This might sound funny, but after becoming a Christian, one of the little things I appreciated was having someone to thank. I remember getting a chili dog at 7-11 one night, biting into it, and so enjoying the cheap, convenience store vibe of the dish that I spontaneously said, “Thank you, Lord!” As I saidContinueContinue reading “Thankless”
Category Archives: Spiritual / religious poetry
Psalm 1
Back in April, I mentioned I was working on a series of poems inspired by Mozart’s Requiem. My plan was not merely to rehash the Requiem’s text in a modern style but to interact with the text poetically. I hoped to write poems that reimagined the text through my personal lens while (hopefully) honoring theContinueContinue reading “Psalm 1”
Sparrows
My daughter Kate is a senior at Wilson Hill Academy, an online school she’s attended since ninth grade. Once a year, Wilson Hill students and families attend an in-person event called LINK where they have field day competitions, awards ceremonies, and graduation. This week, we’ll be traveling to Colorado to attend LINK and my daughter’sContinueContinue reading “Sparrows”
A Clergyman Is as Useless as a Cat
At the end of 2022, a friend asked if I would like to read a book with him: Orthodoxy by GK Chesterton. I had read it about 20 years ago and loved it so I readily agreed. Orthodoxy chronicles Chesterton’s return to the Catholic Church after wandering the wastes of intellectual modernism. Chesterton is aContinueContinue reading “A Clergyman Is as Useless as a Cat”
Requiem
Mozart’s Requiem is a deeply profound piece of music written for orchestra, choir, and vocal soloists. I have loved it since high school. A requiem is a Catholic funeral mass with different sections that help worshipers meditate on realities of the Christian faith related to death. Themes include eternal rest, God’s wrath, final judgment, andContinueContinue reading “Requiem”
New Song
On Easter, Christians often greet each other with the exchange, “He is risen!” “He is risen, indeed!” This expresses our belief that Christ’s resurrection is a fact—a fact assuring us death is not the end of our story, individually or as a community. “New Song” is a poem in my third book, Shadow and Memory,ContinueContinue reading “New Song”
Artless
Today marks the beginning of Passion Week, the time when Christians remember the days leading up to the death of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection after three days. “Passion” comes from a Greek word conveying the idea that one’s senses are pushed to their max—and even past. “Passion” can express any extreme experience—pleasureContinueContinue reading “Artless”
The State of Mercury Now Available!
Last week, I said my first chapbook would be out in a week or so. I’m happy to announce that The State of Mercury is now available on Amazon! This chapbook has a nice sampling of poems from both my books and explores the many moods or states of mind people move through. In addition,ContinueContinue reading “The State of Mercury Now Available!”
Down from Heaven
One of the central beliefs of Christianity is that people couldn’t reach high enough (so to speak) to touch God so God became human in the person of Jesus. Christmas is a time when we especially remember God becoming human in Jesus as the focus is Jesus’s birth. Below is a sonnet I wrote aContinueContinue reading “Down from Heaven”
Christmas Tree
Tonight, we decorated our Christmas tree as a family. Carols played from another room as we talked, laughed, and enjoyed adorning branches. But Christmas trees remind me of another tree, and the deeper meaning of Christmas: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that, having died to sins, we mightContinueContinue reading “Christmas Tree”
A Wandering Minstrel 