Thanks to everyone who suggested poets and poems via facebook on my last post. Keep them coming if you have them. Someone mentioned a poem by John Donne, a poem which is also in the book of poetry I'm currently reading through. I'll share more on that poem and book in coming posts. When I mentioned the Donne poem to my pastor, he immediately had to page through a book and read a couple of his favorites from Donne. One of them is "Good Friday, 1613: Riding Westward." Some of it's a bit tough to wade through, but it's worth a little work to discover the beauty of words like these referring to Jesus' death on the cross:
In addition to this, my pastor also recommended some poetry in our weekly church email, one with which I enthusiastically agree. Pastor John Piper is well-known for his God-centered preaching, and almost as well-known for his books about living a God-centered life. He's certainly a pastor first, but I've thoroughly enjoyed reading some of his narrative poetry - poems based on events from biblical history that take an imaginative look at the details the Bible doesn't specify. I think he remains true to the Bible's message in these, draws us into the real stories of real people contained in the Bible, and does so with beautiful story-telling in poetic form. A couple favorites that focus on Jesus' journey to the cross, his trial and his death are The Inkeeper, Pilate's Wife, and Joseph of Arimathea. I think each of these poems have brought me to tears at the first reading (and probably every subsequent reading). You can browse a catelogue of Pastor Piper's poems, some with audio recordings, here.
Are there any poem's that have caused you to see God more clearly, if even through tears? What poems have stirred deep emotions for you? Post a comment below.
Yet dare I'almost be glad, I do not seeThat's just a taste. You can read the whole of the poem here.
That spectacle of too much weight for mee.
Who sees Gods face, that is selfe life, must dye;
What a death were it then to see God dye?
It made his owne Lieutenant Nature shrinke,
It made his footstools crack, and the Sunne winke.
Could I behold those hands which span the Poles,
And tune all spheares at once, peirc'd with those holes?
In addition to this, my pastor also recommended some poetry in our weekly church email, one with which I enthusiastically agree. Pastor John Piper is well-known for his God-centered preaching, and almost as well-known for his books about living a God-centered life. He's certainly a pastor first, but I've thoroughly enjoyed reading some of his narrative poetry - poems based on events from biblical history that take an imaginative look at the details the Bible doesn't specify. I think he remains true to the Bible's message in these, draws us into the real stories of real people contained in the Bible, and does so with beautiful story-telling in poetic form. A couple favorites that focus on Jesus' journey to the cross, his trial and his death are The Inkeeper, Pilate's Wife, and Joseph of Arimathea. I think each of these poems have brought me to tears at the first reading (and probably every subsequent reading). You can browse a catelogue of Pastor Piper's poems, some with audio recordings, here.
Are there any poem's that have caused you to see God more clearly, if even through tears? What poems have stirred deep emotions for you? Post a comment below.
