Year A Poems

 

For lectionary poems for Year A, please click on 2023 to the right. 

Then, click on the appropriate month, which tells the month any poem was posted.

Bonus Poem: A French Sense of Purpose

This morning the pastor* prayed, 

 

“Give us a French

[and then corrected herself]

sense of purpose,”

but in my mind, I began to wonder

just what a French sense of purpose might be.

 

“Give us a joie de vivre,

a savoring of every moment of our being,

 

“Let us cry out when we awake, ‘Bon appetite’ 

each morning at the table you set before us,

 

“Keep us bug-eyed in wonder, always with

a je ne sais quoi at the world’s indescribable beauty,

 

“May we try not to see each day

as a déjà vu experience, but delight in all things new,

 

“When things go wrong, may we be less apt to blame 

than to say simply, ‘c’est la vie,’ and move on,

 

“Finally, keep us from the faux pas of forgetting

our Savior’s etiquette of seeing you in all people, 

 

“That we might be your avant-garde in the world around us,

 

“En route to a better life for all, 

 

“With you, who are our rock, and our raison d'être.  Amen.”

 

 

Scott L. Barton 

 

 

*The Rev. Susan Cartmell at Amherst, MA’s South Congregational Church

 

Bonus Poem: Gratefulness

Gratefulness

There are two usual ways to deal with the things that could happen.

I mean, the things that you never expect,

Like that chest pain turning into an aortic stent,

Or those radiating twinges turning into disc surgery,

Or your growing fatigue finally being diagnosed as leukemia,

Or your knees giving out, even though you can never imagine that, 

since you can still bound up the stairs if you want, 

but they don’t last forever, you know. Don’t you?

These things, or any number of 101 damnations, could all happen. 

At least one of them surely will.

I mean, you’ll probably die,

Even though you can’t imagine that, either.

Aging comes with its perks, but also its downsides.

And you could dread the prospects of all these things,

Like first-year medical students, who,

I hear, often think that everything they read about is an affliction that they have. 

You can worry yourself to death, which is a little ironic, isn’t it?

Or, on the other hand, you can deny all this,

And go on living as if everything revolves around you,

As if you can take whatever you want from life,

Because, after all, you are special, aren’t you?

Bad things happen to other people. 

But you, above all others, deserve all the good things in life that you can grab.

And yet for some reason, I think neither of these alternatives is the best one.

For some reason, and I’m not sure how we get to it,

(Except maybe by being called to it? 

And is this what it means to have a mature concept of God?)

It turns out that the best alternative is living with an everyday gratefulness:

A cheerful humility about the world around you,

Letting go of the hurt and letting in the forgiveness,

Allowing tears to come with someone’s warm hug because you’ve been missed,

Being astonished by the life all around you, 

in the smallest square inch of dirt beneath your feet up to the giant hemlocks you walk under, 

And being amazed at the gifts of everyone from the kid in the school play 

to the cleaning lady who mops the floor 

to the doctors and P.A.s and N.P.s who are trying to figure out the next best step. 

Gratefulness. What better way to celebrate this season, or any other, for that matter? 

What better way to recognize love incarnate? 

What better way to live?

Scott L. Barton

Bonus Poem: Hymn, "All Our Days"

 

This hymn came about after an organ recital at First Churches, Northampton, Mass. Kiel Krommer played a captivating piece called "Reflection," the first sixteen measures of which called out to me as the music for a touching hymn. I wrote the hymn words based on the music Kiel loaned me, tracked down the composer, Daniel Bishop, in Liverpool, U.K., and sent a request to use part of his piece for a hymn. He was apologetic that the publisher might not allow it, and he was right. Well, the publisher would have charged a big fee. After telling Daniel Bishop that I understood that everyone needs to be compensated for their work, but I just couldn't swing the publisher's requirements, Daniel offered to write new music for this hymn. It's heavily based on the original piece but different enough that it stands on its own. Mr. Bishop even engraved the words and music just as you have here. We owe a lot to him if this becomes a hymn you decide to use.  

I think the best hymns are prayers, which this one is.

Verse 1 expresses a feeling of gratitude for everything that we are, and our faith that it is by love that we live—love from God, family, and those around us.

Verse 2 refers to all the vicissitudes of life, including our inevitable deaths, and God's accompanying us in it all. The last four words are the title of my favorite poem by Thomas John Carlisle.

Coming off the reference to our deaths in verse 2, verse 3 begins with our hope that there are things we have accomplished, and love we have given, that will endure after we are gone. But in the meantime, we still decide to follow the program of our God, believing that God in Christ makes all things new.

If you want to pair the hymn with a lectionary text, one possibility would be 2 Corinthians 5:17. 

I appreciate the comments that a few colleagues made after my first draft of the words. This whole project goes to show that something like this doesn't come out of a vacuum but in collaboration with good-hearted people. 

 

 

Bonus Poem: Hymn: God Is Our Only King

 

God Is Our Only King

DIADEMATA  SMD

 

Scott L. Barton, 2025                                                                                 George Job Elvey, 1868                                                          

 

1. God is our only king in this beloved land,

If any claim to take that name, against them we will stand;

Our forebears fought and died, so all of us would reign,

The Constitution makes it clear, and we will make it plain!

 

2. “Give me your tired, your poor, those yearning to breathe free,

Those hated victims of all wars, send homeless souls to me!”

We welcome in this land, all strangers needing care,

We follow Jesus here because humanity we share.

 

3. Giant displays of strength reveal the inward fear

Of those who think that might makes right, and only self revere;

We trust that love prevails, for Christ the crucified 

From death rose up to give us hope, and with us still abides.

 

4. Making a nation great means kindness is restored,

And diff’rences can make us strong, while hatred we deplore;

Our God calls us to serve all people far and wide,

And how we serve the least of these, is how we’re glorified. 

 

 

We Have No Bloody King

 

Scott Barton (2025)                            DIADEMATA SMD              George Elvey (1868)

 

1.    We have no bloody king in this beloved land,

If any claim to take that name, against them we will stand;

Our forebears fought and died, so no one person reigns,

The Constitution makes it clear, and we will make it plain!

 

2.    “Give me your tired, your poor, those yearning to breathe free,”

Those hated victims of all wars, send homeless souls to me!

We welcome in this land, all strangers needing care,

We open wide our arms because humanity we share.

 

3.    Giant displays of strength reveal the inward fear

Of those who think that might makes right, and only self revere;

We trust that love prevails, for what there is inside

Each member of humanity says goodness still abides.

 

4.    Making a nation great means kindness is restored,

And diff’rences can make us strong, while hatred we deplore;

Our nation needs no king, across this land so wide,

Since how we serve the most in need is how we’re glorified.

 

Year C Poems

For lectionary poems for Year C, please click on 2022 to the right. 

Then, click on the appropriate month, which tells the month any poem was posted. For example, December starts with the Third Sunday of Advent at the bottom.

Christ the King/Reign of Christ (B)—Revelation 1:4b-8 and John 18:33-37

 

Revelation 1:4b-8

 Catacombe di Commodilla, Rome, 4th c.

When All Is Said and Done

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” he says,

a phrase not in common usage anymore,

so let’s imagine what he might say these days:

“I’m A to Z.”

Or, he might try this:

“I am the start of it all, and the living end.”

     “the be all and end all,

          “the real McCoy,

               “the genuine article,

                    “the real deal.”

Or how about this?

“I am the whole nine yards,

     “the whole enchilada,

          “the whole shebang,

               “the whole bailiwick.

                    “the whole ball of wax,

                         “the whole shootin’ match,” and,

                              “the whole kit and caboodle.”

“I am the unvarnished truth,

     “the honest truth,

          “the naked truth,

               “the full monty,

                    “the inside track,

                         “the whole story,” and of course,

                               “the gospel truth.”

There must be no end to the ways he might put it.

Get it?

Personally, today I like, “I am the cat’s meow.”

Scott L. Barton

John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

+ + +

John 18:33-37

 

Christ the King statue, Świebodzin, Poland

"Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” 

or

And in the End (reflection on the last Sunday of the church year)

I think it's funny that

it's not the other way around:

Like, “All who hear my voice

belong to truth;” I think that sounds . . .

 

Religious! Yet, he still confounds

what we expect to hear.

The truth is that it's all a gift,

and everyone is dear;

 

Those living thus, will love as much—

he could not be more clear!

Still, list'ning to this king

is never easy—any year!

Scott L. Barton

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”