Wordsworth wrote an endless poem in blank verse on” the growth of a poet’s mind.” I shall attempt a more modest feat for a more distracted age: a blog, “Things which a Lifetime of Trying to Be a Poet has Taught Me.”
Why is the modern church so spiritually impotent? Maybe it should pay attention to the biblical idea of what it should be about, and how.
PRACTICAL ECCLESIOLOGY
Commentary, 1 Cor. 14:26, Col. 3:16
Each member has a place; each one belongs,
As seen when, gathered as a congregation
They sing their psalms and hymns and holy songs.
Whether two or three or mighty throngs,
The Lord is in their midst. A priestly nation,
Each member has a place; each one belongs.
The Lord himself with love eternal longs
For them; each one by special invitation
Is singing psalms and hymns and holy songs.
A pincer movement, ministry: the prongs?
A verse, a prayer, a word of exhortation.
Each member has a place; each one belongs.
How beautiful the feet, the sandal thongs
Which go to every tongue and tribe and nation
Singing psalms and hymns and holy songs.
Spectators passive in their pew? It wrongs
The vision, suffocates the celebration.
Each member has a place; each one belongs,
Singing psalms and hymns and holy songs.
Remember: for more poetry like this, go to https://lanternhollow.wordpress.com/store/ and order Stars Through the Clouds! Also look for Inklings of Reality and Reflections from Plato’s Cave, Williams’ newest books from Lantern Hollow Press: Evangelical essays in pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. And look for Williams’ very latest books: Deeper Magic: The Theology behind the Writings of C. S. Lewis (Baltimore: Square Halo Books, 2016) and “An Encouraging Thought”: The Christian Worldview in the Writings of L. R. R. Tolkien (Cambridge, OH: Christian Publishing House, 2018)!
Donald T. Williams, PhD
