Biography Poem for C.S. Lewis

In 1898 in Northern Ireland he was born,

He had an older brother, Warren.

Together they made imaginary lands

At their country house with few demands.

Sadly, his mom died when he was just ten,

In those days kids weren’t raised by men.

Off to boarding school he was sent,

Only summers at home were spent.

Reading and study he loved to do;

He became a professor of philosophy and English too.

He did not believe in God for years

Until he turned to him with tears.

He knew the Bible all was true

And began speaking about his faith so new.

On the radio and in books he told

That Jesus was worth far more than gold.

Those childhood stories came back to mind

In two different fantasy series he designed.

The one best known of Narnia tells

Where the lion Aslan sometimes dwells.

C.S. Lewis preferred to be called Jack.

Most of his friends were taken aback

When he married a woman named Joy

Who already had more than one little boy.

When Joy got cancer and died

C.S. Lewis truly cried.

He cared for sons Douglas and Dave

Until he joined her in the grave.

C.S. Lewis died at age sixty-five.

The “C” in his name stands for “Clive.”

His fantasy world begun in a wardrobe,

Now reaches all over the globe.

Think About Such Things (with inspiration from Psalm 119)

   What we dwell on affects our mindset.  When we are dwelling on negative things, it can be hard to turn our thoughts around.  Yet, writing from a prison that lacked any comforts, Saint Paul wrote about things we ought to think about: "Finally, brother, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).   A couple of days ago I read Psalm 119 (yes, that's the longest psalm) in one sitting.  In the original, it is an acrostic that follows 22 letters the Hebrew alphabet. The stanzas have eight lines that start with each letter for a total of 176 lines, which we designate as verses. In the style of Hebrew poetry, the lines do not rhyme, but pairs of lines do echo each other in meaning.  I tried to write two lines for each letter of the Roman alphabet to help me focus my mind on the types of things I ought to dwell on.

Admirable is the way different instruments come together in an orchestra;
Alto, soprano, tenor, bass as a choir lifts voices in song.

Beyond our comprehension are the spiral galaxies
Bursting with the light of countless distant stars.

Character that develops over time as we face hardships
Cannot be fast-tracked.

Determination seen in the child learning to walk or ride a bike--
Dad and Mom want to help, but need to let go.

Evening's glory as the sun sets--shades of red and purple fill the sky
Echoing the beauty of the Maker.

Flowers in a spring garden--tulips, crocuses and daffodils;
Forsythia bushes bring golden life to dull branches lacking leaves.

Grace--undeserved kindness from God above--is a
Gift that we pass on and on.

Heavenly messengers surround us all the time; angels
Hasten to do as God commands them.

Ink on a page that communicates truth
Irrigates our innermost being.

Joy on the faces of those gathered for a wedding
Joining two in life-long union.

"Kindred spirits," the surprising connection between people we
Keep company with.

Loveliness that manifests itself in a smile, sparkle or glint
Lifts us up from everyday cares.

Molecules so tiny, composing what's visible and invisible to human eyes;
Microscopes strong enough to detect what can make us sick.

Noble heroes of the past whose deeds we can emulate
Neighbours who go the extra mile for others.

Order brought by laws, governments and courts
Offering stability to adults, teens, children.

Purity of launderer's soap that mirrors how we're
Purged of our misdeeds by the blood of an innocent man.

Quiet early mornings when anything seems possible;
Questions that stir us to consider what's truly important.

Rain in the spring and summer to nourish the soil,
Resulting in bountiful harvests.

Sunrise to mark a fresh new day
Sabbaths to revive our bodies and souls

Truth heard in the pages of Scripture
Telling us the story of God's compassion for a fallen world.

Uncles, aunts, grandparents who connect
Us to a wider family.

Violet, indigo, azure, green, yellow, tangerine and ruby
Vibrant colours of the rainbow.

Winter, spring, summer, fall
Waxing and waning moons that show progress and the passage of time.

X~the Greek letter, used as a short form for
Χριστός, the hope of all nations.

Yearnings for the way things ought to be
Yield hope for the Kingdom of God that will one day set things right.

Zion, the Heavenly Jerusalem, anticipates a future where
Zealots of falsehood will not dwell.

Two Narratives

   This poem springs from ideas shared in a sermon by Pastor John M. entitled "God is Provider."

Economics is based on scarce resources
Supply and demand are its driving forces.
"There's not enough to go around--
Take what you can while it can be found."
"What you want is more and more;
Fill each cupboard and each drawer."
"Without drive you will miss out
Be prepared, like a good boy scout."
"College is expensive; retirement will await;
Use all your assets to accumulate."

                                                      A different way to see the earth

Begins in the wonder of our birth.

Parents, milk, a bed and care,

Clothes and food enough to share.

Neighbors smile and stop to chat;

The church puts out its welcome mat

With a new vision of life to grant--

A Lord whose ways are extravagant.

Using a boy's lunch to feed a throng

And lavish grace to convert the headstrong.

Etched on a coin: "In God we Trust"

All hoarding is subject to moth and rust 

How "Inscription of Hope" Comes Alive

   As a student I once participated in a non-competitive choir festival with other Christian high schools.  Each school was asked to learn a certain common repertoire so that all the choirs could come together and spend a day with a gifted guest conductor to become a mass choir.  An audience of parents, school supporters and interested others were then treated to an evening performance with 300 or more students singing, in addition to individual choirs singing two additional pieces on their own.
   I had not thought much about that event, over twenty-five years ago, until this year.  That's because last week this 38th annual choir festival came to my son's high school.  A few things have changed.  Two guest conductors shared the duties as the mass choir performed six joint pieces.  The enthusiasm and calibre of the singers, however, has not changed.  One of these pieces especially touched me, "Inscription of Hope," composed by Z. Randall Stroope.  

   The composer asks that the following be read aloud before each performance of this song:

   "The Holocaust is a stunning reminder of the tragic results of prejudice and hate toward other people. But it is also a reminder that hope held firm will eventually reign victorious over the greatest of odds. The following words were inscribed on the walls of a cellar in Cologne, Germany, where Jews were hiding from the Nazis during World War II. Hope was all they had to hold on to; hope was their only bridge to a brighter tomorrow." 

The first stanza the choir sang is as follows: 

I believe in the sun

even when it is not shining

and I believe in love

even when there's no one there

and I believe in God

even when he is silent

I believe through any trial

there is always a way.

Three Images of Hope

   I'd like to revisit my theme for the year, hope, with a couple more posts.  Hope is hard to describe, but the following quotations give us helpful images from everyday life that we can relate to.  When we picture these things, we see more clearly how hope sustains and strengthens us.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), a poet whose volume of writing remained hidden until after her death, said:

"Hope" is the thing with feathers--

That perches in the soul--

And sings the tune without the words--

And never stops--at all--

And sweetest--in the Gale--is heard

And sore must be the storm--

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm--

I've heard it in the chillest land--

And on the strangest Sea--

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb of Me.

Dickinson sees endurance and selflessness embodied in hope.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon gave a sermon on November 13, 1859 concerning suffering that included these significant words:

    "And dost thou no know that Hope itself is like a star--not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity."

The anonymous author of the Biblical letter to the Hebrews gives perhaps the most common image of hope--an anchor--while discoursing on the certainty of God's promise:

   "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure." (Hebrews 6:19a, NIV)

from http://thegraphicsfairy.com/ 

   

Guest Post by Matthias

This piece of writing is in my possession due to providence.  Matthias composed this poem/lyric on a French study sheet in May of 2012, when I noticed it and copied it in a notebook without his knowledge.  The sheet had to be handed it on the day of the test, but somehow it was never returned.  If I had not copied it then, I would not have it today.  For the record, Matthias did give permission for its publication here.

 

As in a surprise, glory will rise

And with faith beyond the shadow of a doubt,

Many will yet cry out.

But even in that hour

His healing power

Come down to shower

To those who cower;

And lie in wait for him,

Admitting their sin.

Through disaster will bring faith

And the knowledge of escape

Will bring to know

That through the one who sows,

There is fire

And light amidst the seemingly all-occurring darkness.

That still small voice that whispers through the grass

Will not let a single soul pass,

Without the chance to receive everlasting rides in the home he has prepared.

And when all is at doubt

Let Him in, who has always been pushed out.

When lives are at stake,

Many will awake

And question the meaning of life.

Seeing the Sacred at Home and School

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.  The whole earth is full of his glory"

Isaiah 6:3

   As a teacher, I spent this day in professional development at a conference for Christian educators in Ontario, Canada organized by the organization edifide (spell-check doesn’t like this name, but I do).  During one of the workshops I attended we were given time to slow down and reflect about the metaphors we use in our teaching.  That is, how do we see the spaces where we are teaching? 

   Our leader introduced us to a song by Michigan folk singer, Carrie Newcomer entitled “Holy As a Day  is Spent.”  You can hear it sung here. In her song, she looks at the everyday things in our homes and sees them as hints of God’s presence in our lives.  In one verse, she writes,

 Holy is the place I stand

To give whatever small good I can

The empty page, the open book

Redemption everywhere I look

Unknowingly we slow our pace

In the shade of unexpected grace

With grateful smiles and sad lament

As holy as a day is spent

The leader challenged us as participants to write our own stanza to this song, using images from the classroom.  When we open our eyes to see in a new way, we can detect holy ground before us.  In just a few moments of reflection, the following lines came together for me:   

This book makes me cry every time I read it for young children.

Holy is the girl struggling to write

And the buzz of the fluorescent light;

The storybook that moves me to tears

And the boy who overcomes his fears;

The delight of learning something new,

Connecting with whatever’s true.

The note that’s to a parent sent

As holy as a day is spent

The Accuser Foiled

I wrote this poem as a way of coping with a trial my family faced when I was a young adult.

On the ancient scroll of Job is written

Of a man whose ways and deeds were upright.

Indeed Job was blameless in the Lord’s sight,

Yet he was by Satan’s evil smitten.

Satan, then, mocks Job’s faith and righteousness,

“Of course he serves you—look how you bless him!”

God gives him leave but limits Satan’s whim.

As death comes near, will Job’s faith survive? Yes!

“Have you not seen my servants once again?

Their love and giving spirit have no bound.”

So too does Satan’s bombardment resound:

Amid grief and stress, faithful they remain.

The accuser brings ill to God’s elect,

Yet Christ will present them without defect.