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A Note to My Readers

I understand if you’re wondering why a pastor would write a book of poetry, or if you’re wondering whether the words pastor and poet even belong together. I admit, it took me years to see the connection.

For much of my early church-going life, I held hymnbooks in my hands and sang the words written there without ever paying attention to the small print at the bottom of its pages. I failed to notice that there were names included in the hymnal, names of the hymn writers and names of the musicians who composed the tunes.

But something happened while I was in seminary. I actually began to pay attention to the small print at the bottom of the pages. And to my surprise, I began to notice that some of the names of the pastors and theologians I was reading from church history were the same names that appeared in the hymnbook. Names like Martin Luther, Isaac Watts, John Newton, and Charles Wesley. I knew these men as pastors and preachers, but not as poets and hymn writers.

I can’t quite explain how or why, but that newfound revelation that these pastors were also poets had a profound effect on me. I began to wonder why this legacy was seemingly lost in our own day, why more pastors weren’t writing hymns and poems. Before long, my curiosity grew into fascination, and my fascination turned into an invitation to try my hand at joining this long line of pastor-poets. And thus began my first attempts at writing poetry, a practice I have continued ever since. While my work may fall far short of the likes of Watts and Wesley and Newton, I’m at least attempting to keep good company. And the book you now hold in your hands contains some of those attempts. It is a collection of both hymns and poems, written over the course of several years.

Now, because this is a book of poetry and because we don’t currently read poetry in our culture as much as we do prose (and because many people don’t read much poetry at all), I thought it might prove beneficial here at the outset to provide you with a few tips about how best to engage with poetry. First, read poetry out loud. You need to hear the sounds—the assonance, the alliteration, the rhyming patterns—and you need to feel something of the verbal cadence to get the full effect. Second, read poetry slowly and carefully. Poetry is not meant to be skimmed. It’s not meant to be read the way you read an online article or the way you scan social media. It requires a different kind of reading. Meditate on each line, paying close attention to the words and to the imagery. Third, read it again. Don’t settle for only reading a poem once. Read it at least two or three times.

I also want to offer a few tips about engaging with the hymns in this book. I know we think of hymns as songs to be sung, which is true. But remember that hymns are also lyrical poems. So I encourage you simply to read the hymns first. Just read and reflect on the words. Then, you can go back and sing them (you will notice that for most of the hymns, I have suggested a familiar tune so that you can easily sing them—whether by yourself, with your family, or even with your church). And for those of you who are musicians, feel free to sing them to other tunes that fit the meter or even to compose new tunes for them.

The poetry in this book is written primarily with Christian readers in mind and will probably serve best as a devotional resource, something to read alongside the Bible. Its aim is not to compete with your reading of the Scriptures but to accompany it, to help you reflect on the truths of God’s Word and God’s world so that you too might get “lost in wonder, love, and praise.” But if you are not a Christian, I hope you will still read and benefit from this book. Indeed, I would be delighted if in reading it you came to put your faith in the loving, gracious Savior whose poetic praise fills much of the following pages.

If you find that there are hymns, poems, or phrases that you enjoy, I would remind you of words from the poet Wendell Berry, which certainly apply here too:

Do not think me gentle

because I speak in praise

of gentleness, or elegant

because I honor the grace

that keeps this world. I am

a man crude as any,

gross of speech, intolerant,

stubborn, angry, full

of fits and furies. That I

may have spoken well

at times, is not natural.

A wonder is what it is.

A wonder, indeed!

Justin Wainscott

Epiphany 2019