Poets & Saints

John 1:50–51 (NIV)

Jesus said,

"You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree.

You will see greater things than that."

He then added,

"Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open,

and the angels of God ascending and descending

on the Son of Man."

God is nearer to me than my own soul.

Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love

"God is nearer to us than our own soul,

for he is ground in whom our soul stands,

and he is the means that keeps

the substance and the sensuality together

so that it shall never depart.

For our soul sits in God, in true rest,

and our soul stands in God in sure strength,

and our soul is naturally rooted in God,

in endless love."

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John 1:47–49 (NIV)

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,

"Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit."

"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered,

"I saw you while you were still under the fig tree

before Philip called you."

Then Nathanael declared,

"Rabbi, you are the Son of God;

you are the king of Israel."

I was seen before I was found.

Rabbi Johanan bar Nappaha of Tiberius

"Why were matters of Torah compared to a fig tree?

Just as this fig tree,

whenever a person searches it for figs to eat,

he finds figs in it,

as the figs on the tree do not ripen all at once,

so too, with matters of Torah.

Whenever a person meditates on them,

he finds in them new meaning."

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1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (NRSVUE)

Rejoice always,

pray without ceasing,

give thanks in all circumstances;

for this is the will of God

in Christ Jesus for you.

Prayer is keeping company with God.

Mother Teresa

"Prayer is not asking.

Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God,

at His disposition,

and listening to His voice

in the depth of our hearts."

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Isaiah 30:15 (NRSVUE)

For thus said the Lord God,

the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;

in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.

Brian Zahnd, Blessed Are the Patient

A woman in the kitchen baking bread

A farmer in the field sowing seed

Both know they must trust to

Tiny miracles of fermentation and germination

Jesus says—

This is how the kingdom of heaven comes

Quiet and slow, almost unobserved

Nothing like tramping armies on the march

Or the inane noise of political campaigns

Violence is swift and lies are loud

So the kingdom of heaven is slow and quiet

Blessed are the patient

For theirs is the way of heaven

Blessed are the patient

For they'll be proved wise

Blessed are the patient

For time is on their side

Instead of fighting, striving, conniving

They can wait for the bread to rise

They can wait for the wheat to ripen

Causes, crusades, and campaigns cannot wait

And for this reason they cannot be wise

"Fools rush in where angels fear to tread"

Those in a hurry to change the world

Just make the world more of what it is—

Loud and proud and bound

To the powers that be

So Jesus alludes to something other

A woman in her kitchen sipping tea

A farmer on the porch with his pipe

She's waiting for the bread to rise

He's waiting for the rains to come

And Jesus whispers—

This is the way to be

Blessed are the patient

For they do it right

Blessed are the patient

For they keep their peace

Blessed are the patient

For they change the world

(Without even knowing it)

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Mark 2:15 (NRSVUE)

And as he sat at dinner in Levi's house,

many tax collectors and sinners

were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples,

for there were many who followed him.

There is a place at the table, and it is mine.

Henri Nouwen, from Behold the Beauty of the Lord: Praying with Icons

"To live in the world without belonging to the world

summarizes the essence of the spiritual life.

The spiritual life keeps us aware

that our true house is not the house of fear,

in which the powers of hatred and violence rule,

but the house of love, where God resides."

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Hebrews 13:2 (NRSVUE)

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers,

for by doing that

some have entertained angels without knowing it.

I welcome everything that comes to me today.

The Welcoming Prayer

Mary Mrozowski

"Welcome, welcome, welcome.

I welcome everything that comes to me today

because I know it's for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings, emotions,

persons, situations, and conditions.

I let go of my desire for power and control.

I let go of my desire for affection, esteem, approval, and pleasure.

I let go of my desire for survival and security.

I let go of my desire to change any situation,

condition, person, or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God

and God's action within. Amen."

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Genesis 18:1 (NRSVUE)

The Lord appeared to Abraham

by the oaks of Mamre,

as he sat at the entrance of his tent

in the heat of the day.

The present of our life looks different under trees.

Wendell Berry, from A Timbered Choir

"I go among trees and sit still.

All my stirring becomes quiet

around me like circles on water.

My tasks lie in their places

where I left them, asleep like cattle."

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Hebrews 11:8 (NRSVUE)

By faith Abraham obeyed

when he was called to set out

for a place that he was to receive as an inheritance,

and he set out, not knowing where he was going.

I set out without knowing. Faith is what I carry.

Søren Kierkegaard, from Fear and Trembling

trans. L.M. Hollander

"Through the urging of his faith

Abraham left the land of his forefathers

and became a stranger in the land of promise.

He left one thing behind and took one thing along:

he left his worldly wisdom behind

and took with him faith."

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Luke 24:30–32 (NIV)

When he was at the table with them,

he took bread, gave thanks, broke it

and began to give it to them.

Then their eyes were opened

and they recognized him,

and he disappeared from their sight.

They asked each other,

"Were not our hearts burning within us

while he talked with us on the road

and opened the Scriptures to us?"

My heart burns as I walk with him.

Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences

"If we will stay on the journey,

press on along the pilgrim path,

stay on the road with Jesus,

we will come to understand

the mysteries of Christ

in deeper and truer ways,

and like Cleopas and Mary,

our hearts will burn within us."

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2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV)

For we live by faith,

not by sight.

I make the path by walking it.

Antonio Machado, trans. Betty Jean Craige

"Wayfarer, only your footprints

are the path, and nothing more;

wayfarer, there is no path,

you make the path as you walk.

As you walk you make the path,

and as you turn to glance behind

you see the trail that you never

shall return to tread again.

Wayfarer, there is no path,

only wake trails on the sea."

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