Poets & Saints

Scripture   Luke 22:42 (NRSVUE)    “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me;   yet, not my will but yours be done.” Refrain   I let go, and God holds what I release. Quote Kahlil Gibran , from *The Prophet*   “You would know the secret of death.   But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life? For life and...

Scripture   Isaiah 26:3 (NRSVUE)    You keep in perfect peace   those whose minds are stayed on you,   because they trust in you. Refrain   My soul is held in stillness. Quote Rabindranath Tagore    “The storm whispers,   but the heart must listen for the stillness.   Peace does not come when the world grows quiet.&nbs...

Scripture   Psalm 23:1 (NIV)    The Lord is my shepherd,   I lack nothing. Refrain   In God, I have enough. Quote Dallas Willard    “The Lord is my Shepherd   is a sentiment that has become so familiar   we often miss the audacity of it.   To say, 'I shall not want,'   is to live as if everything I need ...

Scripture   Matthew 11:28 (NRSVUE)    “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens,   and I will give you rest.” Refrain   Rest is a sacred act of trust. Quote   Wayne Muller    “In the relentless busyness of modern life,   we have lost the rhythm between work and rest.   All life requires a rhythm of...

Scripture   Jude 1:1 (NRSVUE)    To those who are called,   who are beloved in God the Father   and kept safe for Jesus Christ. Refrain   I am kept by Love that does not let go. Quote Julian of Norwich    “God did not say, ‘You will not be troubled.’   He did not say, ‘You will not be tempted, you will not be distressed.’ &...

Scripture   John 20:21 (NRSVUE)    Jesus said to them again,   “Peace be with you.   As the Father has sent me,   so I send you.” Refrain   I am sent in love to love. Quote  Teresa of Avila    “Christ has no body now but yours.   No hands, no feet on earth but yours.   Yours are the eyes with which he lo...

Scripture   Luke 16:10 (NRSVUE)    Whoever is faithful in a very little   is faithful also in much;   and whoever is dishonest in a very little   is dishonest also in much. Refrain   In small things, I stay faithful. Quote Wendell Berry , from *Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front*   “Every day do something   tha...

Scripture   Matthew 6:22 (NRSVUE)    The eye is the lamp of the body.   So, if your eye is healthy,   your whole body will be full of light. Refrain   In simplicity, I find God again. Quote   Thomas R. Kelly    “Life is meant to be lived from a Center,   a divine Center.   Each of us can live such a life of a...

Scripture   Galatians 5:25 (NIV)    Since we live by the Spirit,   let us keep in step with the Spirit. Refrain   I move in rhythm with the Spirit. Quote Howard Thurman    “There is something in every one of you   that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.   It is the only true guide you will ever have.&nbs...

Scripture   Micah 6:8 (NRSVUE)    He has told you, O mortal, what is good,   and what does the Lord require of you   but to do justice, and to love kindness,   and to walk humbly with your God? Refrain   One step at a time, I walk with God. Quote   Eugene Peterson    “There is a great market for religious experience in...

Scripture   Job 11:7 (NRSVUE)    Can you fathom the mysteries of God?   Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? Refrain   I am held by the mystery, not separate from it. Quote   Thomas Merton    “My Lord God,   I have no idea where I am going.   I do not see the road ahead of me.   I cannot know for certain...

Scripture   John 14:23 (NRSVUE)    Jesus answered him,   “Those who love me will keep my word,   and my Father will love them,   and we will come to them   and make our home with them.” Refrain   I belong to God, and God belongs with me. Quote Jean Vanier    “To be lonely is to feel unwanted and unloved,   an...

Scripture   Isaiah 43:1 (NRSVUE)    But now thus says the Lord,   he who created you, O Jacob,   he who formed you, O Israel:   Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;   I have called you by name, you are mine. Refrain   I am known, I am named, I am loved. Poem   Henri Nouwen    “Long before any human being saw...

Scripture   Genesis 28:16 (NIV)    When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought,   “Surely the Lord is in this place,   and I was not aware of it.” Refrain   God is here in the ordinary. Poem   Mary Oliver , from "Making the House Ready for the Lord"   “Dear Lord, I have swept and I have washed   but still nothing is as...

Scripture   1 Corinthians 13:12 (NRSVUE)    For now we see in a mirror, dimly,   but then we will see face to face.   Now I know only in part;   then I will know fully,   even as I have been fully known. Refrain   I am safe even when I do not understand. Quote From The Cloud of Unknowing “God may be loved,   but not th...

Scripture   Romans 5:3–5 (NIV)    Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings,   because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character;   and character, hope.   And hope does not put us to shame,   because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts   through the Holy Spirit, who has b...

Scripture   2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)    But he said to me,   “My grace is sufficient for you,   for my power is made perfect in weakness.”   Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses,   so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Refrain   God meets me in my weakness. Quote  Brené Brown    “Vul...

Scripture   Mark 2:3–5 (NIV)    Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man,   carried by four of them.   Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd,   they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it   and then lowered the mat the man was lying on.   When Jesus saw their faith,   h...

Scripture   Romans 12:1 (NRSVUE)    I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters,   by the mercies of God,   to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,   holy and acceptable to God,   which is your spiritual worship. Refrain   My body is held in the love of God. Quote Cole Arthur Riley , from This Here Flesh   “B...

Scripture   Ecclesiastes 3:1,3 (NRSVUE)    For everything there is a season,   and a time for every matter under heaven:   …a time to heal,   a time to break down,   and a time to build up. Refrain   I trust God in the in-between. Quote   Pádraig Ó Tuama , from In the Shelter    “Sometimes healing  ...

Scripture   Joshua 1:9 (NIV)    Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.   Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged,   for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Refrain   I have the courage to be here. Quote   Henri Nouwen    “Courage is not the absence of fear.   It is the presence of love.&nbs...

Scripture   Psalm 8:3–4 (NIV)    When I consider your heavens,   the work of your fingers,   the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,   what is mankind that you are mindful of them,   human beings that you care for them? Refrain   Wonder opens me to God. Quote  Annie Dillard , from Pilgrim at Tinker Creek “There...

Scripture   Lamentations 3:25 (NRSVUE)    The Lord is good to those who wait for him,   to the soul that seeks him. Refrain   Waiting is still a place where God meets me. Quote Pierre Teilhard de Chardin    “Above all, trust in the slow work of God.   We are quite naturally impatient in everything   to reach the end without dela...

Scripture   Isaiah 43:19 (NIV)    See, I am doing a new thing!   Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?   I am making a way in the wilderness   and streams in the wasteland. Refrain   I am not undone—I am being made new. Quote   John O’Donohue , from To Bless the Space Between Us   “May we come to accept the beauti...

Scripture   Psalm 34:18 (NIV)    The Lord is close to the brokenhearted   and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Refrain   God does not rush my sorrow. Quote   Nicholas Wolterstorff , from Lament for a Son    “I shall look at the world through tears.   Perhaps I shall see things   that dry-eyed I could not see.&nbs...