A
new word entered the country’s consciousness this week. A new word entered our
prayers at home this week.
Ferguson.
It’s
a suburb of St. Louis, with some 21,000 people, and about 10 miles in a
straight line from where we live in St. Louis.
Ferguson
entered the world’s consciousness this week. A friend form St. Louis traveled
on business to Bangalore, India, turned on the television set in his hotel, and
on the screen was a news report from the United States.
Ferguson.
A
new word for our prayers. It joined other words, like Iraq and IS. Ukraine and
Russia. Ebola.
I
found myself reading more in the Bible this week, and reading more poetry.
And
I read a small book, 83 pages including three pages of notes: Praying
through Poetry: Hope for Violent Times by Peggy Rosenthal. It was
published in 2003, although parts of it were published in The Christian Century
in 2002. Rosenthal wrote it after another word entered our vocabulary and our
prayers.
9/11.
She
went looking for hope after the fall of the twin towers, and she found it in
poetry.
She
takes 10 poems, explains why each leads her to hope, and then suggests several
ways each inspires her to pray. The poems included were written by Polish poet
Adam Zagajewski; Lucille Clifton; Scott Cairns; Jane Hirshfield; Palestinian
poet Mahmoud Darwish; Denise Levertov; Wendell Berry; Daniel Berrigan; Israeli
poet Yehuda Amichai; and St. Francis of Assisi. What all of the poets have in
common is that they write about faith, belief, doubt, God, and humanity.
Here’s
“God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children” by Yehuda Amichai:
God
has pity on children in kindergartens,
He
pities school children – less.
But
adults he pities not at all.
He
abandons them,
Sometimes
they have to crawl on all fours
In
the roasting sand
To
reach the dressing station,
And
they are streaming with blood.
But
perhaps
He
will have pity on those who love truly
And
take care of them
And
shade them,
Like
a tree over the sleeper on the public beach.
Perhaps
even we will spend on them
Our
last pennies of kindness
Inherited
from mother.
So
that their own happiness will protect us
Now
and on other days.
Rosenthal
says that, for her, the transition from what begins as a rather dark poem to
one of hope is the phrase “But perhaps.” At that point, she suggests the poem
is like a psalm, some of many begin in darkness, too, and end with hope in God.
It’s
small book, now more than a decade old. But Praying
through Poetry is still current, and likely will remain current for a long,
long time.
Top photograph by George Hodan via Public
Domain Pictures. Used with permission.
