Poets & Saints

ScriptureJohn 20:19–21 (NRSVUE)When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you."RefrainPeace be with me, even here.QuoteSt. Seraphim of Sarov"Acquire inner peace and thousands around you will find their salvation." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureLuke 24:30–31 (NRSVUE)When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.RefrainOpen my eyes to what is already here.QuoteElizabeth Barrett Browning, from Aurora Leigh"Earth's crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God, but only he who sees takes off his shoes; the rest sit round and pluck blackberries." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureLuke 24:13–16 (NRSVUE)Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.RefrainEven in disappointment, You are near.QuoteFrederick Buechner"Resurrection means that the worst thing is never the last thing." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureLuke 24:1–6 (NRSVUE)But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them.The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen."RefrainThe tomb is empty. Everything is different.QuoteN.T. Wright, from Surprised by Hope"Resurrection is not the reversal of death. It is the defeat of death. Not undoing what happened, but transforming it into something that opens onto a new world." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePhilippians 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.RefrainI press on toward what is ahead.QuoteFrederick Buechner, from Wishful Thinking"The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid. I am with you. Nothing can ever separate us. It's for you I created the universe. I love you. There's only one catch. Like any other gift, the gift of grace can be yours only if you'll reach out and take it. Maybe being able to reach out and take it is a gift too.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePhilippians 3:10–11 (NRSVUE)I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.RefrainIn my suffering, Christ is with me.QuoteNicholas Wolterstorff, from Lament for a Son"God is not only the God of the sufferers but the God who suffers. The one who suffers beside us." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePhilippians 3:10 (NRSVUE)I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.RefrainI surrender in order to know You.QuoteBrennan Manning, from Abba's Child"Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePhilippians 3:8–9 (NRSVUE)I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ.RefrainIn losing, I find what truly lasts.QuoteRichard Rohr, from Falling Upward"The supposed achievements of the first half of life have to fall apart and show themselves to be wanting in some way, or we will not move further. Why would we?" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePhilippians 3:7–8 (NRSVUE)Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.RefrainI release what I once held as gain.QuoteThomas Merton, from New Seeds of Contemplation"To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 84:11–12 (NRSVUE)For the Lord God is a sun and shield; he bestows favor and honor. No good thing does the Lord withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.RefrainGod withholds no good thing from me.QuoteGeorge Herbert, from The Pulley"When God at first made man, having a glass of blessings standing by,let us, said he, pour on him all we can." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 84:10 (NRSVUE)For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than live in the tents of wickedness.RefrainOne day in your presence is enough.QuoteC.S. Lewis, from The Weight of Glory"It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.We are half-hearted creatures,fooling about with drink and sex and ambitionwhen infinite joy is offered us,like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slumbecause he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 84:5–7 (NRSVUE)Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; the God of gods will be seen in Zion.RefrainStrength rises in me as I walk.QuoteEugene Peterson, from A Long Obedience in the Same Direction"The life of faith is not a sprint but a long obedience in the same direction." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 84:3 (NRSVUE)Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.RefrainI have found a place to belong.QuoteHenri Nouwen, from The Return of the Prodigal Son"Home is the center of my being where I can hear the voice that says:'You are my beloved, on you my favor rests.'" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 84:1–2 (NRSVUE)How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.RefrainMy soul longs for the living God.QuoteAugustine of Hippo, from Confessions"You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJohn 15:9–10 (NRSVUE)As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.RefrainI remain in love.QuoteBrennan Manning, from The Ragamuffin Gospel"Jesus comes not for the super-spiritual but for the wobbly and weak-kneed who know they don't have it all together and are not too proud to accept the handout of amazing grace." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJohn 15:16 (NRSVUE)You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.RefrainI did not choose first — I was chosen.QuoteHenri Nouwen, from Life of the Beloved"Long before any human being saw us, we are seen by God's loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we are heard by our God who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we are spoken to by the voice of eternal love." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJohn 15:7–8 (NRSVUE)If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.RefrainFruit grows when I remain.QuoteFrederick Buechner, from Wishful Thinking"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJohn 15:5 (NRSVUE)I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.RefrainI am rooted in the vine.QuoteJohn of the Cross, from The Ascent of Mount Carmel"The soul that is attached to anything, however much good there may be in it, will not arrive at the liberty of divine union." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJohn 15:4 (NRSVUE)Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.RefrainI choose to abide.QuoteThomas R. Kelly, from A Testament of Devotion"For God Himself works in our souls, in the deepest depths, taking increasing control as we are progressively willing to be prepared for His wonder." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureGalatians 5:22–25 (NRSVUE)The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.RefrainI walk in step with the Spirit.QuoteThomas R. Kelly, from A Testament of Devotion"There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.