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Arriving after a Long Obedience
Eugene Peterson arrived at his destination yesterday morning. His book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, as well as The Contemplative Pastor, Under the Unpredictable Plant, Answering God, Run with Horses, and Practice Resurrection have all played their part in my life and ministry. There are portions of Peterson’s…
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I Am Not What I Was
This is a roundel based on Jeremiah 18:1-12. In the poem I make use of two Bible illustrations: Jeremiah at the potter’s house and Jesus raising Lazarus. In the same manner that God formed man from the dust, Jesus announces the coming of new creation by raising one given over…
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The Years the Locusts
This a sonnet about the anxiety and resentment. Generally speaking, anxiety is living in future — a reality about which you may have desires, but ultimately have no power to ensure. Resentment, on the other hand, is living in the past where wounds and regrets have occurred, and they gain…
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Where Do You Go?
This sonnet is based on Jeremiah 27:1-15 in which the Lord, through Jeremiah, commands his people to submit themselves to the yoke of his servant, Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. If the Lord can use the king of Babylon to accomplish his purpose for his people, what might happen if…
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It Never Entered My Mind
This sonnet is based on Jeremiah 19:4, 5 in which the Lord through Jeremiah says, 4 Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because…
Backward Mutters 