Poets & Saints

Habakkuk 3:17–18 (NIV)

Though the fig tree does not bud

and there are no grapes on the vines,

though the olive crop fails

and the fields produce no food,

though there are no sheep in the pen

and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Love could not bear that.

St. Silouan, from St. Silouan the Athonite

by Archimandrite Sophrony

"A certain hermit said with evident satisfaction,

'God will punish all atheists.

They will burn in everlasting fire.'

Silouan was clearly upset.

He said,

'Tell me — supposing you went to paradise,

and there you looked down

and saw someone burning in hell-fire —

would you feel happy?'

'It can't be helped,' said the hermit.

'It would be their own fault.'

Silouan answered with a sorrowful countenance:

'Love could not bear that.

We must pray for all.'"

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 John 4:18 (NIV)

There is no fear in love.

But perfect love drives out fear,

because fear has to do with punishment.

The one who fears

is not made perfect in love.

I am drawn by love, not driven by fear.

Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ

"If you are frightened into God,

it is never the true God that you meet.

If you are loved into God,

you meet a God worthy of both Jesus and Christ.

How you get there

is where you arrive."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Corinthians 15:55 (NIV)

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

Christ descends to where I am and brings me up.

John Chrysostom, from Paschal Homily

"Let those who have fasted

and those who have not fasted

rejoice today.

The table is fully laden; feast sumptuously.

Let no one grieve poverty,

for the universal Kingdom has been revealed.

Let no one fear death,

for the Savior's death has set us free.

Hell took a body, and discovered God.

It took earth, and encountered Heaven.

It took what it saw,

and was overcome by what it did not see.

Christ is Risen, and the demons are fallen.

Christ is Risen, and life is freed.

Christ is Risen,

and the tomb is emptied of its dead."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Corinthians 15:51 (NIV)

Listen, I tell you a mystery:

We will not all sleep,

but we will all be changed.

I have a place in the family of things.

Mary Oliver, from Wild Geese

"Meanwhile the world goes on...

meanwhile the wild geese,

high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese,

harsh and exciting —

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

John 12:36 (NIV)

"Believe in the light

while you have the light,

so that you may become children of light."

Christ is the light in whom I live and move.

Athanasius

"God in Christ became the bearer of flesh for a time,

so that humanity could become

the bearer of Spirit forever."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Matthew 22:10 (NIV)

So the servants went out into the streets

and gathered all the people they could find,

the bad as well as the good,

and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

There is room for everyone at this table.

Maximus the Confessor

"God made all beings to this end,

to enjoy the same union of humanity and divinity

that was united in Christ."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Romans 4:17 (NIV)

As it is written:

"I have made you a father of many nations."

He is our father in the sight of God,

in whom he believed —

the God who gives life to the dead

and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

I am always becoming, never ending.

Walt Whitman, from Song of Myself

"All goes onward and outward...

and nothing collapses,

and to die is different from what any one supposed,

and luckier."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Corinthians 15:13 (NIV)

If there is no resurrection of the dead,

then not even Christ has been raised.

Nothing truly good can die.

Richard Rohr, from The Universal Christ

"'Resurrection' is another word for change,

but particularly positive change —

which we tend to see only in the long run.

In the short run,

it often just looks like death."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Colossians 3:4 (NIV)

When Christ, who is your life, appears,

then you also will appear with him in glory.

I am connected, and that is enough.

Henri Nouwen, from Moving from Solitude to Community to Ministry

"Community is not loneliness grabbing onto loneliness:

'I'm so lonely, and you're so lonely.'

It's solitude grabbing onto solitude:

'I am the beloved; you are the beloved;

together we can build a home.'"

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Corinthians 15:28 (NIV)

When he has done this,

then the Son himself will be made subject

to him who put everything under him,

so that God may be all in all.

I am caught up in something larger than myself.

Thomas Merton, from No Man Is an Island

"We do not exist for ourselves alone,

and it is only when we are fully convinced of this fact

that we begin to love ourselves properly

and thus also love others.

What do I mean by loving ourselves properly?

I mean, first of all, desiring to live,

accepting life as a very great gift and a great good,

not because of what it gives us,

but because of what it enables us to give to others."

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.