Posts with the tag “poetry”

The Destruction of Sennacherib Assyria and the anapest.  I’ve been waiting since Don started this sermon series on Isaiah to post this poem, “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by George Gordon, aka Lord...  Read More

The Second Coming This poem by W.B. Yeats is one of my favorites; I love the language, the imagery, and the allusions.  That said, it is an often-misunderstood poem; The Second Coming, from the title ...  Read More

James Weldon Johnson Some of the language in this poem may sound dated to our modern ears, or a bit odd to those unaccustomed to a southern (North Florida) dialect.  If, however, you are from the Sout...  Read More

Isaiah Spring by Sarah Clarkson Several years ago (in 2019), Sarah Clarkson found herself driving between Nashville and Kentucky for an intensive Bible Study on Isaiah.  The Spring of the year brought...  Read More

Current Events It's easy to get bogged down in the current events of our day: real and fake news abounds, flooding our screens and our minds, causing us to wonder how much more we can take - how much ...  Read More

Uphill Mark and I grew up in the shadow of Stone Mountain.  We lived less than two miles from each other when we were younger (we went to the same elementary school and church for a time), but later d...  Read More

The Dream of the Rood Do you recognize the language below? German?  Dutch?  Would you believe me if  I told you the text below is written in English? Old English to be precise, as differentiated from ...  Read More

Barabbas The video below is several years old and reflects a style of poetry called Spoken Word. The video focuses on the character of Barabbas in Mark 15. You may wish to watch the video, even if you...  Read More

A Sonnet for St. Peter Malcolm Guite is a former priest and Chaplain of Girton College Cambridge.  He pens books and poetry and shares from his vast and interesting library.  He often writes for Rabbi...  Read More

Gethsemane This poem by Mary Oliver considers how the sleeping disciples, like Judas at the Last Supper, are integral to the story of Christ.  After reading the poem (perhaps more than once), Consider...  Read More

Blessing the Bodyby Jan Richardson Can you make any connections between this poem and Mark 14:12-31?  This blessing takesone look at youand all it can say isholy.Holy hands.Holy face.Holy feet.Holy ev...  Read More

Those Winter Sundaysby Robert Hayden Take a moment to read through this poem, perhaps more than once.  What does it say about sacrificial love? How can you connect this poem to the text of Mark 14:1-1...  Read More

A Ritual to Read to Each Otherby William Stafford This poem challenges us to become aware of the world around us.  How might it be similar or unlike Jesus' call to watch out? What do you sense is impo...  Read More

Blessing When the World Is Ending by Jan RichardsonIf poetry is unfamiliar to you, start slowly.  Pause with the punctuation (commas and periods in this case) rather than line breaks.  Read aloud (or ...  Read More