Poets & Saints

Scripture Psalm 84:5-7 (NIV) Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Refrain Even in the valley of weeping, there are springs. Quote Charles Dickens, from Great Expectati...

Scripture Proverbs 4:18 (NRSVUE) But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Refrain I am being dazzled, gradually, into the light. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "I've been gradually dazzled by Christ into a much more hopeful and glorious theology. But along the way I've also learned that I have to tell it sla...

Scripture Luke 8:9–10 (NRSVUE) Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.'" Refrain The story is working in me before I understand it. Quote Eugene Peterson, from The Contemplative...

Scripture Hebrews 5:12–14 (NRSVUE) You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. Refrain I am ready for what once would have overwhelmed me. Quote St. John of the Cross, from Dark Night of the Sou...

Scripture Philippians 3:13–14 (NRSVUE) Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Refrain I am always being drawn further in. Quote Gregory of Nyssa, from The Life of Moses "Such an experience seems to...

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 The truth dazzles gradually, so that I may see. Quote Emily Dickinson, "Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant" "Tell all the truth but tell it slant— Success in Circuit lies Too bright fo...

Scripture 1 John 4:7–8 (NRSVUE) Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. Refrain Love is my refusal of cynicism. Quote WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES by Mary Oliver When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,...

Scripture Genesis 1:3 (NRSVUE) Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Refrain I was called out of the darkness. Quote David Bentley Hart, from You Are Gods "From eternity, God has brought forth spiritual creatures into existence in the only way that such creatures could be formed: by calling them to ascend out of the darkness of nonbeing into the infinite beauty of the divine na...

Scripture James 1:17 (NRSVUE) Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Refrain It's all a gift. Quote Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love "And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as a ball. I looked upon it with the eye of m...

Scripture Genesis 15:5 (NRSVUE) He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Refrain Hope returns when I look up. Quote J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King "Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and...

Scripture Psalm 19:1 (NRSVUE) The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Refrain The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder. Quote Wendell Berry, from The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays "The Bible is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Passages that within walls seem improba...

Scripture Romans 13:13–14 (NRSVUE) Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Refrain I want to spend my life knowing you. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "Lord, as much as I can mean anything,...

Scripture Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NRSVUE) Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Refrain Even here, the prayers hold. Quote Jürgen Moltmann "When we encounter insoluble problems and despair, we must remember that the Shema of Israel and the Lord's Prayer were prayed in Auschwitz." Hosted o...

Scripture John 1:50–51 (NIV) Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Refrain God is nearer to me than my own soul. Quote Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love "God is nearer to us t...

Scripture John 1:47–49 (NIV) When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, "Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." "How do you know me?" Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you." Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel." Refrain I was seen before I was found. Qu...

Scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NRSVUE) Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Refrain Prayer is keeping company with God. Quote Mother Teresa "Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts." Hosted on Acast. See a...

Scripture Isaiah 30:15 (NRSVUE) For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. Poem Brian Zahnd, Blessed Are the Patient A woman in the kitchen baking bread A farmer in the field sowing seed Both know they must trust to Tiny miracles of fermentation and germination Jesus says— This is how the kingdom o...

Scripture Mark 2:15 (NRSVUE) And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Refrain There is a place at the table, and it is mine. Quote Henri Nouwen, from Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons "To live in the world without belonging to the world summarizes the essence of the...

Scripture Hebrews 13:2 (NRSVUE) Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. Refrain I welcome everything that comes to me today. Quote The Welcoming Prayer Mary Mrozowski "Welcome, welcome, welcome. I welcome everything that comes to me today because I know it's for my healing. I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions, perso...

Scripture Genesis 18:1 (NRSVUE) The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Refrain The present of our life looks different under trees. Quote Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir "I go among trees and sit still. All my stirring becomes quiet around me like circles on water. My tasks lie in their places where I left them, asleep...

Scripture Hebrews 11:8 (NRSVUE) By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to set out for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance, and he set out, not knowing where he was going. Refrain I set out without knowing. Faith is what I carry. Quote Søren Kierkegaard, from Fear and Trembling trans. L.M. Hollander "Through the urging of his faith Abraham left the land of his forefathers and becam...

Scripture Luke 24:30–32 (NIV) When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" Refrain My heart burns as I walk with him. Qu...

Scripture 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) For we live by faith, not by sight. Refrain I make the path by walking it. Quote Antonio Machado, trans. Betty Jean Craige "Wayfarer, only your footprints are the path, and nothing more; wayfarer, there is no path, you make the path as you walk. As you walk you make the path, and as you turn to glance behind you see the trail that you never shall return to tread a...

Scripture Philippians 3:12–14 (NRSVUE) Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own, but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call o...

Scripture Matthew 7:13–14 (NRSVUE) "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it." Refrain Truth is a road, and I am walking it. Quote Brian Zahnd, from The Last Train Out of Monkey Town "Truth is not a laminated card y...