I thought I’d put a short poem up that I found on Daylight Savings Time ending both because I thought it was rather clever and as a reminder to folks to set clocks back an hour…but then didn’t get it posted in time to make the daily email for subscribers! Well, most folks are reminded by their phones these days, and forgetting has fewer penalties in the fall anyway, as you only end up arriving places an hour early. I hope you enjoyed the day and the extra hour of sleep! Daylight Savings Time In spring when maple buds are red, We turn the clock an hour ahead; Which means, each April that arrives, We lose an hour out of...
Out of the Depths I Cry to Thee
posted by DJL
Tomorrow is Reformation Sunday and many who read this blog may find themselves singing one or more of the hymns composed by Martin Luther. If you do, that will most likely be “A Mighty Fortress,” sometimes called the “anthem of the Reformation” or the Protestant “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” I don’t know if you’ll sing the hymn I put below as this week’s poem, but it is one of my favorites for the way it vividly portrays God as the one eager to come to our help. The picture of God in this hymn is not that of an angry king who needs a blood sacrifice to appease his wrath – one of the more common portraits of God...
Dear Reader
posted by DJL
I am regularly amazed at how unrelentingly and completely relational identity is. I noticed this when my children were old enough to start figuring out who was who in our family. They would say things like, “So Aunt Nancy is Mommy’s sister and Uncle Jim is Daddy’s brother. Grammy is...
On Aging
posted by DJL
In his poem “On Aging,” the 13th century Sufi mystic Rumi asks a question that we have all asked at one time or another. Why do we grow old? For that matter, why does everything grow old? His answer is strikingly similar to that of The Teacher, better known as the author of Ecclesiastes,...
Prayer of St. Franci...
posted by DJL
Yesterday, October 4, was the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi. Francis, who was born to wealth but turned his back on a life of luxury in order to serve the poor, lived from around 1181 until 1226. He started the Rule of Francis, later to be called the Order of the Franciscans, which was...
Sidewalk Poetry 2
posted by DJL
While out for a walk this past week in the Highland neighborhood of St. Paul, I came across some more sidewalk poetry. Last summer, after I posted a few of the sidewalk poems in my neighborhood of St. Anthony Park, Holly shared some background about this poetry that I thought I’d share: I...