Selected by Dan Clendenin St. Caedmon (fl. 658–680) Caedmon’s Hymn Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven’s kingdom, the might of the Creator, and his thought, the work of the Father of glory, how each of wonders the Eternal Lord established in the beginning. He first created for the sons of men Heaven as…

Selected by Michael Fitzpatrick Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī Tonight is the night Tonight is the night It’s the creation of that land of eternity It’s not an ordinary night, it’s a wedding of those who seek God. Tonight, the bride and groom speak in one tongue. Tonight, the bridal chamber is looking particularly well…

By Debie Thomas From Our Archives Dan Clendenin, Les Exclus (2004), Don’t Worry About Your Life (2010), Imitating Abraham (2013). Our lectionary essay this week is by Debie Thomas, and was originally posted in 2019. Debie was a staff writer for JWJ from January 2015 until April 2022. I was…

Selected by Dan Clendenin Emily Dickinson (1830–1886) #333 “The Grass So Little Has To Do” The Grass so little has to do – A Sphere of simple Green – With only Butterflies to brood And Bees to entertain – And stir all day to pretty Tunes The Breezes fetch along – And…

By Dan Clendenin From Our Archives Dan Clendenin, Christ is in All (2010) Debie Thomas, Rich Toward God (2019) In the summer of 2016 my wife and I backpacked the “Way of St. Francis” from Florence to Assisi to Rome. The walk was many good things wrapped into one —…

Selected by Dan Clendenin Thomas à Kempis (1380–1471) Prayer Grant me, O Lord, to know what I ought to know, To love what I ought to love, To praise what delights thee most, To value what is precious in thy sight, To hate what is offensive to thee. Do not suffer me to judge according…

Selected by Dan Clendenin Lawrence Ferlinghetti Sometime During Eternity… Sometime during eternity some guys show up and one of them who shows up real late is a kind of carpenter from some square-type place like Galilee and he starts wailing and claiming he is hip to who made heaven and…

By Dan Clendenin From Our Archives Nora Gallagher, The Scandal of the Particular (2007); Joan Bigwood, Lord, Teach Us to Pray (2013); Debie Thomas, When You Pray (2019). Over the 4th of July holiday our family rented a big house for the long weekend. With seven adults, three grandchildren, and…