A Framework for Faith/Spiritual Disciplines

Buas, i.e., full knowledge of poetic art

  - Cormac, Glossary (Irish, 10th century)

Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

  - Psalm 37.4

Cormac, we will recall, was the 10th century bishop/king who became concerned that some of the most important words in the Irish language were falling into disuse. So he compiled a glossary of neglected and disappearing terms, to preserve their use for future generations.

It is extremely curious to find buas on his list. Poetry runs in Celtic blood. It was the preferred vehicle for important matters of history, tradition, religion, and art prior to the Celtic revival, and it continued to play a vital role in enriching the life of faith after the Gospel began its course through the Celtic peoples.

But by Cormac's day, poetry and the poetic arts were on the wane. Not unlike our own day. We have a hard time with poetry. We don't read much of it, and we don't "get it" when we do. Poetry seems frivolous or, at best, a selection on the menu of spiritual food that we seldom, if ever order.

But why is so much of the Bible written in verse? What does God understand about the power of poetry that we don't, that we think so little of it for our own growth in Him? Surely we're missing something very important by limiting all our reading to prose, and by failing to nurture our souls on the poetic arts?

Our text shows just how much power a single phrase of verse can carry. At first glance, it might seem as if our text is offering us a blank check for all our wants and needs. All we have to do is delight in the Lord, and He'll give us whatever we want.

The powerful message of this text is that it's true. If we delight in the Lord, if the Lord is what we long for, fellowship with Him is what we desire above all else, encountering His glory is what moves us to prayer and meditation - if we delight in the Lord like this, all we'll want is Him. And He is more than willing to give Himself to us.

Poetry sneaks up on you like that, and then it grabs you at a very deep place in your soul, where it breaks open seedpods of affect, vision, and truth that can truly change your life.

Unless, of course, all notion of buas has already slipped off the radar screen of your spiritual life.

Today at The Fellowship of Ailbe

Fault Lines - OK, having set this up, a little shameless self-promotion: I read and write poetry because it speaks to me in ways prose cannot. Get this little book, read the poems out loud, and see if God doesn't speak to you in some new, deeper, and more permanent ways. And if there's anything in here you don't "get," just drop me a line.

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.