Poets & Saints

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on John 14:2-3, with a reading from Brian Zahnd's Unseen Existences . Day 55 of the Unseen Existences series. Scripture John 14:2-3 (NRSVUE) In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again an...

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on James 1:2-4, with a reading from Alan Kreider's The Patient Ferment of the Early Church . Day 54 of the Unseen Existences series. Scripture James 1:2-4 (NKJV) My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you...

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on Isaiah 40:8, with a reading from Peri Zahnd's Every Scene by Heart . Day 53 of the Unseen Existences series. Scripture Isaiah 40:8 (NRSVUE) The grass withers; the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. Refrain All things are passing. God never changes. Quote Peri Zahnd, from Every Scene by Heart “This is the Me...

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on Philippians 4:6-7, with Teresa of Ávila's prayer known as Saint Teresa's Bookmark. Day 52 of the Unseen Existences series. Scripture Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSVUE) Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpass...

A five-minute Christian meditation and lectio divina practice on Jeremiah 6:16, with a reading from Brian Zahnd's Unseen Existences . Day 51 of the Unseen Existences series. Scripture Jeremiah 6:16a (NRSVUE) Thus says the LORD: Stand at the crossroads and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way lies, and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. Refrain Buen camino. May my way...

Scripture 1 Kings 19:5-8 (NRSVUE) Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for...

Scripture Genesis 32:1-2 (NRSVUE) Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him, and when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called that place Mahanaim. Refrain I am sheltered under angel wings. Quote Sergius Bulgakov, from Jacob’s Ladder “The world is sheltered by angel wings. Angel eyes keep watch without rest over us. Between heaven and earth the holy angels ascend and d...

Scripture Matthew 18:10 (NRSVUE) Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones, for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. Refrain I am not alone. A friend is near. Quote Sergius Bulgakov, from Jacob’s Ladder “At that time the voice of a companion sounded within: I was not alone but together with my own other I; it was my guardian angel. H...

Scripture 2 Kings 6:15-17 (NRSVUE) When an attendant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. His servant said, “Alas, master! What shall we do?” He replied, “Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.” Then Elisha prayed: “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the LORD opened the eye...

Scripture Hebrews 1:14 (NRSVUE) Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Refrain I travel in the company of angels. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences “What I desire most is for you to remember that as we journey through life, we really do tread on paths of unseen existences. In our darkest hours, we are never alone;...

Scripture Philippians 2:13 (NRSVUE) For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Refrain Let God talk to me about me. Poem Brian Zahnd, "About You," from Unseen Existences Let God talk to you About you For if you imagine God talking to you About her or him, those or them You're on the fast-track to Pharisee City And life there is a...

Scripture Daniel 7:9-10 (NIV) Thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was s...

Scripture Genesis 1:26a, 27 (NRSVUE) Then God said, "Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness." So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Refrain God knows the self I was made to be. Quote Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation "Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: a false self. T...

Scripture Psalm 139:23-24 (NRSVUE) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Refrain Search me, O God, and know my heart. Quote Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamazov (translated by Michael R. Katz) "The main thing is, stop telling lies to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listen...

Scripture Luke 5:8, 10b-11 (NKJV) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men." So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. Refrain Do not be afraid. Follow me. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Exis...

Scripture Revelation 21:3-4 (NRSVUE) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Refrain God...

Scripture John 11:25-26 (NRSVUE) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Refrain Christ shares my sorrow and holds my future. Quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Letters and Papers from Prison "God lets himself be pushed out of the wor...

Scripture John 11:33-35 (NIV) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Refrain In the silence, Jesus weeps with me. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "Yes, Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus...

Scripture John 11:3, 5 (NIV) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Refrain I am loved as a friend, and I am not alone. Quote Henri Nouwen, from Out of Solitude "When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, s...

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...