Poets & Saints

Scripture   Galatians 6:9 (NRSVUE) So let us not grow weary in doing what is right,   for we will reap at harvest time,   if we do not give up. Refrain   I am learning to stay with the work. Quote   Benedict of Nursia Let us set out on this way with the Gospel for our guide,   that we may deserve to see him who has called us into his king...

Scripture   Luke 19:8–9 (NRSVUE) Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord,   “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor;   and if I have defrauded anyone of anything,   I will pay back four times as much.”   Then Jesus said to him,   “Today salvation has come to this house.” Refrain   I am learning to turn ag...

Scripture   Joel 2:12–13 (NRSVUE) Yet even now, says the LORD,   return to me with all your heart,   with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;   rend your hearts and not your clothing.   Return to the LORD, your God,   for he is gracious and merciful,   slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. Refrain   I r...

Scripture   Psalm 103:14 (NRSVUE) For he knows how we were made;   he remembers that we are dust. Refrain   I am learning to receive my limits. Quote   Meister Eckhart If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life   is thank you,   it will be enough. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture   Joshua 3:5 (NRSVUE) Then Joshua said to the people,   “Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.” Refrain   I am learning to return. Quote   T. S. Eliot What we call the beginning is often the end   And to make an end is to make a beginning.   The end is where we start from. Hosted on Acast. See aca...

Scripture   Psalm 4:8 (NRSVUE) I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O LORD, make me lie down in safety. Refrain   Tomorrow is held. Quote   Ralph Waldo Emerson “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it seren...

Scripture   Proverbs 3:5–6 (NRSVUE) Trust in the LORD with all your heart,   and do not rely on your own insight.   In all your ways acknowledge him,   and he will make straight your paths. Refrain   I choose trust today. Quote   Charles R. Swindoll “We must cease striving and trust God to provide what He thinks is best and in whatever ti...

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.” Refrain   You are near. Quote   Thomas Merton “In a world of noise, confusion and conflict – it is necessary that there be places of silence, inner discipline and peace. In such places love...

Scripture   Habakkuk 3:17–18 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, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,     I will be joyful in God my Savior...

Scripture   Psalm 62:8 (NRSVUE) Trust in him at all times, O people;   pour out your heart before him;   God is a refuge for us. Refrain   I release what I cannot carry. Quote   Richard Rohr “Religion has largely become ‘holding on’ instead of letting go. God, it seems to me, does the holding on (to us!), and we must learn the letting go.”  Ho...

Scripture   Romans 8:24–25 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. Refrain   I listen for what is true. Quote   Howard Thurman ,  “There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genu...

Scripture   Isaiah 43:2 (NRSVUE) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;   and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;   when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,   and the flame shall not consume you. Refrain   I am not alone in this. Quote   Thomas Merton “You do not need to know precisely what is happe...

Scripture   Psalm 13:1-2…5-6 1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever?     How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts     and day after day have sorrow in my heart?     How long will my enemy triumph over me? … 5 But I trust in your unfailing love;     my heart re...

Scripture   Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Refrain   God is forming me, even now. Quote   Eugene H. Peterson , “There is a great market for religious experience in our world; there is little enthusiasm for the patient acquisition of virtue, little inclination to sign up for a lon...

Scripture   1 John 4:12 (NRSVUE)    No one has ever seen God;   if we love one another,   God lives in us,   and his love is perfected in us.   Refrain   There are no ordinary people.   Quote / Poem   C. S. Lewis “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, c...

Scripture   Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSV)    The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,   his mercies never come to an end;   they are new every morning;   great is your faithfulness.   Refrain   Lord, your mercies are enough for today.   Quote / Poem   Henri J. M. Nouwen    “Each day holds a surpri...

Scripture   Matthew 6:26–29 (NRSVUE)    Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns,   and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.   Are you not of more value than they?   And which of you by worrying   can add a single hour to your span of life?   And why do you worry about clothing?   C...

Scripture   Luke 16:10 (NRSV)    Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much;   and whoever is dishonest in a very little   is dishonest also in much. Refrain   In every small thing, love can shine. Quote / Poem   St. Teresa of Ávila    “If you would progress a long way along this road,   the importan...

Scripture   Psalm 92:1–2 (NRSVUE)    It is good to give thanks to the Lord,   to sing praises to your name, O Most High,   to declare your steadfast love in the morning   and your faithfulness by night.   Refrain   God meets me in the everyday.   Quote / Poem   Brother Lawrence  “That we ought not to be...

Scripture   Colossians 3:17 (NRSV)    And whatever you do, in word or deed,   do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus,   giving thanks to God the Father through him.   Refrain   God is present here.   Quote / Poem   Thomas Merton    “Life is this simple.   We are living in a world that is absolu...

Scripture 1 Kings 19:11–13 (NRSV)    11 He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, 12 and after the earthquake a f...

Scripture Ecclesiastes 3:1, 11 (NRSV)    For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.   He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. Refrain Teach us to trust, O God,   the work you are doing in us....

Scripture Mark 4:26–29 (NRSV)   He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground,   and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow,   he does not know how.   The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head.   But when the grain is ripe, at o...

Scripture Psalm 131:1–2 (NRSV)    O Lord, my heart is not lifted up,   my eyes are not raised too high;   I do not occupy myself with things   too great and too marvelous for me. Refrain Here I am, O God.   I make room for you. Quote Julian of Norwich   Revelations of Divine Love “For I saw truly that God does all things, however small th...

Scripture Job 33:4 (NRSV)    The spirit of God has made me,   and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Refrain God of breath and nearness,   you are closer than our next inhale. Quote Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection    *The Practice of the Presence of God*   “There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of...