Poets & Saints

Scripture 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NIV) The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. Refrain I am learning to see with new eyes. Quote Thomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation "Contemplation is the highest expression of man's intellectual and...

Scripture John 20:18 (NIV) Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Refrain Attention is the beginning of devotion Quote Mary Oliver, from Sometimes "Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture John 20:1–2 (NIV) Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" Refrain Love is the path and love is the gu...

John 20:17 (NIV) Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Refrain I release what was to receive what is. Quote Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ "Jesus of Nazareth, an individual man, has become Christ, the Corporate Personality. We used to kno...

Scripture John 20:29 (NIV) Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Refrain I know God from the inside out. Quote Thomas Merton, from Thoughts in Solitude "The only true joy on earth is to escape from the prison of our own false self, and enter by love into union with the Life who dwells and sings within the esse...

Scripture John 20:15–16 (NIV) He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). Refrain Love speaks my name and I am found. Quote Richar...

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.