Scripture

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NRSVUE)

For now we see in a mirror, dimly,

but then we will see face to face.

Now I know only in part;

then I will know fully,

even as I have been fully known.

Refrain

The truth dazzles gradually, so that I may see.

Quote

Emily Dickinson, "Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant"

"Tell all the truth but tell it slant—

Success in Circuit lies

Too bright for our infirm Delight

The Truth's superb surprise

As Lightning to the Children eased

With explanation kind

The Truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind—"

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Scripture

1 John 4:7–8 (NRSVUE)

Beloved, let us love one another,

because love is from God;

everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Whoever does not love does not know God,

for God is love.

Refrain

Love is my refusal of cynicism.

Quote

WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“and you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine.”

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Scripture

Genesis 1:3 (NRSVUE)

Then God said, "Let there be light";

and there was light.

Refrain

I was called out of the darkness.

Quote

David Bentley Hart, from You Are Gods

"From eternity, God has brought forth spiritual creatures into existence in the only way that such creatures could be formed: by calling them to ascend out of the darkness of nonbeing into the infinite beauty of the divine nature. To exist as a spiritual creature is simply to have heard and, from the first instant, responded to this total vocation. Creation is already deification—is, in fact, theogony. For that eternal act—that summoning of all created natures out of the primordial darkness—is most certainly an entirely free and unmerited gift of being, imparted to those who were not and who in themselves had no claim to be; but it is also, and no less originally, the call that awakens the gods."

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Scripture

James 1:17 (NRSVUE)

Every generous act of giving,

with every perfect gift,

is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights.

Refrain

It's all a gift.

Quote

Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love

"And in this he showed me a little thing,

the quantity of a hazelnut,

lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed.

And it was as round as a ball.

I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding

and thought, 'What may this be?'

And it was answered generally thus:

'It is all that is made.'

I marveled how it might last,

for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness.

And I was answered in my understanding:

It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it.

And so have all things their beginning

by the love of God."

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Scripture

Genesis 15:5 (NRSVUE)

He brought him outside and said,

"Look toward heaven and count the stars,

if you are able to count them."

Then he said to him,

"So shall your descendants be."

Refrain

Hope returns when I look up.

Quote

J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King

"Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while.

The beauty of it smote his heart,

as he looked up out of the forsaken land,

and hope returned to him.

For like a shaft, clear and cold,

the thought pierced him

that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing:

there was light and high beauty

for ever beyond its reach."

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Scripture

Psalm 19:1 (NRSVUE)

The heavens are telling the glory of God;

and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.

Refrain

The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder.

Quote

Wendell Berry, from The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays

"The Bible is best read and understood outdoors,

and the farther outdoors the better.

Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible,

outdoors seem merely natural.

This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders;

we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary

but the common mode of existence."

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Scripture

Romans 13:13–14 (NRSVUE)

Let us live honorably as in the day,

not in reveling and drunkenness,

not in debauchery and licentiousness,

not in quarreling and jealousy.

Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ,

and make no provision for the flesh

to gratify its desires.

Refrain

I want to spend my life knowing you.

Quote

Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences

"Lord, as much as I can mean anything,

I mean this prayer in this moment:

I want to spend the rest of my life

seeking to know you as you are revealed in Christ. Amen."

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NRSVUE)

Hear, O Israel:

The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.

You shall love the Lord your God

with all your heart

and with all your soul

and with all your might.

Refrain

Even here, the prayers hold.

Quote

Jürgen Moltmann

"When we encounter insoluble problems and despair,

we must remember

that the Shema of Israel

and the Lord's Prayer

were prayed in Auschwitz."

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