Words with Wonder

Meditating through a really good poem

Most of my spiritual direction sessions begin with a poem.

Sometimes there are other words of prayer. Sometimes there is a piece of visual art. I would love to be able to use music but as all of my directees meet with me on Zoom, the technology prevents it. It just doesn't work but there is something about a poem that always catches us where we are and helps us to hear something within ourselves that we dared not notice.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

It doesn’t happen with every poem. It has to be the right poem and I don’t always succeed in finding those words that most need to be heard. My directees are quick to tell me this after a time of silent contemplation. They will tell me what they didn’t like. They didn’t need to hear that except that that thing often leads to what they really did need to hear from God.

Upon peeking at my Christmas Gift, my friend

Emma

asked if I ever used poetry to meditate and it occurred to me that sometimes we need to be encouraged to encounter words with wonder. We don’t need to be told how to understand what it means or what the poet intended. We need to make space for beholding what is there for us and make sense of this gift in our own hearts.

It’s a question of how we listen with our whole hearts and a practice I’m offering through a rare video which doesn’t specify any particular poem. You get to choose the poem. It can be an old favorite or one that just popped up in your email. I recommend subscribing to Gifts in Open Hands for just this kind of blessing.

There are lots of other places to find good poetry. Art & Theology has a wonderful archive as does Journey with Jesus but you could choose this same practice with a passage from the Bible like something from the Psalms. If you want more poetry in your email, the American Academy of Poets will also send you a poem-a-day for your meditation as will the Poetry Foundation.

Do you have a favorite poem that you return to again and again? Would you share it with us in the comments so that we might relish those words with you?

If you are looking for still more poems for praying, you might find a collection I offered here last year for National Poetry Month in the United States of America. You’ll also find a smaller collection of poems on my Holy Threads blog including the poem that I’m using with my directees right.

I also found a lot of inspiration and affirmation in this wonderful podcast featuring Marilyn McEntyre who wrote Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies which is what is highlighted in the podcast. It’s a great listen for those looking to meditate with poetry.