One year ago today, most of us listened with shock and disbelief as we heard the news of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. And then came the grief. I remember vividly that once the news sank in I was nearly overwhelmed with this profound sense of sadness. Having just earlier dropped my kids at school and on my way home after running some errands, I had to pull over until I could calm down enough to drive again. Over and over again, I kept thinking that is was so many children. How could this possibly happen? In the days and weeks to come, similar outpourings of grief and sympathy flooded Newtown from...

I thought I’d mix in some Advent hymns for our poetry this month. Nevertheless, the first poem and hymn that I thought of is a beloved Christmas carol. Perhaps because it’s so darn cold in Minnesota right now, the carol that keeps coming to mind is Christina Rossetti’s “In the Bleak Mid-Winter.” All of Rossetti’s work is so melodic, fluid, and vivid, and makes great reading or singing. It’s such a wonderful song that there are some fantastic covers by pop artists like James Taylor and Dan Fogelberg that have helped to make it popular well beyond the church. But my favorite version is probably by Shawn Colvin. There is something...

e. e. cummings’ unconvential use of grammar, syntax, and style forces you to slow down as you read his poetry in order, not just to decipher, but more to savor the meaning he is crafting and offering over to his reader. Born into a Unitarian family, cummings’ poetry is infused with a sense of God – God’s Being, God’s presence in nature, and God’s goodness, a goodness that in turn prompts cummings’ profound and lyrical gratitude. With that in mind, this seemed like a fine poem to tarry over for a few moments as we move toward Thanksgiving, a day we also ought to slow down and savor, offering our own...