DEVOTIONS

UCF BIRTHDAY, August 17, 1998

(POET'S CORNER)

I recently moved house after 34 years - and if you've done that, you'll all know about the treasures you find in the cleaning up!

Among other things, I found some old poetry books from my school and Teachers' College days. So I took a little time off to re-live a few memories. I kept one of the books - The Book of A Thousand Poems (Evans Bros Ltd., London. 1959)  It says it's a book of poems for children, but they're not all just for children.

I thought I'd share a few with you today.

It starts with traditional rhymes and nursery rhymes. Do you know where our nursery rhymes came from? Many of them were written as political comment in the days long before newspapers, radio or TV. If a politician did something unpopular, someone would compose a rhyme and start it circulating. Of course, because rhymes are so easy to remember, the message got around.

For instance, I believe there was once a politician in England by the name of Mr. Horner. Mr Horner evidently pulled off something good - maybe got a bill through parliament or something. But not everyone thought he'd done it for the best of motives! Sound familiar? So, we now have a nursery rhyme:

Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner
Eating his Christmas pie
He put in his thumb
And pulled out a plumb
And said, "What a good boy am I!"

We could make another one topical for today. If you're not in favour of the Govt's proposed GST, you could give Mr. Howard and Co. a warning though a nursery rhyme! Think of the electorate as Little Miss Muffett and the Liberals and their GST as a big black spider - and off we go!

Little Miss Muffett
Sat on her tuffett
Eating her curds and whey.
There came a big spider
Who sat down beside her
And frightened Miss Muffett away!

You can probably think of other nursery rhymes that may have had a political message.

Poetry helps us to look at the world around us with a different view. What do you think when it's a rainy day? Oh, bother, I won't get the washing dry? Or ...  Now I can't let the children (or the dog!) out to play and they'll be under my feet all day? Or ????

In my book (p 258) I found a poem about the rain:

The Rain.
W.H. Davies

I hear leaves drinking Rain;
I hear rich leaves on top
Giving the poor beneath
Drop after drop;
'tis a sweet noise to hear
These green leaves drinking near.

And when the Sun comes out,
After this Rain shall stop,
A wondrous Light will fill
Each dark, round drop;
I hope the Sun shines bright:
'Twill be a lovely sight.

We could read more into that one if we wished. We could think of the rich leaves as we who have so many good things in life sharing with those who don't have them (poor leaves). We could think of the sun as the Son bringing his wondrous light to fill the lives of all of us, through us, making the lives of others shine more brightly. I have no idea whether the poet had that in mind, but it's possible. Poetry makes us think.

I could read you lots of poems from this book, but we have other things to do this afternoon.

But……just a couple…..

Remember Walter Scott's Lochivar? (p.456 - v.1)

O, young Lochinvar has come out of the west,
Through all teh wide Border his steed was the best;
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none,
He rode all unarm'd, and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love, and so dautless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.

Do you ever feel like this?

There Isn't Time
Eleanor Farjeon

There isn't time, there isn't time
To do the things I want to do --
With all the mountain tops to climb
And all the woods to wander through
And all the seas to sail upon,
And everywhere there is to go,
And all the people, every one,
Who live on earth to know.
There's only time, there's only time
To know a few, and do a few,
And then sit down and make a rhyme
About the rest I want to do.


And…here's one that amused me - apologies to the men who are here!

Just Like a Man

He sat at the dinner table
With a discontented frown,
The potatoes and the steak were underdone
And the bread was baked too brown;
The pie was too sour and the pudding too sweet,
And the roast was much too fat;
The soup so greasy, too, and salt, 'Twas hardly fit for the cat.

"I wish you could eat the bread and pie
I've seen my mother make,
They are something like, and 'twould do you good
Just to look at a loaf of her cake."
Said the smiling wife, "I'll improve with age --
Just now I'm but a beginner;
But your mother has come to visit us,
And today she cooked the dinner."

So poetry makes us think, opens our eyes a little bit wider to the world around us, amuses and entertains us and often we remember poetry more easily than prose.

Is it any wonder that when God wanted people to know what he is like and wanted to get a message to his people, he so often used poets. The Bible - especially the OT - had a lot of poetry.

When our Bible Study group was studying the book of Isaiah, we found out that the prophet Isaiah was a skilled poet and used poetry to deliver his messages from God - because people were more likely to listen to his poetry and then to remember it.

And then, of course we have so many wonderful psalms.

The psalms speak to us about a relationship with God - both the psalmist's and ours.

Sometimes the psalmist praised God. Sometimes he didn't feel like praising God - he may have been angry with God, or doubting, or feeling that God had deserted him. All those feelings are expressed in the psalms. All those feelings are those we have from time to time. That's why the psalms are so good for us to read, aren't they?

I chose a psalm to look at today. Like other psalms, it has different sections. It's like a prayer. As I read it to you, listen for what it says

Psalm 19 (NIV)
For the director of music. A psalm of David
.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the
     sun,
 which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the
     eyes.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
 Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great
     transgression.
 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my
     Redeemer.

We use other poetry in our worship today - in our hymns and choruses and in poems such as those by people like Helen Steiner Rice and Bruce Prewer who used to be the Minister at what is now Mount Road Uniting Church, North Essendon.

Life's Gift of Love

If people like me
didn't know people like you,
Life would lose its meaning
and its richness, too.
For teh friends that we make
are life's gift of love,
And I think friends are sent
right from heaven above.
And thinking of you
somehow makes me feel
That God is love
and He's very real.

Helen Steiner Rice
(Blossoms of Friendship, Random House. Lond.1993)