Poets & Saints

Scripture John 17:21 (NIV) "…that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." Refrain We are all in this together. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ When we carry our small suffering in solidarity with the one universal longing of all humanity, it helps keep us from self-pity or self...

Scripture Colossians 1:24 (NIV) Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. Refrain My suffering is held within something larger. Quote Etty Hillesum, from An Interrupted Life "Living and dying, sorrow and joy... it is all as one in me, and I accept it all as one migh...

Scripture Ephesians 4:4, 7 (NIV) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. Refrain I am because we are. Quote Desmond Tutu, from Ubuntu: On the Nature of Human Community "A person is a person through other persons. None of us comes into the world fully formed. We would not know ho...

Scripture Galatians 6:15 (NIV) Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Refrain God saves by loving and including. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "God is the ultimate nonviolent one, so we dare not accept any theory of salvation that is based on violence, exclusion, social pressure, or moral coercion. When we do, these are legitimated...

Scripture Philippians 3:10 (NIV) I want to know Christ — yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. Refrain I love God as much as I love the person I love the least. Quote Dorothy Day "I really only love God as much as I love the person I love the least." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture Ephesians 3:8–10 (NIV) 8 Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ, 9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things. 10 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of Godshould be ma...

Scripture John 1:29 (NIV) The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" Refrain Love takes away what I cannot carry alone. Quote Flannery O'Connor, from The Habit of Being "All human nature vigorously resists grace because grace changes us and the change is painful." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture Luke 23:34 (NIV) Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Refrain Lord, show me what I cannot yet see in myself. Quote Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, from The Gulag Archipelago "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between p...

Scripture John 12:47 (NIV) "If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world." Refrain God is not violent. God is love. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "It is not God who is violent. We are.  It is not that God demands suffering of humans. We do.  God does not need or want suffering — n...

Scripture John 10:10 (NIV) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Refrain I am fully alive in the presence of God. Quote Irenaeus of Lyon, from Against Heresies (4.20.7) "For the glory of God is a living human being; and the life of the human consists in beholding God." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more info...

Scripture Hosea 6:6 / Matthew 9:13 (NIV) "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings." "But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Refrain God wants mercy, not sacrifice. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Jesus did not come to change God's mind about us. It di...

Scripture Matthew 11:28–30 (NIV) "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Refrain I come as I am and find grace here. Quote George MacDonald, from Unspoken Sermons "The Son of God suffered unto death, not...

Scripture Ephesians 1:9–10 (NIV) He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment — to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. Refrain I was loved before anything went wrong. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Jesus never punished anybody. Yes, he...

Scripture Acts 1:14 (NIV) They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Refrain I receive what God offers and hand it on. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "If Christ and Jesus are the archetypes of what God is doing, Mary is the archetype of how to receive what God is doing and hand it on to others. Mary is the...

Scripture Revelation 3:20 (NIV)  "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me." Refrain God waits for my yes. Quote Denise Levertov, from Annunciation "The engendering Spirit did not enter her without consent. God waited. She was free to accept or to refuse, choice is integral to humanness. Sh...

Scripture John 19:25 (NIV) Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. Refrain I find power in presence and in stillness. Quote Edwina Gateley, from Soul Sisters "Be silent. Be still. Alone. Empty before your God. Say nothing. Ask nothing. Be silent. Be still. Let your God look upon you. That is all. God knows. God understands. God lo...

Scripture Luke 1:38 (NRSVUE) Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. Refrain I open myself to what God wants to bring to birth in me. Quote Meister Eckhart "We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place wit...

Scripture Romans 1:20 (NIV) For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Refrain God is more than any image I have been given. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Although Jesus was clearly of the masculine gender, the Christ is be...

Scripture Isaiah 45:15 (NIV) Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel. Refrain God is at the depth of all things, including me. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "I doubt if you can see the image of God in your fellow humans if you cannot first see it in rudimentary forms in stones, in plants and flowers, in strange little animals, in bread and wine...

Scripture Ephesians 2:4–6 (NIV) But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Refrain The image of God cannot be extinguished. Quote Walter Wink, from Jesus and Nonviolence: A Thir...

Scripture Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin. Refrain Christ is present in the depth of all things. Quote St. Bonaventure "As a human being Christ has something in common with all creatures. With the stones he shares existence, with plants he share...

Scripture Philippians 2:7 (NIV) Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. Refrain Christ came for all of me. Quote Nikos Kazantzakis, from Report to Greco "One day the religion of Christ will take another step forward on earth. It will embrace the whole man, all of him, not just half as it does now in embracing only the soul." Hosted on A...

Scripture Genesis 2:15 (NIV) The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. Refrain The gate of heaven is everywhere. Quote Thomas Merton "We are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and God is shining through it all the time. God manifests Himself everywhere, in everything — in people and in things and in nature and in events. The only thin...

Scripture Luke 12:49 (NIV) "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" Refrain The fire that refines me is taking me somewhere good. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "I am afraid many of us have failed to honor God's always unfolding future and the process of getting there, which usually includes some form of dying to the old. In practical effect,...

Scripture Romans 8:28–30 (NIV) And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified,...