Someties a Poem can express the deep inner emotions felt in times of sadness or joy. Please find below some poems which cover these human emotions that we all feel in our lives.
Some of our greatest and most loved hymns began life as Poems and grew into hymns when they were set to music.
The Perfect Church
If you should find the perfect church
Without a fault or smear,
For goodness sake don’t join that church
Lest you spoil the atmosphere.
If you should find the perfect church
Then don’t you ever dare
To tread upon such holy ground
You’d cause such disturbance there.
But since no perfect church exists,
Made of perfect people,
Let’ cease on looking for that church
And love the church we’re in.
Of course it’s not the perfect church,
That’s simple to discern.
But you and I and all of us
Could cause the tide to turn.
What fools we are to flee the past
In that unfruitful search
To find, at last, where problems are
God proudly builds his Church.
(A Poem for a First Holy Communion)
Jesus Lord, here adored
Here we gather to greet you
In the Host and the wine
We come gladly to meet you.
Body of Jesus, O live in us,
Live in us forever.
Jesus, Lord, here adored
May we love you forever.
(Below is a Poem following the loss of a loved one or a friend following a long illness)
When God saw you getting tired by Anon
When God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be
He put his arms around you
And whispered come to me
He didn’t like what you went through
And he gave you rest
His garden must be beautiful
He only takes the best
And when we saw you sleeping
So peaceful and free from pain
We wouldn’t wish you back
To suffer that again
Today we say goodbye
And as you take your final rest
That garden must be beautiful
Because you are one of the best.
(Below is a Poem following the loss of a baby)
Little Snowdrop
We may notice if a flower doesn’t bloom,
And even stop to wonder
If the petals fall too soon.
But every life that ever forms,
Or ever comes to be,
Touches the world in some small way
For all eternity.
The little one we long for,
Was swiftly here and gone.
But the love that was then planted
Is a light that still shines on.
And though our arms are empty,
Our hearts know what to do.
Every beating of our hearts
Says that we love you.
(Author Anon)
Loss of a child
When God calls Little Children
When God calls little children
To dwell with him above,
We mortals sometimes questions
The wisdom of His love.
For no heartache can compare
With the death of one small child
Who comes into our lives
So special and so mild.
Knowing this is difficult
Somehow we must try
To say the saddest words of all,
When parents say ‘goodbye’.
So when our little child departs
And we are left behind
We know God loves children
And Angels are hard to find.
A Meditation on Parenthood and Children (Kahlil Gibran)
Your Children are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you and though they are with you,
yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
for their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and he bends you with his might
that his arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer’s hand be for gladness;
for even as he loves the arrow that flies,
so he loves also the bow that is stable.
The Marriage Promise
A day of joy, great friends to meet,
A day to remember, great occasion, great feast.
But there’s more than that, more purpose, more soul.
It celebrates a commitment and that’s its real goal.
It’s lifelong. It’s real. It’s founded on love.
That’s the anchor. That’s the promise. Nothing else above.
Through sickness, through health I’ll always be there.
My life’s now yours and now ours to share.
Never just a day, but a future to live.
Never just a moment, but a lifetime to give.
For better, for worse that’s the promise we’ve made.
With God’s help and our pledge our love will pervade.