Song lyrics are really poetry in motion. My teacher(and now friend), Pat Braun, was the first to point that out. Back when the art of poetry was respected as a more legitimate job, poets were paid to write. Poets today can put a book together and hope someone likes it enough to buy it.
This morning, I was reminded of the comfort of familiar poetry. The Psalms are favorite scriptures for many, including me. They were often sung, as adding the music makes it easy to remember. They are still sung today in worship music.
"“His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone." -Act 17:27-29
There is a worship song that takes directly from this passage, "In Him we live, and move, and have our being." I love the poetic part of that verse. It describes how we often "feel" our way toward God and finally find Him - although he is not far from any one of us.
We "feel" our way like we are moving in darkness. The darkest moments in our lives are when many of us finally turn to the One who was already right there... waiting. Ready to comfort, rescue, and guide. It is poetry in motion and something to sing about when we return to a relationship with the one who gave us our soul breath.
Poetry helps us celebrate more fully; it helps us grieve more freely.
Does the poetry we sing and celebrate reflect what or whom we worship? Absolutely!
Today, I am grateful for poetry.
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