Jesus the poet
We are invited to bring the rich resources of our senses and imaginations into the realm of faith.
I know the Jesus who commands us to love our neighbors, feed the hungry, take up our crosses, and lay down our lives. But there’s another Jesus I don’t know as well. He’s a Jesus I often find baffling in my frenzied, overscheduled life.
He’s the Jesus who stands on a hilltop and invites us to “consider the lilies” and “behold the birds.” The Jesus who offers his followers a balm for anxiety in the profusion of wildflowers and the antics of sparrows. He is Jesus the poet, the artist, the naturalist, the contemplative. The man who, according to Luke’s Gospel, “often slipped away to the wilderness to pray.” The man who woke up before sunrise to climb mountains; who cherished seashores, gardens, deserts, and “secluded places”; who paid exquisite attention to beauty.
How well do we know him?
