Gottesblog

Here are three poems by Czeslaw Milosz. They are all about original sin, one way or another.

Yesterday's poem was common Holy Week fare. For today, here is a poem that is certainly well-known, but unlike Donne's work, this was not written explicitly for the purpose of Christian meditation. But I think it's certainly worth pondering this Holy Week.

God is a poet - his words and phrases and rhymes are living men and the history of nations. Poetry is therefore the highest human art - an imitation of God. The best preaching is, as Fr. Petersen has said, on the edge of poetry.

This coming Sunday is Judica, the beginning of Passiontide. All instances of the Gloria Patri are omitted and the images and crosses are veiled after the Gospel lesson. In a sanctuary with many images and crosses and few or no Servers, it may be more practical to veil all but the central two or three images before the service. Directly after the Gospel lesson the veils are placed, lowered, or raised (depending on what is being veiled) in silence.

I recently received the following correspondence from a conscientious lover of the historic Lutheran liturgy (i.e., a member of the Gottesdienst Crowd):

The historic Christian calendar is an adiaphoron. One man considers one day holier than another and one man considers all days equal. Let them both do it to the Lord's favor. Celebrate Christmas on Dec 25 or April 17 - or not at all. You are neither more nor less likely to end up in hell whatever you choose.

Obviously, the Gottesdienst Online editors have been as busy as the rest of you during this run up to the Yule. But here's a couple of quick items: