Archive - Poetry RSS Feed

Fill Your Lungs

May 19, 2011 in Poetry with 5 Comments

If the answers are the same
why do we all ask different questions?
Why does the truth wear a mask
when all you want is a familiar face?
Could you learn the secret language
that gives words for the indescribable?

I’m left holding a pin
looking for its place on a map
but the pin is always too big.
True questions will not be subdued
but it is these questions that are the oxygen of life.
It turns out that many who are alive
are not actually breathing.
So fill your lungs
and keep asking the questions.

Toiling Upward in the Night

April 15, 2011 in Leadership, Poetry with 5 Comments

“The heights by great men reached and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight;

But they, while their companions slept,

Were toiling upward in the night.”

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

What are you doing beyond the norm to accomplish your passions? Those who do things that will eventually stand out to others will always stand out to others on their way to making them happen.

***UPDATE 8/31/08*** Thanks to a commenter I have updated this quote with the accurate source. Thanks!

Everybody is Somebody’s Heretic

March 30, 2011 in Church, Poetry with 29 Comments

I‘ve heard the word heretic thrown around a lot lately in light of Rob Bell’s new book. You can read my previous posts about that here and here.

But after you determine whether or not you agree with Rob it then becomes about what your definition of essentials are. Even if you disagree with him, can Rob still be a Christian with those views? Can he still be someone that we listen to? If not, why?

I recently heard a terrific message that my friend Hal Shrader gave at his church. Hal is part of the Mennonite community and offers a unique historical perspective to this discussion as well. One of the best lines from his message is that “everybody is somebody’s heretic.” I know that I’ve certainly found that to be true in my own life.

Continue Reading…

It’s Not For You

March 2, 2011 in Poetry with 8 Comments

“No, it is not yours to open buds into blossoms.
Shake the bud, strike it; it is beyond your power to make it blossom.
Your touch soils it, you tear its petals to pieces and strew them in the dust.
But no colours appear, and no perfume.
Ah! It is not for you to open the bud into blossom.

He who can open the bud does it so simply.
He gives it a glance, and the life-sap stirs through its veins.
At his breath the flower spreads its wings and flutters in the wind.
Colours flush out like heart-longings, the perfume betrays a sweet secret.
He who can open the bud does it so simply.”


Sir Rabindranath Tagore

5 Incredible Years!

December 2, 2010 in Family, Poetry with 4 Comments

Today marks the five year anniversary that Michelle and I have been married. It is crazy to look back, 2 kids, 1 dog, many years of dating… back to when we first began as high school sweethearts! We have already experienced many different highs and lows and I know there are many more to follow. But there is nobody else I’d rather live the journey with! I love you Michelle!

Jeremy and Michelle

Here is a poem called “Together” that Ludwig Lewisohn wrote that I dedicate to my bride today:

“You and I by this lamp with these
few books shut out the world. Our knees
touch almost in this little space.
But I am glad. I see your face.
The silences are long, but each
Hears the other without speech.
And in this simple scene there is
The essence of all subtleties,
the freedom from all fret and smart,
The one sure sabbath of the heart.

The world–we cannot conquer it,
nor change the minds of fools one whit.
Here, here alone do we create
Beauty and peace inviolate;
Here night by night and hour by hour
we build a high impregnable tower
whence may shine, now and again,
A light to light the feet of men
when they see the rays thereof:
And this is marriage, this is love.”

Ludwig Lewisohn, Together

Page 1 of 212»