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Poets & Saints

City Arts Dept

Poets & Saints is a five-minute liturgical meditation, hosted by Cody Jensen, blending breath, scripture, and sacred writings from mystics and poets. Created for spiritual seekers and believers alike, it offers a quiet invitation to slow down and encounter God in the present moment.

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S4 · E204
Yesterday · 5 min
Stop Telling Lies to Yourself
Scripture Psalm 139:23-24 (NRSVUE) Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Refrain Search me, O God, and know my heart. Quote Fyodor Dostoevsky, from The Brothers Karamazov (translated by Michael R. Katz) "The main thing is, stop telling lies to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lies reaches a point where he cannot recognize any truth in himself or in anyone surrounding him, and so he loses all respect for himself and for others. Once he respects no one, he stops loving; to occupy and distract himself, he yields to passions and coarse inclinations and ultimately sinks to bestiality in all his vices, and all this comes from incessant lying to himself and to others." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E203
Monday · 5 min
Do Not Be Afraid
Scripture Luke 5:8, 10b-11 (NKJV) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!" And Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men." So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him. Refrain Do not be afraid. Follow me. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "Don't be afraid of me; follow me. If you follow me, I will make you into a new person, the person you were always meant to be. This is what the pilgrimage of the soul is all about: following Jesus through life until we become our true self, a self that we may initially know nothing about." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E202
Friday · 5 min
Not All Tears Are an Evil
Scripture Revelation 21:3-4 (NRSVUE) And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." Refrain God will wipe every tear from my eyes. Quote J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King "Well, here at last, dear friends, on the shores of the Sea comes the end of our fellowship in Middle-earth. Go in peace! I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E201
Thursday · 5 min
Only the Suffering God Can Help
Scripture John 11:25-26 (NRSVUE) Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" Refrain Christ shares my sorrow and holds my future. Quote Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Letters and Papers from Prison "God lets himself be pushed out of the world on to the cross. He is weak and powerless in the world, and that is precisely the way, the only way, in which he is with us and helps us. Christ helps us, not by virtue of his omnipotence, but by virtue of his weakness and suffering... only the suffering God can help." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E200
October 7 · 5 min
The Half Hour of Silence
Scripture John 11:33-35 (NIV) When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Refrain In the silence, Jesus weeps with me. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "Yes, Jesus knew he was about to raise Lazarus, he knew it even before Lazarus died. Yet even knowing he would soon raise Lazarus, Jesus helped shoulder the burden of that bitter half hour with Mary and Martha by grieving with them. During heaven's silence when it appears our prayers go unanswered and our grief unassuaged, Jesus weeps with us." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E199
October 6 · 5 min
He Whom You Love
Scripture John 11:3, 5 (NIV) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Refrain I am loved as a friend, and I am not alone. Quote Henri Nouwen, from Out of Solitude "When we honestly ask ourselves which persons in our lives mean the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a warm and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E198
October 5 · 5 min
Rain Upon the Blinding Dust
Scripture Psalm 84:5-7 (NIV) Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baka, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion. Refrain Even in the valley of weeping, there are springs. Quote Charles Dickens, from Great Expectations "Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before, more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E197
October 2 · 5 min
We Dazzle Gradually
Scripture Proverbs 4:18 (NRSVUE) But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Refrain I am being dazzled, gradually, into the light. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "I've been gradually dazzled by Christ into a much more hopeful and glorious theology. But along the way I've also learned that I have to tell it slant. I can't always expect someone to see in five minutes what it's taken me fifty years to see. In our pilgrim journey we need to be careful not to blind others with what we have seen. We dazzle... gradually." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E196
October 1 · 5 min
Like a Time Bomb
Scripture Luke 8:9–10 (NRSVUE) Then his disciples asked him what this parable meant. He said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that 'looking they may not perceive, and hearing they may not understand.'" Refrain The story is working in me before I understand it. Quote Eugene Peterson, from The Contemplative Pastor "Jesus' favorite speech form, the parable, was subversive. Parables sound absolutely ordinary: casual stories about soil and seeds, meals and coins and sheep, bandits and victims, farmers and merchants. And they are wholly secular. As people heard Jesus tell these stories, they saw at once that they weren't about God, so there was nothing in them threatening their own sovereignty. They relaxed their defenses. They walked away perplexed, wondering what they meant, the stories lodged in their imagination. And then, like a time bomb, they would explode in their unprotected hearts." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E195
September 30 · 5 min
From Milk to Solid Food
Scripture Hebrews 5:12–14 (NRSVUE) You need milk, not solid food; for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil. Refrain I am ready for what once would have overwhelmed me. Quote St. John of the Cross, from Dark Night of the Soul "The soul, after it has been definitely converted to the service of God, is, as a rule, spiritually nurtured and caressed by God, even as is the tender child by its loving mother, who warms it with the heat of her bosom and nurtures it with sweet milk and soft and pleasant food, and carries it and caresses it in her arms; but, as the child grows bigger, the mother gradually ceases caressing it, and, hiding her tender love, puts bitter aloes upon her sweet breast, sets down the child from her arms and makes it walk upon its feet, so that it may lose the habits of a child and betake itself to more important and substantial occupations." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E194
September 29 · 5 min
The Soul That Reaches Forward
Scripture Philippians 3:13–14 (NRSVUE) Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Refrain I am always being drawn further in. Quote Gregory of Nyssa, from The Life of Moses "Such an experience seems to me to belong to the soul which loves what is beautiful. Hope always draws the soul from the beauty which is seen to what is beyond, always kindles the desire for the hidden through what is constantly perceived. And the bold request which goes up the mountains of desire asks this: to enjoy the Beauty not in mirrors and reflections, but face to face." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E193
September 28 · 5 min
Tell It Slant
Scripture 1 Corinthians 13:12 (NRSVUE) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Refrain The truth dazzles gradually, so that I may see. Quote Emily Dickinson, "Tell All the Truth but Tell It Slant" "Tell all the truth but tell it slant— Success in Circuit lies Too bright for our infirm Delight The Truth's superb surprise As Lightning to the Children eased With explanation kind The Truth must dazzle gradually Or every man be blind—" Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E192
September 25 · 5 min
Love Everything
Scripture 1 John 4:7–8 (NRSVUE) Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. Refrain Love is my refusal of cynicism. Quote WHEN I AM AMONG THE TREES by Mary Oliver When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself, in which I have goodness, and discernment, and never hurry through the world but walk slowly, and bow often. Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E191
September 24 · 5 min
Called Up Out of the Darkness
Scripture Genesis 1:3 (NRSVUE) Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. Refrain I was called out of the darkness. Quote David Bentley Hart, from You Are Gods "From eternity, God has brought forth spiritual creatures into existence in the only way that such creatures could be formed: by calling them to ascend out of the darkness of nonbeing into the infinite beauty of the divine nature. To exist as a spiritual creature is simply to have heard and, from the first instant, responded to this total vocation. Creation is already deification—is, in fact, theogony. For that eternal act—that summoning of all created natures out of the primordial darkness—is most certainly an entirely free and unmerited gift of being, imparted to those who were not and who in themselves had no claim to be; but it is also, and no less originally, the call that awakens the gods." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E190
September 23 · 5 min
It's All a Gift
Scripture James 1:17 (NRSVUE) Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. Refrain It's all a gift. Quote Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love "And in this he showed me a little thing, the quantity of a hazelnut, lying in the palm of my hand, as it seemed. And it was as round as a ball. I looked upon it with the eye of my understanding and thought, 'What may this be?' And it was answered generally thus: 'It is all that is made.' I marveled how it might last, for I thought it might suddenly have fallen to nothing for littleness. And I was answered in my understanding: It lasts and ever shall, for God loves it. And so have all things their beginning by the love of God." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E189
September 22 · 5 min
Look Toward Heaven and Count the Stars
Scripture Genesis 15:5 (NRSVUE) He brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your descendants be." Refrain Hope returns when I look up. Quote J.R.R. Tolkien, from The Return of the King "Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E188
September 21 · 5 min
Theology Is Best Pursued Outdoors
Scripture Psalm 19:1 (NRSVUE) The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Refrain The world will never starve for want of wonders, but only for want of wonder. Quote Wendell Berry, from The Art of the Commonplace: The Agrarian Essays "The Bible is best read and understood outdoors, and the farther outdoors the better. Passages that within walls seem improbable or incredible, outdoors seem merely natural. This is because outdoors we are confronted everywhere with wonders; we see that the miraculous is not extraordinary but the common mode of existence." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E187
September 18 · 5 min
Take and Read
Scripture Romans 13:13–14 (NRSVUE) Let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires. Refrain I want to spend my life knowing you. Quote Brian Zahnd, from Unseen Existences "Lord, as much as I can mean anything, I mean this prayer in this moment: I want to spend the rest of my life seeking to know you as you are revealed in Christ. Amen." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E186
September 17 · 5 min
Under the Sun
Scripture Deuteronomy 6:4–5 (NRSVUE) Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Refrain Even here, the prayers hold. Quote Jürgen Moltmann "When we encounter insoluble problems and despair, we must remember that the Shema of Israel and the Lord's Prayer were prayed in Auschwitz." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
S4 · E185
September 16 · 5 min
You Will See Heaven Opened
Scripture John 1:50–51 (NIV) Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that." He then added, "Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man." Refrain God is nearer to me than my own soul. Quote Julian of Norwich, from Revelations of Divine Love "God is nearer to us than our own soul, for he is ground in whom our soul stands, and he is the means that keeps the substance and the sensuality together so that it shall never depart. For our soul sits in God, in true rest, and our soul stands in God in sure strength, and our soul is naturally rooted in God, in endless love." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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