under the stars, to air sublunary.