by Nick Brescia / Nick Brescia first heard this creed at his son’s Catholic baptism and Jewish naming ceremony. Twenty years into an interfaith marriage, he has found its words describing a life he was already living. Prayer of Belief – A Liturgical Creed by John Shea We believe that where people are gathered together in…
Read MoreTattooed on the Heart
by Bill Lynch / Some scripture does not ask to be read. It asks to be lived. Bill Lynch on the three imperatives of Micah 6:8 — and on how much harder one of them has been than the others. Micah 6:9 O people, the Lord has told you what is good,and this is what he…
Read MoreLive in the Layers
by Kathy Schmittgens / Facing a decision that pros and cons could not settle, Kathy Schmittgens was sent to poetry instead. The book she found in the library seemed placed there for her. The Layers by Stanley Kunitz I have walked through many lives,some of them my own,and I am not who I was,though some principle…
Read MoreGrow Old Along with Me
by Mary Jo Hazard / Some poems are given to us before we are ready for them. Mary Jo Hazard received these lines from Steve on a kitchen trivet many years ago and quietly resisted them. Fifty-five years of marriage later, they found her again. Grow Old Along with Me Grow old along with me!The best…
Read MoreRife with Devastation Ripe with Joy
by Mark Trinka / Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer wants a word that means devastated and stunned with joy at once. Mark Trinka found the poem under the Christmas tree and ended up mounting it floor to ceiling. For When People Ask by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer I want a word that meansokay and not okay,more than that: a…
Read MoreMercy Leaves a Trail
by Vince Keenan / Some songs find us and never leave. Vince Keenan first heard this one thirty-four years ago, driving to a workshop on the hardest morning of a hard season — and it has kept returning to him ever since. Psalm 119 TYour word is a lamp to my feetand a light to my…
Read MoreBeyond the Comfort Zone
by Susan Cisek / A disastrous piano recital at fourteen taught Susan Cisek to stay safe. Twenty-five years later, a psalm heard on a silent retreat by Lake Michigan asked her to reconsider. Psalm 34 Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.I sought the Lord, who answered meand delivered me from all my fears.Look to…
Read MoreThe Label on the Bottle
by John Blumberg / Anthony de Mello reminds us that we never meet a category — only the one standing in front of us. John Blumberg on how quickly a label closes the door it seemed to open. Label Makers by Anthony DeMello Life is like heady wine.Everyone reads the label on the bottle.Hardly anyone tastes…
Read MoreGod Will Find You
by Mary Johnson / The oldest teachers are often the most disarming. A thirteenth-century Dominican offers seven lines that undo a lifetime of effort — and Mary Johnson, who spent a career earning her way, recognizes herself in them. The Rest by Meister Eckhart Don’t try to find God.Simplify your scattered life,and become onein yourself.Then,…
Read MoreI Have Only What I Remember
by Mary Ellen Durbin / A button, a needle, and a fading photograph. W.S. Merwin looks at a picture of his mother at twenty and realizes he is meeting a stranger — and Mary Ellen Durbin, hearing the poem on the radio, had to pull the car over. A Likeness by W.S. Merwin Almost to…
Read MoreWhat You Missed That Day
by Sheila McCann / This week’s poem arrives with a wink and then quietly undoes you. Mrs. Nelson teaches the things no school ever taught — and Sheila McCann remembers the people in her own life who taught them. What You Missed That Day You Were Absent from the Fourth Grade by Brad Aaron Modlin…
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