sunday sonnet #1

The opening line of this poem was the closing line of our call to worship this morning, and it gave me the idea for a rather ambitious poetic undertaking over the next couple of months: the Sunday Sonnets. You might think of it as my attempt to have Shakespeare meet the Psalms.

Sunday Sonnet #1

In the shelter of more than I can comprehend
I struggle for the words that might explain
why my unbelief remains reluctant to suspend
and my skepticism holds its sway again.

In the storms that wreck and ravage all around
I wonder if the words I need exist;
I sing, “I once was lost, but now I’m found,”
and pull my fingers open from their fist.

In the line of saints and sinners where I stand,
I can see the blessed and broken passing on
all the pain and promises they know firsthand,
and all the stories that will lead me home.

In the grasp of grace, in dawn and despair,
I stand in need of both forgiveness and repair.

Peace,
Milton