Revival and Renewal

George Herbert, as some of you know, is a constant source of inspiration to me. For starters, he was the pastor of a rural church tucked away in the English Countryside. Second off, in his short ministry he gives me a vision of pastoral life, far away as he was from “great places,” that was dynamic and full of the creative and beautiful life. To him, pastoral ministry and poetry were not two separate callings but rather informed and filled one another. As you read his poems, you are caught by a man who understood the human condition, the issues real people face, and who was able in profound ways to connect the realities of Scripture with those conditions and issues in ways that surprised, informed, and encouraged his people to live out their faith.

I got the opportunity to take a pilgrimage this summer to George Herbert’s church in Bemerton, just outside of Salisbury. This is the first of several poems that have come out of that experience, entitled “Ode to George Herbert.” For you, I’ve linked references to Herbert’s poems so you can follow his welcoming call as deeply as you wish.

Ode to George Herbert

Drafted at Bemerton, July 29^th, 2024

You bade me welcome
Or Love bade me through thee— 
That Divine Hospitality
 mingling truth with beauty—
To catch with you the quiddity
That perhaps great places 
And His praise do not so well agree. 
You bade me clasp in hand
The mystery of “mine and thine,” 
So that, holy in my head, 
Perfect and light in my dear breast,
My doctrine tuned by Christ (who,
 As you said, is not dead ,
But lives in me while I do rest) 
I might say farewell to every tempting snare,
Of office, name, reputation, and domain,
And all my sour-sweet days declare 
Love’s eternal, tincturing, welcoming Name.