Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
Another busy week, another poem that almost refused to be written.
But no prizes for guessing some of the thoughts behind this one.
Continue reading The God who commands (a poem)
Note: While the word ‘cadence’ has a number of meanings, this poem uses it primarily in the sense of a sequence of notes or chords that bring a musical phrase to a close.
Where has the cadence gone?
The sentence-ending fitting word,
The coda of a rhythmic song?
When inhale, exhale linger – but not too long.
It so happens that the revised common lectionary puts readings from Psalm 51 and 1 Timothy 1:12-17 on the same day. It’s year C, on the 19th Sunday in ordinary time.
In each of them, the authors reflect on their bloodguilt – the guilt of shedding innocent blood.
Below I’ve written a liturgy that congregations can use to pray for forgiveness of any guilt they may bear for shedding blood. First, I’ll give a little context.
Continue reading A liturgy for the forgiveness of bloodguilt (based on Psalm 51)
“Above all, Tolkien has a fascination with names for their own sake that will probably seem excessive to anyone whose favorite light reading is not the first book of Chronicles.”
Robert M Adams.
This quote comes from a 1977 review of The Silmarillion shortly after it was first published. The book prequels The Lord of the Rings.
I learned about the quote from my best friend. She said she had been reminded of me.
Touché.
Continue reading Christmas 2020: Week 5, Day 6: Saviour
“It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”
Grantland Rice, sports commentator.
There’s a day in the Bible that gets call the ‘day of judgement.’ It’s described in various ways: something long-awaited, vindicating, something that ends long-standing injustice.
But it’s not described as joyful or even good. If anything, it’s described as terrible.
As I’ve said before, prophecy is a complex genre. The ‘day of judgement’ can be interpreted in a number of ways – many place it as a past event.
That said, many Christians believe, myself included, that there is one ultimate judgement day yet to come, when God calls all wrongdoing to account. We don’t fear it, but we ask how to live as the day approaches. (Though it could be centuries yet.)
For some Christians, this creates a desire to “be on the right side” before time runs out. And I kind of agree. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we all like to think that we’re right, good and loving. We all think we deserve to be on the winning team.
Continue reading Christmas 2020: Week 5, Day 3: Justice