THE ONE WHOSE HEART IS SEARCHING
(I Samuel 3: 1-10; John 1: 43-51)
Samuel on his bed beside the lamp,
its flame describing in slow pulses
the flickering hope
of a lonely, quiet yearning;
the hollow stillness
like a silent pond where
a searching voice could be heard
like a dropping pebble.
And in the dark and in the emptiness
the One who is doing the calling,
the One whose heart is searching,
is the unheard God.
*
Nathanael on the ground
under the fig tree, looking
up through its leaves at
an empty sky.
The leaves sift the sunlight,
its harshness is filtered,
but the shade over his soul
shows little gleam of joy.
His heart nearly closed
in its quest for truth,
his horizons have dimmed,
no corners of hope discerned.
But there is One who
remains watching and looking,
and the One who is searching for him
is the unrecognized God.
*
You and me on our beds,
our couches, you and me by our lamps.
You and me under spreading trees,
or peering at the sky through windows;
you and me at our office desks,
fingering the plastic of keyboards;
you and me in our living-rooms,
or sitting at our kitchen tables;
you and me, so yearning for hope,
so longing for meaning, truth, or joy –
may we become aware of the One
who is searching for us;
awake to the One
who knows and calls our names
longing for us to listen:
the God of promise and of invitation.
Thank you, Andy, for such a solid, almost haunting, expression of this Sunday’s theme. I’d like your permission to share this poem with my colleagues in text study group–about 20 copies.
Gratefully,
Pastor Barb Spaulding
Trinity Lutheran Church
Moville IA
Thank you for your gracious comment. I am honored! Please feel free to share copies of my poem in whatever way you feel is useful. Blessings to you, your colleagues, and all your ministries.
At first I thought, okay, so someone wrote a poem. Then somewhere in the reading of it I was suddenly there under the tree with the leaves sifting the sunlight. And upon rereading your words I was transported to a different place and time, yet still my place and time. The wind and the sunlight and the quiet darkness, I was there. Thank you for leading me into prayer.
Thank you, Tim, for what is perhaps the best comment I have ever received. Or could receive. Blessings to you!
As Pastor Spaulding said, this is a beautifully haunting expression of this Sunday’s readings. I, too, would like to share it with my congregation in an e-mail newsletter, with full credit to you and a link to your blog.
I am very grateful that you visited, and that you like my poem. Please feel free to share it (thanks for the credit and the link!) any way you think would be helpful. Blessings to you and your congregation!
Loved your poem and I am using it along with my sermon this Sunday Pastor Diane, SC Will credit you of course !
Wonderful to hear from you. Thanks for visiting my blog, and may God bless you and your congregation.
I will share your poem with my congregation tomorrow. It is very beautifully written. Of course, I will be giving credit to you. God’s blessings.
Rev. Dianne Crewe, Campbellton Pastoral Charge, Loon Bay, NL. Canada. The United Church of Canada.
God’s blessings to you and to the good folk of Loon Bay and the Campbellton Pastoral Charge. Thanks for visiting my blog!
Beautiful.
Thank you. I will be sharing this with a meditation for my sermon this Sunday (credited of course). God bless.
[…] King. “The One Whose Heart is Searching” Poem For The Sunday Lectionary (Epiphany 2, Yr B): January 12, 2015. A Poetic Kind of […]
I love those last lines – its a fine blessing for the end of the service!
Lovely poem I will use as The Call to Worship with attribution. Thank you!