Poetry & Theology

While serving as a seminarian intern with The Church of the Heavenly Rest, NYC, I created and facilitated a "Poetry & Theology Hour." Offered in the initial months of the Covid-19 pandemic, this virtual small group became a powerful gathering, offering meaningful spiritual connection and an ethos of mutual aid. With a simple format integrating a poetry-based Lectio Divina practice with theological discussion, the further opportunity nurtured my own curiosity toward the transformative possibility of poetry.

This experimental formation offering was eventually developed into a full curriculum as part of my studies at Yale Divinity School. Later, while serving as an Associate Rector, that (yet-published) curriculum was given life during adult education hour through "Experience & Encounter: Faith and Poetry for Advent."

Below is an excerpt of the framing for the series:

'Experience and Encounter' considers the life of faith through the lens of poetry. Reflective reading and group discussion will provide opportunities for both spiritual practice and theological formation. Together, we will engage how the dynamic language of poetry and of theology inform the life of faith. Poetry is language born of human experience. Through a poet's personal lived experience, they articulate the reality of finite being in all of its complexity and fullness—including moments of joy and sufferinhg, longing and hope. Similarly, the language of theology is that which emerges from the intersection of human experience and divine encounter. From personal and shaheed encounters of God's living presence, theological claims express limited, temporal knowledge of the Eternal. Each of these disciplines, poetry and theology, are creative acts—using language to shape life. Practically speaking though, how do these disciplines inform the life of faith? Christianity is intrinsically concerned with a way of being in the world—with living faith. Through God's creative and redemptive action, something new unfolds in the world and in our lives. This generative nature is central to our faith, and through God's Spirit we are moved to also participate in bringing forth new life. Creating—whether we understand it as "art" or not—is an inherently hope-filled act; movement from imagination into constructed reality brings something into a new form of existence. More than articulating life as it is, poetry and theology cultivate the possibility of different ways of being. Through a Lectio Divina spiritual practice and group theological reflection this series will provide opportunity to wonder and discover—together.