Poems and readings to reflect on and shape your faith
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USE FAITH SHAPERS FOR:
- Prayer or in time of personal need
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- Illustrations for a devotional address
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Latest Posts
Our Father: Hallowed on Earth as in Heaven
Autumn Leavings
And if, as autumn deepens and darkens I feel the pain of falling leaves, and stems that break in storms and trouble and dissolution and distress and then the softness of deep shadows folding, folding around my soul and spirit, around my lips so sweet, like a swoon, or...
Made for Joy and Woe
Man was made for Joy & Woe And when this we rightly know Thro the World we safely go Joy & Woe are woven fine A Clothing for the soul divine Under every grief & pine Runs a joy with silken twine William Blake (1757-1827), Auguries of Innocence...
Climbing out of bed
Teach me thy love to know; That this new light, which now I see, May both the work and workman show: Then by a sunbeam I will climb to thee. George Herbert (1593-1633), Mattens.
Harvest Thanks Giving
Thanks be to God for the food on the table; Thank you, our daily cry. Food for today and with more for tomorrow, All of our needs supplied. Crops from the field, fruit from the tree, Vegetables from the ground; Food from the earth, fish from the sea, Plenty to...
The Bible: Bestowed Word of God
View me Lord, a work of thine
In thy word, Lord, is my trust, To thy mercies fast I fly; Though I am but clay and dust, Yet thy grace can lift me high. View me Lord, a work of thine: Shall I then lie drowned in night? Might thy grace in me but shine, I should seem made all of light…....
Storehouse of Life
The chief and top of his knowledge consists in the book of books, the storehouse and magazine of life and comfort, the Holy Scriptures. There he sucks and lives. In the Scriptures he finds four things; precepts for life, doctrines for knowledge, examples for...
Bible before reason and church
What scripture doth plainly deliver, to that the first place of credit and obedience is due; the next whereunto is whatsoever any man can necessarily conclude by force of reason: after these the voice of the church succeedeth. Richard Hooker (c.1554 – 1600), Laws of...
Word of life that fires me
Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided, Urged and inspired us, cheered us on our way, Sought us and saved us, pardoned and provided, Lord of the years, we bring our thanks today. Lord, for that word, the word of life which fires us, Speaks to our hearts and...
Jesus Christ: Crucified God in Person
Christ My King
No one can come to spiritual delight in the contemplation of Christ’s godhead except he come first in imagination by painful identification, by compassion and steadfast thinking on his humanity. Walter Hilton (1343 – 96), Toward a Perfect Love. ...
The world’s ‘danger’
I saw a stable low and very bare, A little child in a manger. The oxen knew him, had him in their care. To men he was a stranger. The safety of the world was lying there And the world’s danger. Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907).
The wise men’s dilemma; a life or death
… were we led all that way for Birth or death? There was a Birth certainly, We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death, But had thought they were different; this birth was Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death. We returned to our places,...
Down to the World’s Cradle
Down to that littleness, down to all that Crying and hunger, all that tiny flesh And flickering spirit – down the great stars fall, Here the great kings bow. Here the farmer sees his fragile lambs, Here the wise man throws his books away. This manger is the universe’s...
Humankind: Sinful, Rebellious and Faithless
Man was made to mourn
A few seem favourites of fate, In pleasure’s lap carest; Yet think not all the rich and great Are likewise truly blest: But oh! What crowds in every land, All wretched and forlorn, Thro’ weary life this lesson learn, That man was made to mourn. Many and...
Rich and weary
When God at first made man, Having a glass of blessings standing by; Let us, said he, pour on him all we can; Let the world’s riches, which dispersed lie Contract into a span. So strength first made a way; Then beauty flowed, then wisdom, honour, pleasure; When...
Two deaths: here and hereafter
Hark, how the birds do sing, And woods ring. All creatures have their joy; and man hath his, Yet if we rightly measure, Man’s joy and pleasure Rather hereafter, than in present, is…. Not that he may not here Taste of the cheer, But as birds drink, and straight...
Christmas Check Out
"I'm not looking forward to Christmas," The lass on the store check-out cries, Pinging the goods on the rumbling belt - The bread, and the wine, and the pies. I watch, as I stand in the fidgety queue As the lassie enlightens us all. "The fuss and the...
The Grace of God: Justifying and Converting
I’ll turn my face
O think me worth thine anger, punish me, Burn off my rusts and my deformity; Restore thine image so much, by thy grace, That thou may’st know me, and I’ll turn my face. John Donne (1572-1631)
Love took my hand
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. ‘A guest’, I answered, ‘worthy to be here.’ Love said, ‘You...
Give me a thankful heart
Thou hast given so much to me, Give one thing more, a grateful heart. See how thy beggar works on thee By art. Wherefore I cry, and cry again; And in no quiet canst thou be, Till I a thankful heart obtain Of thee: Not thankful when it pleaseth me; As if thy...
On a Friday Morning
It was on a Friday morning that they took me from the cell and I saw they had a carpenter to crucify as well. You can blame it on to Pilate You can blame it on the Jews You can blame it on the Devil But it's God that I accuse 'It’s God they ought to crucify...
Christ-likeness: Progressive Christian Living
Contemplation’s door to wisdom and virtue
Virtue could see to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though sun and moon Were in the flat sea sunk. And wisdom’s self Oft seeks to sweet retired solitude, Where with her best nurse Contemplation, She plumes her feathers, and lets grow her wings That in...
What the Lord has done for me
Have you no words? Ah, think again! Words flow apace when you complain And fill your fellow creature’s ear With the sad tale of all your care. Were half the breath thus vainly spent To heav’n in supplication sent, Your cheerful song would oft’ner be: ’Hear what the...
Yes: uphill all the way
Does the road wind uphill all the way? Yes, to the very end. Will the day’s journey take the whole long day? From morn to night, my friend. But is there for the night a resting place? A roof for when the slow dark hours begin. May not the darkness hide it from my...
Forgiven and Forgiving
History teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness, or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general - but a Saviour, with the power to forgive. Forgiveness lies at the heart of the...
Holy Spirit: in Christian Experience
Get a glory
Oh you gotta get a glory! In the work you do, A Hallelujah chorus In the heart of you. Paint or tell a story, Sing or shovel coal, But you gotta get a glory Or the...
The world’s danger
I saw a stable low and very bare, A little child in a manger. The oxen knew him, had him in their care. To men he was a stranger. The safety of the world was lying there And the world’s danger. Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861-1907).
Experience is worthless?
Experience is a futile teacher, Experience is a prosy preacher, Experience is a fruit tree fruitless, Experience is a shoe-tree, bootless, For sterile wearience and drearience Depend, my boy, upon experience. Experience! Wise men do not need it! Experience! Idiots do...
Spring into Life
Oh, feed me this day, Holy Spirit, with the fragrance of the fields and the freshness of the oceans which you have made, and help me to hear and to hold in all dearness those exacting and wonderful words of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying: Follow me. Mary Oliver...
Believers: Assured, Called and Prayerful
Glimpses of Truth
Open my eyes that I may see Glimpses of Truth Thou hast for me; Place in my hand the wonderful key That shall unlock and set me free. Silently now I wait for Thee, Ready my God, Thy will to see, Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine. Clara H. Scott...
Tell me your Story
Don't throw your arms around me in that way: I know what you tell me is the truth - yes I suppose I loved you in my youth as boys do love their mothers, so they say, but all that's gone from me this many a day: I am a merciless cactus an uncouth wild goat a jagged old...
Success
I’m Whatever is foreseen in joy Must be lived out from day to day. Vision held open in the dark By our ten thousand days of work. Harvest will fill the barn; for that The hand must ache, the face must sweat. And yet no leaf or grain is filled By work of ours; the...
Caged Skylark?
As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage Man's mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells - That bird beyond the remembering his free fells, This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life's age.... Not that the sweet-fowl, song-fowl, needs no rest -...
The Church: Provisional but Necessary
Pray with the most
Though private prayer be a brave design, Yet public hath more promises, more love: And love's a weight to hearts, to eyes a sign. We all are but cold suitors; let us move Where it is warmest. Leave thy six and seven; Pray with the most: for where most pray, is...
We are the Lord’s last message
Christ has no hands but our hands To do His work today; He has no feet but our feet To lead men in His way; He has no tongues but our tongues To tell men how He died; He has no help but our help To bring them to His side. We are the only Bible The careless world will...
Singing with mind and heart
The fineness which a hymn or psalm affords, Is, when the soul unto the lines accords. He who craves all the mind, And all the soul, and strength, and time, If the words only rhyme, Justly complains, that somewhat is behind To make his verse, or write a hymn in...
Tree of Life: Upside Down
There is a tree grows upside down, Its roots are in the sky; Its lower branches reach the earth When amorous winds are nigh. One lone bough there starkly hangs A Man just crucified, And all the other branches bear The choice fruits of the Bride. When...
The Mission of God
Not another redemption song?
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom ? ‘Cos all I ever had ; Redemption songs. Bob Marley (1945-81).
The words of the prophets
People talking without speaking People hearing without listening ‘Fools’, said I, ‘You do not know Silence like a cancer grows.’ The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls. Paul Simon (1942-), 1964.
Seed Planting
This is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, Knowing that they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. We...
Caged Skylark?
As a dare-gale skylark scanted in a dull cage Man's mounting spirit in his bone-house, mean house, dwells - That bird beyond the remembering his free fells, This in drudgery, day-labouring-out life's age.... Not that the sweet-fowl, song-fowl, needs no rest -...
Moral Justice: a Vision of God’s Kingdom
Betrayed by Your Lifestyle
I was hungry And you were overweight. I was thirsty And you kept watering your lawn. I was a stranger And you called the police. I was naked And you went shopping for the latest fashions. I was sick ...
Human rights matter
W’en wi can’t face reality Wi leggo wi clarity; Some latch on to vanity, Some hol’ insanity, Some get vision, Start preach relijan But dem can’t make decision W’en it come to wi fight; Dem can’t make decision W’en it comes to wi rites. Linton Kwesi Johnson...
Pave Paradise with a Swinging Hot Spot
Don’t it always seem to go. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til its gone…. They paved paradise And put up a parking lot, With a pink hotel, A boutique, and a swinging hot spot. Don’t it always seem to go. You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til its gone…. Joni...
Not another redemption song?
Won’t you help to sing These songs of freedom ? ‘Cos all I ever had ; Redemption songs. Bob Marley (1945-81).
Glory: Now and Then, Here and There
Two deaths: here and hereafter
Hark, how the birds do sing, And woods ring. All creatures have their joy; and man hath his, Yet if we rightly measure, Man’s joy and pleasure Rather hereafter, than in present, is…. Not that he may not here Taste of the cheer, But as birds drink, and straight...
Born among the trees and leaves
O who will show me those delights on high Echo. I Thou echo, thou art mortal, all men know. Echo. No Wert thou not born among the trees and leaves? Echo. Leaves. And are there any leaves that still abide? Echo. Bide. What leaves are they? Impart the matter wholly....
I am immortal diamond
Across my foundering deck shone A beacon, an eternal; beam. Flesh fade, and mortal trash Fall to residuary worm; world’s wildfire, leave but ash: In a flash, at a trumpet crash, I am all at once what Christ is, since he was what I am, and This jack, poor potsherd,...
Son Worship
To long for the unsettling, unsetting Son is dangerous. Saints and Starets, sinners and seekers have found that Christ takes them at their word who say that they want, or would like, to know him. Holy Fools have met him in the derision of sophisticates....