Poets & Saints

Psalm 42:7 (NRSVUE) Deep calls to deep   at the thunder of your cataracts;   all your waves and your billows   have gone over me. Refrain   I am learning to stay with the silence. Quote   R. S. Thomas But the silence in the mind   is when we live best, within   listening distance of the silence   we call God. This is t...

Scripture   John 6:68 (NRSVUE) Simon Peter answered him,   “Lord, to whom can we go?   You have the words of eternal life.” Refrain   I am learning to stay. Quote   Thomas Merton My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.   I do not see the road ahead of me.   I cannot know for certain where it will end. Hosted on Acast. See...

Scripture   Habakkuk 2:3 (NRSVUE) For there is still a vision for the appointed time;   it speaks of the end and does not lie.   If it seems to tarry, wait for it;   it will surely come, it will not delay. Refrain   I am learning to wait with trust. Quote   John of the Cross In order to arrive at what you do not know,   you must...

Scripture   Isaiah 43:18–19 (NRSVUE) Do not remember the former things,   or consider the things of old.   I am about to do a new thing;   now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?   I will make a way in the wilderness   and rivers in the desert. Refrain   I am learning to make room. Quote   Meister Eckhart To be e...

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 am learning to name what is true. --- Quote   Julian of Norwich For I saw no wrath in God,   nor ever shall.   For our Lord is God, and God is good,   and goodness is enough t...

Scripture   Lamentations 3:22–23 (NRSVUE) 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   I am learning to notice what is here. --- Quote   George Herbert Prayer the Church’s banquet, Angel’s age,   God’s breath in man retu...

Scripture   Psalm 131:2 (NRSVUE) But I have calmed and quieted my soul,   like a weaned child with its mother;   my soul is like the weaned child that is with me. --- Refrain   I am learning to pay attention. --- Quote   Simone Weil, *Waiting for God* The key to a Christian conception of studies is the realization that prayer consists of attention....

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...