Editorial February 8, 1988 Issue

Of poetry and prayer

William E. Moody

Many of our readers over the years have commented on the poetry in this magazine. Some have written to tell us about a particular poem that has brought fresh inspiration in time of need, or a poem that has simply helped to make a tough day seem a little brighter. We hear from readers who appreciate the poetry immensely. We also hear from some who aren't always so sure. Of course, a poem, like any artistic expression, needs the responsive eye or ear or heart of the beholder.

It certainly isn't an easy task to write good poetry, especially on spiritual themes. And while considering a question about why we continue to publish poetry in the Sentinel, I ran across an article that appeared recently in another Christian magazine. The author draws some interesting parallels between his own work as a writer and his religious life. He observes, "In particular, the writing of poems—something I've done in a fairly regular way for nearly 20 years—has seemed akin to prayer." He also quotes an early seventeenth-century treatise, entitled Of Prayer and Meditation, which presented a fairly traditional definition of prayer for that age and then went a step further: "Howbeit, prayer is also taken in another, larger sense; to wit: for every lifting up of our heart unto God."^{Jay Parini, "Writing and the Devout Life," The Christian Century, September 30, 1987, p. 815 .}

That would seem a reasonable description of what we feel the poetry in the Sentinel is about—a lifting up of the heart to God. Behind each poem is a Christian Scientist's prayer. And in many ways the poems themselves are prayers. They may portray an individual's struggles and triumphs, or perhaps a vision of something extraordinary, right where we're used to seeing only the commonplace. A poem may communicate a heightened sense of how someone's spirit has been touched and the individual has been moved to come out from the mundane into new life. And always there is some immediate glimpse, though it may be modest, of divine reality and how it breaks through into human lives to enlighten, to bring strength, to heal.

Send a comment to the editors

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit

Of poetry and prayer

We'd love to hear from you!

Sign up for unlimited access