Category Archives: Poetry

Ontological Argument 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Assuming that God’s existencemight be proved through logic,would you and I believein such an elegant God? Fourth Sunday After the EpiphanyJanuary 29, 2023

Ambassadors for Christ 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Cold morning. I opened the red doorto the sanctuary and slipped into the back row.No one turned around to look at me.I learned it was the first Sunday after the Epiphany as my downcast … Continue reading →

Life and Death in the Back Yard Isaiah 49:1-7 The neighbor’s cat with the pure black furnoticed my movement in the kitchenand fixed his stare at me.I eased forward to get a better viewof our small, oval-shaped lawnthrough the sliding … Continue reading →

[tanka] The voice of the Lord makes the oak trees writheand strips the forests bare. Psalm 29:8 in the rib cageof bare branches,the setting sunhoverslike a heart First Sunday after the EpiphanyJanuary 8, 2023

Open My Mind Ephesians 3:1-12 Open my mind to the stranger who differs from me.Empty my mind, O Lord, of ignorance and fear.Allow me to live in a world where knowledge is free.Give me a mind, O Lord, that is … Continue reading →

The Naming of Jesus Luke 2:15-21 “What happened to the name Immanuel?”The most precocious student in my classreminded me of the passage from Isaiahthat we studied just two weeks beforeon the fourth and final Sunday of Advent.She opened her Bible … Continue reading →

We All Start at Zero Luke 2:1-14 The practiced hands of the good-humored doctorpull the infant out of the warm duskinessof an amniotic ocean into the unfamiliar glareof delivery room lights. It is a rough business,coming into the world, but … Continue reading →

Turning the Blank Pages Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18 It was all good for the first three and a half minutes.He led the orchestral intro from the bench,waving his arms and bobbing his headwhile I turned the pages.No one was paying attention … Continue reading →

Our Responsibility Psalm 146:4-9 The Lord created the heaven and earth.He created the seas, and all that is in them. Man had nothing to do with this. The Lord gives justice to the oppressed,sets the prisoners free,opens the eyes of … Continue reading →

Our Corporate Wholeness Romans 15:4-13 Two things.I have a connectionwith every other person in the world.My belief in that connectionis constantly tested and severed. Perfectionism is a lie.What if the quarterback has a perfect passer rating,but his team loses?How does … Continue reading →

Put On the Armor of Light Romans 13:11-14 My nettlesome dream snaps shut.Instead of rolling overfor more slugabed minutes,I get up and put on the armor of light—ready to praise the image of Godon this dayin each face I greet. … Continue reading →

New poetry, Bud and Mary This collection of poems is about my parents, De Forest “Bud” Baldwin and Mary Dondro Baldwin. To open the collection of poems, click THIS. To open the index of poem titles, haiku, and tanka, click … Continue reading →