Poets & Saints

Scripture   Song of Songs 8:5 (NIV)    Who is this coming up from the wilderness   leaning on her beloved? Refrain   I lean on the One who carries me. Quote   Julian of Norwich    “He did not say: You will not be troubled,   you will not be tempted,   you will not be distressed.   But he said: You will not be...

Scripture   Mark 8:25 (NIV)    Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes.   Then his eyes were opened,   his sight was restored,   and he saw everything clearly. Refrain   In time, the light returns. Quote   Barbara Brown Taylor , from *Learning to Walk in the Dark*   “I have learned things in the dark &nbsp...

Scripture   Matthew 5:6 (NRSVUE)    Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,   for they will be filled. Refrain   My hunger is sacred ground. Quote Teresa of Avila    “God, if You are love,   then I am hunger.   And in this longing,   I find not emptiness,   but promise.   You do n...

Scripture   Habakkuk 2:20 (NIV)    The Lord is in his holy temple;   let all the earth be silent before him. Refrain   I meet God in the quiet. Quote Thomas Merton    “True silence is the rest of the mind,   and it is to the soul what sleep is to the body—   nourishment, restoration, awakening.   In silence, we find no...

Scripture   Jeremiah 20:9 (ESV)    If I say, “I will not mention him   or speak any more in his name,”   there is in my heart as it were a burning fire   shut up in my bones,   and I am weary with holding it in,   and I cannot. Refrain   The fire within me is from God. Quote St. Catherine of Siena    “Be who...

Scripture   Psalm 126:5 (NIV)    Those who sow with tears   will reap with songs of joy. Refrain   What was planted in sorrow rises in joy. Quote Wendell Berry , from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front    “Be joyful   though you have considered all the facts.   Practice resurrection.   Plant sequoias. &nbs...

Scripture   Exodus 33:14 (NIV)    The Lord replied,   “My Presence will go with you,   and I will give you rest.” Refrain   In the pause, God is present. Quote Macrina Wiederkehr    “O God,   help me to believe   the truth about myself—   no matter how beautiful it is.   And help me move  ...

Scripture   Hosea 6:1 (NIV)    “Come, let us return to the Lord.   He has torn us to pieces   but he will heal us;   he has injured us   but he will bind up our wounds.” Refrain   I return to the God who never left. Quote  Rumi    “Come, come, whoever you are.   Wanderer, worshiper, lover of leaving—&nbs...

Scripture   Psalm 16:5–6 (NRSVUE)    The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;   you hold my lot.   The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;   I have a goodly heritage. Refrain   My limits are places where grace meets me. Quote Hildegard of Bingen    “Everything that is in the heavens, on earth, and under the ea...

Scripture   Isaiah 37:31 (ESV)    And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah   shall again take root downward   and bear fruit upward. Refrain   God is moving in the unseen roots. Quote   Rabindranath Tagore    “Trees are the poems that the earth writes upon the sky.   But their roots—hidden, patient, strong—&nbsp...

Scripture   Isaiah 38:14 (NIV)    I cried like a swift or thrush,   I moaned like a mourning dove.   My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens.   I am being threatened; Lord, come to my aid! Refrain   When I have no words, the Spirit still prays. Quote   Christian Wiman , from *My Bright Abyss*   “There are prayers...

Scripture   Psalm 90:2 (NIV)    Before the mountains were born   or you brought forth the whole world,   from everlasting to everlasting   you are God. Refrain   I belong to the eternal now. Quote  John O’Donohue , from *Eternal Echoes*   “Time is a relentless river.   But eternity is not later.   It is...

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 walk lightly, loved and...

Scripture   2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)    So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,   but on what is unseen,   since what is seen is temporary,   but what is unseen is eternal. Refrain   I am carried by what cannot be seen. Quote  Pierre Teilhard de Chardin    “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  ...

Scripture   Genesis 16:13 (NIV)    She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:   “You are the God who sees me,”   for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Refrain   I am fully seen and deeply loved. Quote Emily Dickinson    “They say that God is everywhere,   and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a reclu...

Scripture   Habakkuk 3:17–18 (NRSVUE)    Though the fig tree does not blossom   and no fruit is on the vines;   though the produce of the olive fails   and the fields yield no food;   though the flock is cut off from the fold   and there is no herd in the stalls,   yet I will rejoice in the Lord;   I will exu...

Scripture   Ecclesiastes 4:9–10 (NIV)    Two are better than one,   because they have a good return for their labor:   If either of them falls down,   one can help the other up.   But pity anyone who falls   and has no one to help them up. Refrain   God moves through the people beside me. Quote Henri Nouwen  &nbsp...

Scripture   Mark 4:27 (NIV)    Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up,   the seed sprouts and grows,   though he does not know how. Refrain   Grace is at work, even when I can’t see it. Quote / Poem   Rainer Maria Rilke , from *Letters to a Young Poet*   “Everything is gestation and then bringing forth.   To let e...

Scripture   Matthew 16:25 (NRSVUE)    For those who want to save their life will lose it,   and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Refrain   In surrender, I find rest. Quote Michael A. Singer , from *The Untethered Soul*   “Surrender is the highest form of control.   It is the choice to stop fighting with life  ...

Scripture   Lamentations 3:22–23 (NIV)    Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,   for his compassions never fail.   They are new every morning;   great is your faithfulness. Refrain   Your mercy meets me here. Quote Julian of Norwich    “Often I wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God,   the...

Scripture   Zechariah 14:20 (NIV)    On that day,   “HOLY TO THE LORD”   will be inscribed on the bells of the horses,   and the cooking pots in the Lord’s house   will be like the sacred bowls   in front of the altar. Refrain   Nothing is too ordinary for wonder. Quote Annie Dillard , from Teaching a Stone to Talk &nb...

Scripture   Colossians 2:9 (NLT)    For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. Refrain   God is not far from flesh. Quote Richard Rohr , from *The Universal Christ*   “When God chose to reveal Himself,   He did it through a human body.   If we’re to understand the nature of God,   we must begin with this: ...

Scripture   John 1:5 (CSB)    That light shines in the darkness,   and yet the darkness did not overcome it. Refrain   Your light finds me, even here. Quote Barbara Brown Taylor , from *Learning to Walk in the Dark*   “Even when light fades and darkness falls—   as it does every single day,   in every single life—   Go...

Scripture   Romans 8:23 (ESV)    And not only the creation,   but we ourselves,   who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,   groan inwardly as we wait eagerly   for adoption as sons,   the redemption of our bodies. Refrain   Even my longing is a form of prayer. Quote  St. John of the Cross    “In the dark...

Scripture   Genesis 2:7 (NRSVUE)    Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,   and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,   and the man became a living being. Refrain   The breath in me is holy. Quote  Hildegard von Bingen    “Holy Spirit,   making life alive,   moving in all things, ...