Poets & Saints

Scripture Luke 2:10 (NIV) But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people." Refrain The Gospel is good news for all the people. Quote Jurgen Moltmann, from Theology of Hope "From first to last, and not merely in the epilogue, Christianity is eschatology, is hope, forward moving and therefore also revolutionising the present." Hosted...

Scripture Luke 6:38 (NIV) "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Refrain I cannot be separated from the pattern of love. Quote Gregory Palamas "God revealed the Christ in Jesus so that humanity could never be separated from the pattern that he portra...

Scripture Habakkuk 3:17–18 (NIV) Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. Refrain Love could not bear that. Quote St. Silouan, from St. Silouan the Athonite by Archimandrite Sop...

Scripture 1 John 4:18 (NIV) There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Refrain I am drawn by love, not driven by fear. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "If you are frightened into God, it is never the true God that you meet. If you are loved into God, you meet a God worthy of both J...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV) "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" Refrain Christ descends to where I am and brings me up. Quote John Chrysostom, from Paschal Homily "Let those who have fasted and those who have not fasted rejoice today. The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously. Let no one grieve poverty, for the universal Kingdom has been revealed. Let no one...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:51 (NIV) Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. Refrain I have a place in the family of things. Quote Mary Oliver, from Wild Geese "Meanwhile the world goes on... meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air, are heading home again. Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls...

Scripture John 12:36 (NIV) "Believe in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light." Refrain Christ is the light in whom I live and move. Quote Athanasius "God in Christ became the bearer of flesh for a time, so that humanity could become the bearer of Spirit forever." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture Matthew 22:10 (NIV) So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Refrain There is room for everyone at this table. Quote Maximus the Confessor "God made all beings to this end, to enjoy the same union of humanity and divinity that was united in Christ." Hosted on Acast. See...

Scripture Romans 4:17 (NIV) As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Refrain I am always becoming, never ending. Quote Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself "All goes onward and outward... and nothing collapses, and to die is differe...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:13 (NIV) If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. Refrain Nothing truly good can die. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "'Resurrection' is another word for change, but particularly positive change — which we tend to see only in the long run. In the short run, it often just looks like death." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Scripture Colossians 3:4 (NIV) When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Refrain I am connected, and that is enough. Quote Henri Nouwen, from Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry "Community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness: 'I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.' It's solitude grabbing onto solitude: 'I am the beloved; you are the belove...

Scripture 1 Corinthians 15:28 (NIV) When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all. Refrain I am caught up in something larger than myself. Quote Thomas Merton, from No Man Is an Island "We do not exist for ourselves alone, and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact that we begin to love ourselves pro...

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...