Poem of the Week

April 13: Easter and Passover Go Together

April 14: Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps HeDidn’t

April 15: Praised Be Those Who Marry Out of Love

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps He Didn't

April 14, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a Passover and Easter poem about the need for doubt.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Perhaps Christ rose from the dead; perhaps He didn’t.

And Moses may, or not, have split the sea.

So must faith supply what reason doesn’t,

Singing of how better life could be.

Ought one, can one pick and choose one’s truth,

Vested heavily in being right,

Even tailoring measurements to suit

Revelations seen in ambient light?

Even as one seals one’s certainties,

A bit of doubt should slip into the soul,

Sent to complicate one’s harmonies

That one might hear the richness of the whole.

Each truth’s a light that ought not make one blind:

Radiant, yes, but gentle, shy, and kind.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/perha9.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 13: Easter and Passover Go Together

April 14: Perhaps Christ Rose from the Dead; Perhaps He Didn’t

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Easter and Passover Go Together

April 13, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is for a child of a mixed Christian/Jewish marriage about the relationship between Easter and Passover.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Easter and Passover go together

Like peas in a pod or birds of a feather.

The Last Supper was an orthodox Seder

(But without the four questions – they came later)

With matzah, not bread, since Jesus kept kosher,

And the story of how we left Egypt with Moshe,

And baruchas and songs and prayers like those you

Now sing as part of being a Jew.

So celebrate both holidays, if you like,

Since both are bright rays of one beautiful light.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/easte3.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

April 13: Easter and Passover Go Together

Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Every Religion Has Blood on Its Hands

April 12, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for both Easter and Passover about what all religions have in common and what they should do about it.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Every religion has blood on its hands

As hatred and greed, dressed in righteous commands,

Sanctify purely demotic demands

To rape, loot, and plunder less virtuous lands.

Every religion has love at its heart,

Radiant love in its wisdom and art,

Permanent love, of the whole for each part,

A grace none can grasp nor theology chart.

So might all faiths sing a common refrain,

Singing together in the much-abused name

Of divinity, singing of blessing and blame,

Verses quite different, the chorus the same.

Every religion should know that its truth

Relies on its goodness and beauty for proof.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/everyr.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Monday, April 10, 2017

Easter and Pesach, Eternally Linked

April 11, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is a poem for Easter about the link between Easter and Pesach, or Passover.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Easter and Pesach, eternally linked,

Although, year to year, erratically synced.

So might both Christians and Jews celebrate

The bond that unites two long-feuding faiths,

Embracing as family, as all cousins should,

Religions that separately serve the same good.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/easte2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover

Religions Live in a Crowded Neighborhood

April 10, 2017

Dear Subscriber:

Each week we examine a theme from a variety of points of view. The twin themes for this week are Passover, the first night of which falls on April 10, and Easter, which falls on April 16.

Today’s poem is about how, in an increasingly crowded world, there is an increased need for tolerance and love.

I welcome comments on my poems at http://nicholasgordon.blogspot.com.

Yours,

Nick Gordon

Religions live in a crowded neighborhood

Called Earth. Time for tolerance and love.

Time to see in each the common good.

Time also to see the uncommon good, the wealth of

Differences that make one’s neighborly chats

A voyage to the harbors of the heart.

The world of faith is like a museum that’s

Full of rich and unfamiliar art.

Time to see it all, to stroll through rooms

Full of treasures else left unseen.

Like rare languages, exotic blooms,

White rhinos, pandas, aye-aye, like green

Islands in the arms of urban sprawl,

Each faith sustains the spirit of us all.

Hear or watch me recite this poem and listen to the music I chose for it at http://www.poemsforfree.com/relig2.html. For more poems about religion, go to http://www.poemsforfree.com/religiouspoems.html .

This week’s theme: Easter and Passover