Poets & Saints

ScriptureEcclesiastes 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.RefrainTeach us to trust, O God,  the work you are doing in us.QuoteThe Cloud of Unknowing“For this is the work of the soul that most pleaseth God,  to wait in stillness and in trust.  Not striving to see clearly,  nor desiring to feel greatly,  but choosing to rest in the dark knowing  that God is at work beyond our understanding.For love may reach God in this life,  but knowing never can.  And therefore, be content to remain in this cloud,  trusting that God is nearer than you know.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureMark 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 once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”RefrainTeach us to see, O God,  what is already before us.QuoteMeister Eckhart“The soul must forget itself and all things  and must be empty of all images.  For where there is emptiness,  there is room for God to work.  Nothing is so unlike God as distraction,  and nothing so like God  as stillness.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScripturePsalm 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.RefrainHere I am, O God.  I make room for you.QuoteJulian of Norwich  Revelations of Divine Love“For I saw truly that God does all things, however small they may be,  and that nothing is done by chance,  but all by the foreseeing wisdom of God.  I saw that God is in all things,  and that God does all things,  and that God is all things.And I saw that God’s love was never absent,  nor ever shall be,  and that all shall be gathered and held  in this love forever.”Refrain  Here I am, O God.  I make room for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

ScriptureJob 33:4 (NRSV)  The spirit of God has made me,  and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.RefrainGod of breath and nearness,  you are closer than our next inhale.QuoteBrother 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 a continual conversation with God: those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it; yet I do not advise you to do it from that motive; it is not pleasure which we ought to seek in this exercise; but let us do it from a principle of love, and because God would have us. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Lamentations 3:31–33 (NRSVUE, abridged)  For the Lord will not reject forever.  Although he causes grief,  he will have compassion  according to the abundance of his steadfast love;  for he does not willingly afflict  or grieve anyone.Refrain  I return again and again.Quote / Prose  Jon Kabat-Zinn  “Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully  in each moment to being present;  inviting ourselves to interface  with this moment in full awareness.  We do this by returning again and again  to the anchor of the breath,  no matter how many times the mind wanders.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Psalm 23:4 (NRSVUE)  Even though I walk through the darkest valley,  I fear no evil;  for you are with me;  your rod and your staff—  they comfort me.Refrain  I stay with what is.Quote / Prose  Pema Chödrön, from *When Things Fall Apart*  “To stay present with pain and not run away from it  is the key to awakening.  When we stop struggling against what we feel,  we begin to find freedom  right where we are.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  1 Corinthians 6:19 (NRSVUE, abridged)  Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,  which you have from God…  and that you are not your own?Refrain  God meets me in my body.Quote / Prose  Bessel van der Kolk“The body keeps the score:  if the memory of trauma is encoded in the viscera,  in heartbreaking and gut-wrenching sensations,  in autoimmune disorders and skeletal and muscular problems,  then talking about it may not be enough.  The body must feel safe again.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Psalm 46:10 (NRSVUE)  “Be still, and know that I am God.”Refrain  I notice without fixing.Quote / Prose  Jon Kabat-Zinn, from *Wherever You Go, There You Are*  “Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives.  It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness  of each moment.  We also gain immediate access  to our own powerful inner resources  for insight, transformation,  and healing.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Genesis 2:7 (NRSVUE)  Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,  and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life;  and the man became a living being.Refrain  I return to the breath.Quote / Poem  George Herbert“Teach me, my God and King,  In all things Thee to see;  And what I do in anything,  To do it as for Thee.  A servant with this clause  Makes drudgery divine.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Matthew 2:12 (NRSVUE)  And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,  they left for their own country  by another road.Refrain  I walk by the light I have been given.Quote / Poem  Teresa of Ávila  “Let nothing disturb you,  Let nothing frighten you,  All things are passing away:  God never changes.  Patience obtains all things.  Whoever has God lacks nothing;  God alone suffices.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Psalm 139:1–5 (NRSVUE, abridged)  O Lord, you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up;  you discern my thoughts from far away.  You search out my path and my lying down,  and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue,  O Lord, you know it completely.Refrain  I am seen and known by God.Quote / Poem  George Herbert“Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,  Guilty of dust and sin.  But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack  From my first entrance in,  Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning,  If I lacked anything.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Luke 24:30–31 (NRSVUE, abridged)  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.Refrain  My eyes are opening.Quote / Poem  Emily Dickinson  “The Soul should always stand ajar,  That if the Heaven inquire,  He will not be obliged to wait,  Or shy of troubling her.  Depart, before the Host has slid  The bolt unto the Door—  Then will the Soul return her trust  Without distrust or more.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Exodus 3:1–6 (NRSVUE)  Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian;  he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush;  he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed.  Then Moses said, “I must turn aside and look at this great sight,  and see why the bush is not burned up.”  When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see,  God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!”  And he said, “Here I am.”Refrain  I am learning to see.Quote / Poem  William Blake, from *Auguries of Innocence* (c. 1803)“To see a World in a Grain of Sand  And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,  Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand  And Eternity in an hour.  A Robin Red breast in a Cage  Puts all Heaven in a Rage.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Isaiah 60:1–2 (NRSVUE)  Arise, shine; for your light has come,  and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  For darkness shall cover the earth,  and thick darkness the peoples;  but the Lord will arise upon you,  and his glory will appear over you.Refrain  God’s light meets me where I am.Quote / Poem  Charles Wesley“Christ, whose glory fills the skies,  Christ, the true, the only Light,  Sun of Righteousness, arise,  Triumph o’er the shades of night;  Day-spring from on high, be near;  Day-star, in my heart appear.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Micah 6:8 (NRSVUE)  He has told you, O mortal, what is good;  and what does the Lord require of you  but to do justice, and to love kindness,  and to walk humbly with your God?Refrain  What I offer is enough.Quote / Poem  Dorothy Day“We cannot love God  unless we love each other,  and to love we must know each other.  We know Him in the breaking of bread,  and we are not alone anymore.  He has given us each other.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 begin again in grace.Quote / Poem  Henri Nouwen, from *The Return of the Prodigal Son*  “Returning is not a one-time event.  It is a long and painful process.  It is the continuous choice  to trust that there will be a homecoming,  even when you feel lost.  The movement of returning  is not a straight line.  It is a series of small choices,  often made in weakness,  to step toward love again and again.  The great gift of God  is that we are always welcomed home.  No matter how far we have wandered,  no matter how often we have failed,  the arms of mercy remain open.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Proverbs 16:9 (NRSVUE)  The human mind plans the way,  but the Lord directs the steps.Refrain  I set my heart toward love.Quote / Poem  Howard Thurman “Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive,  and go do it.  Because what the world needs  is people who have come alive.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Psalm 46:10 (NRSVUE)  “Be still, and know that I am God!  I am exalted among the nations,  I am exalted in the earth.”Refrain  This moment is where God meets me.Quote / Poem  Brother Lawrence“We can do little things for God;  I turn the cake that is frying on the pan  for love of Him,  and that done,  if there is nothing else to call me,  I prostrate myself in worship  before Him who has given me grace to work.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Colossians 1:27 (NRSVUE)  Christ in you, the hope of glory.Refrain  Christ lives in me.Quote / Poem  Richard Rohr  “The Christ Mystery  is not something to admire from a distance.  It is something to participate in.  God has chosen to dwell  not merely among us,  but within us—  so that divine love  might continue to take flesh  in the world.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scripture  Matthew 1:23 (NRSVUE)  “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,  and they shall name him Emmanuel,”  which means, “God is with us.”Refrain  God is with us.Quote / Poem  Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from *God Is in the Manger*  “God is not ashamed of the lowliness of human beings.  God marches right in.  God chooses people as his instruments  and performs wonders where one would least expect them.  God is near us—  in the midst of our lives.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.