This weekend I delighted in the sound of written word spoken clear and real.  I was able to attend the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I attend this every two years and have been honored to have been able to hear some of my favorite authors and poets read their work, speak about their lives, their faith and their struggles with it all.

Scott Cairns, a remarkable poet and longtime favorite of mine read from a book he has completed called “Love’s Immensity” in which he has translated the teachings of early church mystics, desert fathers and mothers.  He has set them in verse, each one a delicious bite, a moment to savor.

I thought I would post one here, in part, for you today.  I hope that you will consider picking up this book and letting it walk alongside you.  It is a good companion on the road.  Read it slowly.  Read it often.

Capable Flesh

-Saint Irenaeus (c.125-c.210)

The tender flesh itself

will be found one day

-quite suprisingly-

to be capable of receiving,

and yes, full

capable of embracing

the searing energies of God.

Go figure.  Fear not.

For even at its beginning

the humble clay received

God’s art, whereby

one part became the eye,

another the ear, and yet

another this impetuous hand.

Therefore, the flesh

is not to be excluded

from the wisdom and the power

that now and ever animates

all things.  His life-giving

agency is made perfect,

we are told, in weakness-

made perfect in the flesh.