Hello friends! I was recently invited to share a reflection with the One Boat: International Chaplaincy for Covid Times community. My talk is called “Poetry as Prayer: Tools for Resilience in Challenging Times.” I discussed poetry as a form of prayer, as demonstrated by the Psalms, which provide a rich example of not only emotional and artistic expression, but profound and life-changing intimacy with God.
I share other examples of poetic expression as prayer (and as a way to cope with life’s challenges) and give some quick tips on how to venture into the practice.
The poetry series I call ” The Psalms Project” began by chance. I was looking to fill the time while waiting in a coffee shop one day, when I had the random idea to try and paraphrase a psalm using my own language. I opened the Bible app on my phone, took out a tiny notebook I keep in my bag, and started.
The idea had never occurred to me before, but once I started doing it I realized what a powerful method it is for fostering a deeper understanding of the sacred text and intimacy with God. There is the way the Psalms have been written (and translated many times over throughout time), but each time I do this exercise, I discover what the words mean to me personally. It’s also a super-fun exercise for those of us who love to play with words!
So the poems you see under the category “Psalms Project” are the result of my reflection on (and sometimes wrestling with) the personal meaning of psalms that have spoken to me at a particular point in time. I love this exercise and I have found so much joy and solace in being able to refer to these reimagined psalms as my own prayers to God.
Here is another one I wrote, a paraphrase of the oft-recited Corinthians passage about love – one of my favorites!
Love Can Be Trusted
[A Paraphrase of 1 Corinthians 13:4-8]
by Tiffany Nicole Fletcher
Love is willing to wait,
love gives the best of itself.
It does not covet what others have,
It is not self-obsessed,
it is able to confess when it is wrong.
It does not take joy in things that separate it from God, but seeks and delights in full communion.
It is forever watching over,
forever believing in,
forever certain of coming good,
forever holding on.
Love can be trusted.
Have you ever tried to paraphrase the Psalms? I’d love to hear about your experience!
My Joy and My Total Protection
[A Paraphrase of Psalm 84 (NIV)]
by Tiffany Nicole Fletcher
There’s nothing better than your presence, O God!
In the deepest part of my being, all I want is to abide with you;
every part of me is asking you to draw near.
You have made a way for every living thing to be close to you,
wonderful Savior and lover of my heart.
When we live in an awareness of your presence, we have everything we need;
it makes our grateful hearts sing.
We have everything we need when we rely on you,
when we’re seeking you with the deepest part of ourselves.
Then we can go through the most barren of seasons,
and still grow verdant gardens in our lives;
and you then add even more blessings on top of that.
Living like this, we experience one victory after another,
leaning on you through it all,
until our days end and we come home to you.
Listen to my plea, Lord;
hear the cries of my heart
I, the one you love, pray for your blessing.
One day spent communing with you is better than anything else I could ever do.
(To know you is the gift above all gifts);
I would choose to have even the faintest knowledge of your goodness
than to live as if I had never known you at all.
For you are my joy and my total protection;
You bless me and I am precious and worthy in your sight;
You are always eagerly waiting to help those who love you.
My God, the one who believes you love them has everything they need.
