Glory in the Margins E-Book

Nikki Grimes

• Herausgeber: Iron Pen
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

"Glory in the Margins is a gift and a challenge: a collection that could be well-worn by pastors and prisoners, could be healing in both a hospital room or busy auditorium, and could offer inspiration in both the quiet of personal devotion or a bustling sanctuary." —Dana VanderLugt, Reformed Journal New York Times bestselling author and poet Nikki Grimes explains, "A study of scripture reveals that Jesus spent a lot of time with people in the margins. As an African American, I live in the margins, and I can tell you that it's a place most of us would rather not be. And yet, I know there is always glory to be found in the margins because of the Lord's presence in, and with us." "As Poet Laureate of my Grace Brethren Church in Southern California, it's my job to distill the heart of the weekly sermon into a poem. I dive into each week's chosen scripture, viewing it from my own perspective as Black, as woman, as poet, always a little left of center, and looking for the glory to be found in the margins of life, and of the text. Of course, those of us who live in the margins are not what anyone expects, and the very notion that God might speak through us, through me, may seem a bit wild. But he does. 'I will pour out my spirit on all flesh,' said the Lord. God's busy in the hearts of all who call on him." Glory in the Margins is published under Paraclete Press's Iron Pen imprint. In the book of Job, a suffering man pours out his anguish to his Maker. From the depths of his pain, he reveals a trust in God's goodness that is stronger than his despair, giving humanity some of the most beautiful and poetic verses of all time. Paraclete's Iron Pen imprint is inspired by this spirit of unvarnished honesty and tenacious hope.

Leseprobe

Praise forGlory in the Margins

“Leave it to the sensationally gifted Nikki Grimes to weld her devotions into one glorious body of text. It’s possible to feel these deeply rooted poems finding friends even as you read them. They will be spoken in resonant spaces to grateful congregations. They will find new homes in the middle of lonely nights. Generous renderings of familiar biblical stories and precious principles in her own inimitable voice. I bow down to ‘An Uncluttered Gospel’ and ‘Navigating No’ among so many gems and sing praises to Nikki for lifting us up.”

—Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People’s Poet Laureate, Poetry Foundation

“‘What is there / to recommend this world?’ Nikki Grimes asks, a universal question any human being who has ever suffered has posed. ‘One honest piercing look around /and there are tears enough /to wash away the world,’ the poet acknowledges. The constant drum of sorrow, ‘Drought famine / murder and mayhem / night terrors breaching / the brightness of day’ all have the power to drive us to desolation. And yet, in the midst of her despair, the poet stops to listen and hears the answer to her prayer: ‘God whispers in our ear / Look, to me! Look here!’ Again and again in these poems, each of which serves as a powerful short homily and biblical exegesis, as well as poetic utterance, Grimes finds the grace she—and we—need to move forward and to do what Flannery O’Connor urges all people of God to do, to love the world even as we struggle to endure it. By turns celebratory and sorrowful, these hundred poems honor the movements of the restless human heart and offer a place of repose, bringing us finally to the joyful Good News that we need to be constantly reminded of: ‘The secret’s out: / the kingdom of God is here,’ and we are in its midst.”

—Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, author of Andalusian Hours: Poems from the Porch of Flannery O’Connor and Love in the Time of Coronavirus: A Pandemic Pilgrimage

“These poems of Nikki Grimes are like sermons in the standard sense, but also in the original Roman sense of ‘conversations’—clear, colloquial talk that is reverent about God and often gently irreverent about our failures to live lives of faith. The language of Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems is clear and fresh, and the book’s messages based on the Bible will be insightful and consoling for readers of all ages and backgrounds.”

—A. M. Juster, poet, author of Wonder and Wrath

“Nikki Grimes is my big sister in the faith, and the poet laureate of Madison Street Church. Sunday in and Sunday out, with a raucous love for Jesus and a quiet intimacy with the English language, she humbly accepts the invitation, and takes the holy scalpel of God’s Word to our small church community. She combines the truth and grace of scripture with a surgical use of Spirit-led words that cut away our pretensions, cauterize our fears, and call our souls to hope. Her poems, shared at the start of every sermon, constantly conspire to make me a better preacher, a better pastor, and a better person.”

—Rev. Jeff Wright, pastor, Madison Street Church, Riverside, California

“Nikki Grimes has written many, many books of poetry during her esteemed career. But in this one, you hold more than just a book: you hold a sanctuary.”

—Sarah Arthur, author, speaker, and editor of the Literary Guides to Prayer

Gloryin theMargins

Sunday Poems

Nikki Grimes

PARACLETE PRESS

BREWSTER, MASSACHUSETTS

For my Madison Street Church community, Riverside, California

2021 First Printing

Glory in the Margins: Sunday Poems

Copyright © 2021 by Nikki Grimes

ISBN 978-1-64060-677-7

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Iron Pen name and logo are trademarks of Paraclete Press.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Grimes, Nikki, author.

Title: Glory in the margins : Sunday poems / Nikki Grimes.

Description: Brewster, Massachusetts : Iron Pen, [2021] | Summary: “A thirteen month cycle of poems distilled from chosen scriptures, viewed from her perspective as Black, as woman, as poet, and looking for the glory found in the margins of life”-- Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021016483 (print) | LCCN 2021016484 (ebook) | ISBN 9781640606777 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781640606784 (epub) | ISBN 9781640606791 (pdf)

Subjects: BISAC: POETRY / American / African American & Black | POETRY / Women Authors | LCGFT: Poetry.

Classification: LCC PS3557.R489982 G57 2021 (print) | LCC PS3557.R489982 (ebook) | DDC 811/.54--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016483

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021016484

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published by Paraclete Press

Brewster, Massachusetts

www.paracletepress.com

Printed in the United States of America

CONTENTS

PREFACE

JANUARY

His

Purge

Drum Major

In the Silence

Singularity

Gifted

Habitation

Enmeshed

FEBRUARY

Fathomless

Indelible

Promises, Promises

A Time to Shine

The Bright Side of Repentance

One Cookie Leads to Another

Ribbon of Blood

Safe Deposit

MARCH

Dancing on the Edge

Like Locusts

The Sea of Despond

Jagged Journey

Marching Orders

Inauguration

Worth

Aftermath

APRIL

The Sad Parade

Mourning Obscurity

Zero Balance

Alpha and Omega

Earth Day

Bitter Pill

Personal Epistle

Macedonia

MAY

Prickly Promise

Bare Hands

Holy Discomfort

Daily Planner

Entryway

Pentecost

His Hope

A Good Bet

JUNE

Vessel

What Slinks Away

Legacy

God’s Kitchen

A Page from the Pharisees

Amendment

The Meaning of Manna

Number One

JULY

Petition

Daily Dependence

Transparency

Hoarder Patrol

Doctor in the House

Seven Baskets

It’s Mathematical

Brothers John

AUGUST

Reel vs. Real

Bend. Bow. Now.

Fueling Station

Team Jesus

Hurricane Paul

Peculiar Commission

A Garden of Stories

Mad Street

SEPTEMBER

The Joy of Jubilee

Sticky Fingers

Keeping Accounts

Stuck in Bethesda

The Mark of Cain

Storm Watch

What Can I Get for You?

An Uncluttered Gospel

OCTOBER

Who Can Spell Despair?

Remedy

Aslan

Fulfillment

Navigating No

The Plot Thickens

Irreplaceable

Camel’s Hair

NOVEMBER

Rose of Sharon

Jezebel

Return Engagement

Love American Style

Out of the Frying Pan

Epilogue

Pitcher of Plenty

Advent

DECEMBER

Solomon’s Sentiment

Favored One

Skin

A Proper Introduction

The Dance

Sky Watch

Living Proof

Magnified

JANUARY

Full Circle

Just Wait

Beyond Immersion

Message From the Father

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PREFACE

When was the last time you heard the words poem and pulpit in the same sentence? Likely as not, your answer would be never. Yet, if you’ve spent any time steeped in Scripture, you know that the Bible is rich in poetry, that poetry is one of its staples. You would never know that, though, judging from how rarely poetry makes its way into weekly worship services—unless you attend a small Brethren in Christ church in Riverside, California. The fellowship in question is Madison Street Church, and I am its Poet Laureate. For several years at Madison, I have had the opportunity to marry my poetry and my faith in worship. The poems in this collection were culled from those years, but Madison is not where my journey in creating poetry for worship began.

In 1978, I moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where I lived for six years. There, I became part of the international fellowship of Immanuel, a Swedish Covenant Church. Immanuel was easily the most diverse body I have ever belonged to, bringing together believers from as many as twenty different countries on any given Sunday. Even more unusual, however, was the way in which the leadership of our church embraced all forms of art in the worship services. Where most religious institutions employ music and decorative visual art, Immanuel threw open the doors to dance, drama, contemporary visual art, and poetry as well. If you had an artistic gift, room was made for it, and so it was Immanuel that first allowed me to bring poetry into Sunday worship.

My very first exploration of Scripture through poetry was the story of the Christ child told from the perspective of Mary. In a suite of poems that carried through the Advent season, I climbed into the skin of the young girl found in Luke’s Gospel and felt the heart-stopping terror, awe, and finally, overwhelming peace of the Gabriel encounter. I contemplated the likely rejection of Joseph, her betrothed, imagined the stinging whispers of gossips who would, no doubt, question the timing of this pregnancy, and more. In so doing, I felt, in a visceral way, how monumental a thing it was for Mary to say yes to God in that moment, and to keep saying yes to him throughout the hard months and years that would follow. And as I brought my revelations to the congregation through poetry, their eyes were opened too. Listeners found themselves able to enter this sacred Scripture, this oh-so-familiar story, in a fresh, new way. And they liked it. As for me? I was hungry to do more.

As a person of faith with a reverence for the Holy Word of God, I also understand that God welcomes, and even invites, the honest questions of his children, and so I come to the Word with an open heart, bringing my questions with me. As I climb into the skins of the men and women I encounter in Scripture, I try to look at the world through their eyes, asking the hard questions of God that they must have asked, seeking the same solace, wisdom, inspiration, and guidance they must have sought. Of course, I am bringing my twenty-first-century experiences and sensibilities along for the ride, and so I also look for connections between ancient Scripture and the daily realities of my own lived experiences. That means, I’m sometimes referencing daily headlines and happenstances, alongside the words and experiences of Abram and Sarai, Saul and David, Mary and Martha, Paul and Luke. And as I do so, I ask God to guide me, to shine light on those nuggets of truth he would have me share with his people. The Sabbath is his, after all. The pulpit is the place for his Shekinah glory, not mine. Bathing this work in prayer keeps me clear on that point.

Now, after years of doing this work, I’ve selected 100 of these poems to share with you. I’ve arranged them in a thirteen-month cycle, moving from January to January. Ninety-eight of the 100 were prompted by specific Scriptures, which are referenced at each poem’s end. I love the way January is both an ending and a beginning, and so I chose to use poems from that month to bookend this collection.

Here you will find poems appropriate for high days on the Church Calendar such as Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany, as well as American holidays like Independence Day, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving. You’ll even find an Earth Day poem within these pages, because no one has a greater responsibility to care for the earth than the people of God. No matter the topic, though, the focal point is always the Word of the Lord.

These poems were originally designed for the pulpit. However, they are also suitable for devotions, dramatic readings, and as part of choral performances. When strung together on a specific theme, they also work well for reader’s theater presentations. But feel free to simply enjoy them as the poems they are.

JANUARY

His

The Father is unerringly faithful

to those who are his,

a belonging not secured

by shackles of iron that can be broken.

No. This belonging is sealed by

the blood and life surrendered

of a Son—his, a fierce bond

no sin or foul weather can untether.

Beyond blood brothers,

blood sisters, kin.

Our souls comingled for eternity.

We are his,

beloved children to whom he gives

grace abundant, healing, light,

the right to call him Daddy,

to crawl up on his knee

or rest against the chest

of the Divine.

Love is the only sense

we can make of it.

He is yours. He is mine.

All because he is faithful,

pouring out rivers of favor,

enriching speech, knowledge

and spiritual gifts,

doling out daily bread,

compassion, comfort, and strength

as needed, as promised until the end.

God has been, is, and will be

Faithful One, Sure Provider,

Fierce Protector, Holy Father,

Gentle Mother, Peerless Friend.

Peel back the layers of his huge heart

and find it ever beating for we

who are called his.

1 Corinthians 1:1–9