spoken worship - gerard kelly blogs his poems

gerard kelly has created a blog for his poems - spoken worship. we worked together many years back (and our two families shared a house for a few years). it was around that time that gerard began writing the poems that were subsequntly published in the book rebel without applause . his poems are poignant, thought provoking, and often brilliant for use in liturgy/worship. the poem that gerard wrote for me when my father died of cancer (which appeared on the blog this time last year) was such a gift at that time and i know has helped many other people.

there are a dozen or so poems up including ones for wedding, dedication, christmas, funeral and so on. this blog is a wonderful gift. each poem could be a worship trick in its own right but i am just making the lot worship trick no 55. having just blogged about plogging or blooks or whatever we call self publishing via the likes of lulu , this is the kind of stuff on a blog that lends itself to publishing. i actually think that plogging may change the way people think about blogs - in other words a blog is suddenly a very real way of writing a book over time. a poem of gerard's i have used many times is on the blog. i have taken the liberty of posting it here (hope you don't mind gerard?)

the very thought

I love the very thought of Heaven:
Where angels sing
In perfect, perpetual choir practice.
Where Father, Son and Spirit rule
Unchallenged
And are honoured in full measure.
I love the very thought of Heaven:
But I was not made
To live there.
I was not made
To walk on clouds,
And bask eternally
In immaterial splendour.
I was made for this green planet:
This tight ball
Of aching beauty,
Alive with the unending possibilities
Of his creative power.
I was made for the sunshine
That blazes through the veins of a leaf
And glints on the tiny, perfect back
Of a ladybird crossing my arm.
I was made to be human
In this most human of places.
I was made for earth:
The earth is my home.
That’s why I’m glad that God,
More than anyone,
Is a friend of the earth:
Prepared as he was to die
For its release.
And that’s why I’m glad
That the magnificent, jewelled foundations
Of the mighty pearly gates
Will be anchored
Deeply and forever
In the soil of earth.

by gerard kelly

Technorati Tags: poetry, poems

Comments

[richard]

Jonny am I being thick in not seeing where the link to Gerard's new blog is?

[jonny]

doh! sorry - have added it in now...

[thomas]

Beautiful...

[Caroline]

What a fantastic poem.

I'm leading a service on "The New Jerusalem" next month. I so don't want to preach ABOUT it but, somehow, to make it real and so affect us now ..

no, I'm not sure what I mean either, but the poem will help me

thanks

[l. koons]

checked out spoken word blog... love it _ & your's too.

[Magdalene Mwangi]

wow lovely, i like it