To My Children
by Sheila Petre
Little Miss Barefoot, running in December,
House warm, heart warm, if you only knew
How the very God of Love is brooding over you.
Free, you race in His embrace, Continue reading . . . “Sheila Petre: To My Children”
Paul Nisly: Flannery O’Connor’s Fierce Christian Faith
Flannery O’Connor’s Fierce Christian Faith
by Paul Nisly
Paul Nisly examines several of Flannery O’Connor’s short stories and letters to explore aspects of her understanding of the Christian faith. Continue reading . . . “Paul Nisly: Flannery O’Connor’s Fierce Christian Faith”
Carita Keim: Listening to the “Roar Which Lies on the Other Side of Silence”
Listening to the “Roar Which Lies on the Other Side of Silence”
by Carita Keim
Narration, Subjectivity, and Selfhood in Villette and Middlemarch. Examining the works of two female authors of the 19th century, Carita discusses Continue reading . . . “Carita Keim: Listening to the “Roar Which Lies on the Other Side of Silence””
Quest
Marlene Brubacher
They find their King—and here they too are found;
The One they sought has hung their guiding star. Continue reading . . . “Marlene Brubacher: Quest”
Canaan
By Richard Stoltzfoos
Unknown, I walk along the brown dirt way
To a near-vacant town of well-known name.
Most folks who find this town will never stay,
For its inhabitants are hard to tame.
Marlene Brubacher: Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Marlene Brubacher
We thought we knew You, Elohim—
burnt sacrifice;
the law supreme;
the temple, veiled; Continue reading . . . “Marlene Brubacher: Christmas Eve”
Bethlehem Dawn
by Rebecca Weber
For centuries you look upon this town—
O distant moon—where generations keep
The covenant of Abraham; men weep
For sins that bulls’ and goats’ blood cannot drown. Continue reading . . . “Rebecca Weber: Bethlehem Dawn”
Marlene Brubacher: Tidings of Great Joy
Tidings of Great Joy
Marlene Brubacher
Not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us,
for we have sinned, we and our fathers before us.
No grace is ours, for Continue reading . . . “Marlene Brubacher: Tidings of Great Joy”
Rebecca Weber: Love Reawakened
Love Reawakened
by Rebecca Weber
You cannot move my heart again, I said:
Those days are past, when guidance from Your tongue
Awakened—as a love song slowly sung—
A rich devotion in my heart and head. Continue reading . . . “Rebecca Weber: Love Reawakened”
Alana K. Asby: Laughter and the Green Knight
Laughter and the Green Knight
A Review of the Gawain Poem, Part II
In a previous installment of this essay on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, I described my journey of acquaintance with this medieval poem, and my growing appreciation for it as not only a story about Christmas, but a story-poem for Christmas, to be enjoyed at Christmastime. Continue reading . . . “Alana K. Asby: Laughter and the Green Knight”
Alana K. Asby: Tolkien and the Green Knight
Tolkien and the Green Knight
A Review of the Gawain Poem, Part I
I first encountered Gawain and the Green Knight during Bible college. I remember scrounging time between Wednesday evening choir practice and prayer service to read through it as fast as I could, Continue reading . . . “Alana K. Asby: Tolkien and the Green Knight”
Sherri Steiner: On a Winter Dawn
On a Winter Dawn
By Sherri Steiner
A lone pigeon perched on the peak of the world
Watching the new day dawn.
For the former days had been gray and gloom
And he cooed all the golden on. Continue reading . . . “Sherri Steiner: On a Winter Dawn”
Michelle King: After the Poetry Reading
After the Poetry Reading
by Michelle King
I.
We wove through the pines and our patches of pavement,
Till we found each other and 2 PM,
Arms loaded with ripened letters.
Then drops of grey slid down our shoulders. We clambered into the house. Continue reading . . . “Michelle King: After the Poetry Reading”
echo and song
by Renea McKenzie
winter’s border wind
lilts through smoke-
weathered
attics, across façades Continue reading . . . “Renea McKenzie: echo and song”
Interlude
by Lori Hershberger
And all that has passed before us: this day, this rain,
The sunshine and the green, green meadow,
Each flashing smile, each look of light
Is swallowed in this night of between; Continue reading . . . “Lori Hershberger: Interlude”
For Julia
by Sheila Petre
Poets have been silent
On the salty theme of cheese.
They prefer to bend the rhymes
Of mysteries such as these: Continue reading . . . “Sheila Petre: For Julia”
Pentecost
by Richard Stoltzfoos
What if – when Christ ascended through the clouded sky
His frame was sown as particles of dust – Continue reading . . . “Richard Stoltzfoos: Pentecost”
The Tree
by Michelle King
Upon a summer fleece of woodland’s best,
I lay beneath a spiderweb,
Myriads of atoms all tumbling one on top of another
Reaching for the blue dawn’s spectrum and a midnight moon. Continue reading . . . “Michelle King: The Tree”
Lynn Michael Martin: The Anabaptist Garden
The Anabaptist Garden: Jacques as a Core Sample of Candide
by Lynn Michael Martin
One surprising part of Voltaire’s Candide is its treatment of Jacques the Anabaptist. Jacques appears and takes a part of the stage just beyond the limelight Continue reading . . . “Lynn Michael Martin: The Anabaptist Garden”