Devotional Poetry
The use of poetry as devotion has long been one of the ways people connect with God. The poetry of the Bible expresses the deep yearnings and love, the difficult feelings and pain, the wonder and praise, the worship and thanksgiving of the heart of man to God. Psalms, Isaiah and Song of Songs contain many of these beautiful words of life. Poetry is a wonderful way to connect with the heart of God. Here below are two poems from Catching the Light. The first looks at the Prodigal Son from the perspective of the older brother:
All that I have
I thought the prodigal son had it all,
A Father to reckless run to him
And bundle his stinking body close, heart surges
Pounding the memory of feet on a road.
All forgiveness, a robe, a ring and a huge party
The fattened calf, and tears creasing the cheeks.
I was the older son of back-room shadows
Resentful, slaving so hard for the love
I felt I could never earn.
Until I heard him say to me, My son,
You are always with me and
All that I have is yours.
I was the son of a prodigal heart
A hundred thousand miles away, distant
I might as well not have lived here at all.
All of the trying, the mask of perfection
Every single lie I believed told me I had to be right
And here I fold into the cloak, beat upon the chest
Sink onto my knees, weep under a robe
Made for me so long ago, a ring kept for my hand
A feast prepared, for me to join
And arms around me, breath in my ears joy.
Yes, You are always with me,
All that I have
Is yours.
© Jenneth Graser 2012
This next poem is a conversation between us and God. It is prayer as relationship:
The Quiet of Love
In your heart Father
Is the fragrance
Of a million gardens.
In your company
Is pure rest.
Your feathers are to
Me great comfort
Shielding me from harm.
“How are you?” you ask.
I feel you are altogether
Present to hear me
And I altogether present
To hear you.
I am wrapped up in
Your expression of love;
You take me in with
Your eyes and invite
Me into depths I have
Never known.
“Lavish,” you say
“My love for you is lavish.
And I will lavish you with my love
Spread abroad in the eternity of
Your heart.
Love is my heart beating for
You with the blood of my Son.
I will quiet you with my Love
I will quiet you with my Love.”
© Jenneth Graser 2012
Christian mystics wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry. A dictionary definition of Christian mysticism "is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Christian mysticism centers on the habitual practice of deep prayer." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mystic).
Many Christian mystics used poetry to express their experiences with God, which are often profoundly moving. These poems cause our hearts to respond in like with our own unique prayers and meditations. Here are a few examples of the poems of Christian mystics:
The Dark Night of the Soul
by St John Of the Cross
On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.
This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–
A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
Infinite Love
by Julian of Norwich
Because of the great, infinite love which God has for all humankind,
he makes no distinction in love between the blessed soul of Christ
and the lowliest of the souls that are to be saved . . . .
We should highly rejoice that God dwells in our soul
and still more highly should we rejoice that our soul dwells in God.
Our soul is made to be God’s dwelling place, and the dwelling place of our soul
is God who was never made.
Man
by Meister Eckhart
Man never desires anything so earnestly
as God desires to bring a man to Himself,
that he may know Him.
God alone is enough
by St Teresa of Avila
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.
A website with modern day poetry to assist times of prayer and praise can be found by clicking below:
All that I have
I thought the prodigal son had it all,
A Father to reckless run to him
And bundle his stinking body close, heart surges
Pounding the memory of feet on a road.
All forgiveness, a robe, a ring and a huge party
The fattened calf, and tears creasing the cheeks.
I was the older son of back-room shadows
Resentful, slaving so hard for the love
I felt I could never earn.
Until I heard him say to me, My son,
You are always with me and
All that I have is yours.
I was the son of a prodigal heart
A hundred thousand miles away, distant
I might as well not have lived here at all.
All of the trying, the mask of perfection
Every single lie I believed told me I had to be right
And here I fold into the cloak, beat upon the chest
Sink onto my knees, weep under a robe
Made for me so long ago, a ring kept for my hand
A feast prepared, for me to join
And arms around me, breath in my ears joy.
Yes, You are always with me,
All that I have
Is yours.
© Jenneth Graser 2012
This next poem is a conversation between us and God. It is prayer as relationship:
The Quiet of Love
In your heart Father
Is the fragrance
Of a million gardens.
In your company
Is pure rest.
Your feathers are to
Me great comfort
Shielding me from harm.
“How are you?” you ask.
I feel you are altogether
Present to hear me
And I altogether present
To hear you.
I am wrapped up in
Your expression of love;
You take me in with
Your eyes and invite
Me into depths I have
Never known.
“Lavish,” you say
“My love for you is lavish.
And I will lavish you with my love
Spread abroad in the eternity of
Your heart.
Love is my heart beating for
You with the blood of my Son.
I will quiet you with my Love
I will quiet you with my Love.”
© Jenneth Graser 2012
Christian mystics wrote some of the most beautiful devotional poetry. A dictionary definition of Christian mysticism "is the pursuit of communion with, identity with, or conscious awareness of God through direct experience, intuition, instinct or insight. Christian mysticism centers on the habitual practice of deep prayer." (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_mystic).
Many Christian mystics used poetry to express their experiences with God, which are often profoundly moving. These poems cause our hearts to respond in like with our own unique prayers and meditations. Here are a few examples of the poems of Christian mystics:
The Dark Night of the Soul
by St John Of the Cross
On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide, save that which burned in my
heart.
This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he (well I knew who!) was awaiting me–
A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping, and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand he wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares forgotten among the lilies.
Infinite Love
by Julian of Norwich
Because of the great, infinite love which God has for all humankind,
he makes no distinction in love between the blessed soul of Christ
and the lowliest of the souls that are to be saved . . . .
We should highly rejoice that God dwells in our soul
and still more highly should we rejoice that our soul dwells in God.
Our soul is made to be God’s dwelling place, and the dwelling place of our soul
is God who was never made.
Man
by Meister Eckhart
Man never desires anything so earnestly
as God desires to bring a man to Himself,
that he may know Him.
God alone is enough
by St Teresa of Avila
Let nothing upset you,
let nothing startle you.
All things pass;
God does not change.
Patience wins
all it seeks.
Whoever has God
lacks nothing:
God alone is enough.
A website with modern day poetry to assist times of prayer and praise can be found by clicking below:
