All Saints’ Sunday B: Look Twice

Dear Partner in Preaching, On the nightstand beside my childhood bed stood a plaster statuette of two children kneeling, hands folded and heads bowed. Beneath them, raised in gilt-edged letters, ran the old English prayer, Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. Not too long ago, I happened to glance upon a similar item, tucked away in the corner of a display window of a bright, cheerful shop of books and collectibles, but this time made of plastic and with a slightly altered prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. Guide me safely...

Meditation XVII Nov01

Meditation XVII

I had a terribly hard time finding a poem that I wanted to share on this November 1, a cold and rainy day here in Philadelphia that is also All Saints’ Day. There are plenty of “All Saints’ poems” out there, some quite beautiful. But for whatever reason, none seemed quite to fit the...