Tag Archive for: Poetry

Lent Day 33. The Shadow of the Cross.

Today on day 33 of Lent, Zoanna Pearson gives some history of the African country of Liberia and the aftermath of its Civil War in the 1980s & 90s.

Lent Day 24. After Weeks of Snow, Ice, and Rain.

Inspired by Numbers 6:24-26, Sherry Roscoe offers this poem, “After Weeks of Snow, Rain. & Ice.” This is Day 24 of Lent.

Lent Day 21. Truth.

Lent Day 21. Take an imaginary walk with Selah Companion Debbie Tripp, through her poem “Truth.” And we offer an Irish Blessing in honor of the day.–D.B. editor

Lent Day 20. Divine Embrace.

Beth Griffith was inspired to write today’s poem from a photo she took in the Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. May you be inspired as well on this 20th day of Lent.

Lent Day 15. With Interest.

Friday, Lent Day 15. Today pause and savor this poem by John Kiemele, entitled “With Interest.” John is on staff at the Rolling Ridge Retreat Center in North Andover, Massachusetts. Here & Now is broadcasting coast to coast with this post.

Lent Day 14. A Moment in Time.

Lent Day 14. Today, walk around Green Lake with Selah Companion Kathleen Heppell in “A Moment in Time.”

Lent Day 13. Greyness.

Today receive a gift of poetry from the Selah Community’s Christopher A. Ball, “Greyness” for day 13 of Lent.

Lent Day 12. Five Friends.

Lent Day 12. Correction: Today we are blessed with an imaginative reflection about four friends lowering the paralyzed man to be healed by Jesus by Zoanna Pearson’s son, “Five Friends.” –D.B., editor

Lent Day 9. Love Embodied..

Lent Day 9. We greet Friday with one of our own, Beth Griffith’s photo essays and poems,”Love Embodied.” Savor her post over your coffee. So a little journaling perhaps. Enjoy!

Fleeting Injurious Gratitude

CHRISTOPHER A. BALL
Selah Community

fleeting injurious gratitude
when the throbbing surge of cracking bones 
or torn tendons
inhibits your way in the world
from what you can see
or where you can be 
not only does our day slow down
but our awareness of joy
in little ordinary parts of our day
can be held in remembrance 
and with appreciation
until we heal up
and then we move on 
forgetting the gifts
and expecting our wants
with endless disappointment
and constant angst


Don’t Miss These (Free) Events

Listening into Lent 

A Quiet Day of Preparation for the Season


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2023, 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM ON ZOOM FREE

Lent means “Spring” and, at the same time, was intended to draw our attention to forty days in the desert. Leaning into these contrasting images, may Lent be a season for (re)awakening for us. Whether it is found in anticipation of the budding life of spring or exposure to the wide open and barren spaces of the desert, let us intentionally approach this season with a quiet space and prayerful hearts in anticipation of new awakenings.

Let us take this day to sit before the Holy One in quietness and rest. Whether in centering prayer or journaling or any combination of spiritual practices, the time spent with God is intended to center our hearts for the season.

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Here & Now Lent Series 2023

February 22 – April 9 

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Join us as we take a contemplative journey through Lent and Easter through a special edition of the Here & Now blog. Receive a daily blog post beginning February 22, Ash Wednesday through Easter, April 9. Members of the Selah Community write the Here & Now blog in an invitation to PAUSE, ENCOUNTER the Spirit through contemplative practices, and GROW TOGETHER toward wholeness and loving others. 

From the writers of the Here & Now blog.

Sign up to receive this special edition of the Here & Now blog.


Advent Day 26

Parousia

By Christopher Ball
part of the Selah Community

parousia
to wait
with patience
in hope
by faith
in the return
of the One
who is
and was
and is to come

is to look beyond
our toil
and pain
throbbing with anticipatory,
nervous restlessness
aching emptiness
and frigid darkness
vibrating with primordial Spirit
the essence of our very being
woven together tenderly
with delight

Advent Day 20

Annunciation

By Wendy Bryant
from the Selah Community

A breath, an opening, constant movement

lungs open, close, pause

another breath, another opening… and another, pause

astounding ministry is offered again and again

when will i consent? to bring to birth

God’s Spirit…suspended…waiting…for my “yes!”

The Annunciation is a painting widely attributed to the Italian Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, dated to c. 1472–1476. Leonardo’s earliest extant major work was completed in Florence while he was an apprentice in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio. The painting was made in oil and tempera on a large poplar panel and depicts the Annunciation, a popular biblical subject in 15th-century Florence. Since 1867 it has been housed in the Uffizi in Florence, the city where it was created. Though the work has been criticized for inaccuracies in its composition, it is among the best-known portrayals of the Annunciation in Christian art. Source: Wikipedia

Editor’s Note: Annunciation, also called Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary or Annunciation of the Lord, is the angel Gabriel’s announcement that she would conceive a son by the power of the Holy Spirit to be called Jesus (Luke 1:26–38). Debora Buerk, editor