Poets & Saints

Romans 12:5 (NRSVUE)  

So we, who are many, are one body in Christ,  

and individually we are members one of another.

I was made to belong.

Jean Vanier  

“Community is a place of belonging,  

a place of vulnerability and trust,  

a place where each person’s gift  

can be revealed and shared.  

It is not a dreamland—  

but a school of love.  

To live in community is to say to one another:  

‘You are not alone.  

We are in this together.’”

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John 20:27 (NRSVUE)  

Then he said to Thomas,  

“Put your finger here and see my hands.  

Reach out your hand and put it in my side.  

Do not doubt but believe.”

Even in my wounds, I am becoming whole.

Wendell Berry  

“Even in the dark,  

the hand may be held,  

the wound may be tended.  

To walk wounded  

is not to walk without grace.  

It is to know  

the deeper healing that comes  

not in spite of pain,  

but through it.”

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Matthew 11:29 (NRSVUE)  

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me,  

for I am gentle and humble in heart,  

and you will find rest for your souls.

I open my heart to gentleness.

Macrina Wiederkehr  

“I will believe the truth about myself  

no matter how beautiful it is.  

I will believe that gentleness is not a luxury—  

it is a way of being holy.  

The soft heart,  

the quiet word,  

the listening soul—  

these are sacred things  

in a hardened world.” 

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Colossians 3:3 (NRSVUE)  

For you have died,  

and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

I am held in the mystery of who I truly am.

Henri Nouwen  

“Spiritual identity means we are not what we do,  

not what we have,  

not what others say about us.  

We are the beloved daughters and sons of God.  

That is the voice we need to hear most.  

That is the truth that sets us free.”

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Micah 6:8 (NRSVUE)  

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;  

and what does the Lord require of you  

but to do justice, and to love kindness,  

and to walk humbly with your God?

God leads me in simplicity and peace.

Simone Weil  

“Simplicity is the sign of the divine.  

It is not the absence of depth,  

but the presence of clarity.  

The soul is purified not by addition,  

but by subtraction.  

God does not shout—  

He whispers in what remains.”

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Psalm 42:1 (NRSVUE)  

As a deer longs for flowing streams,  

so my soul longs for you, O God.

My longing is a prayer.

Kahlil Gibran  

“It is the desire in your heart that is your guide.  

And though you may not always find what you seek,  

your longing will lead you.  

Trust the ache within—  

it is the echo of God  

calling you home.”  

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Matthew 6:11 (NRSVUE)  

Give us this day our daily bread.

In bread and breath, God is near.

Barbara Brown Taylor  

“The practice of wearing skin,  

of touching and tasting and smelling your way toward the Holy—  

this is the invitation.  

Earth is so thick with divine possibility  

that it is a wonder we can walk anywhere  

without cracking our shins on altars.”

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Zechariah 4:10 (NLT)  

Do not despise these small beginnings,  

for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...

God is in the small and the slow.

Mary Oliver  

“Instructions for living a life:  

Pay attention.  

Be astonished.  

Tell about it.  

To see a world in a blade of grass,  

a grace note in the call of a bird—  

this is wisdom.  

This is enough.”  

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Exodus 3:5 (NRSVUE)  

Then he said,  

“Come no closer!  

Remove the sandals from your feet,  

for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

This moment is holy ground.

Brother Lawrence  

“We should establish ourselves in a sense of God’s presence  

by continually conversing with Him.  

It is not necessary to have great things to do.  

I turn the little omelet in the pan for the love of God.  

When I cannot do more,  

I thank Him.  

He is there in the midst of it all.”

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Philippians 4:11 (NRSVUE)  

Not that I am referring to being in need,  

for I have learned to be content  

with whatever I have.

This moment is enough. God is enough.

Mary Oliver  

“I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.  

I want to walk slowly through the fields,  

feeling the ground under my feet,  

listening to the small voice that says:  

this is it—  

this is life—  

let it be enough.”

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