The Creator’s Psalm {guest post}

By Carlene Byron | Blog

The Lord is my favorite artist;
I shall never cease to be amazed.

He surrounds me with beauty and splendor,
With treasures of intricate mystery and ineffable intent.

He leads me into opportunities beyond imagining.
He guides my hands as I create.

He gives wisdom to know the false from the true,
To discern the Spirit from the muse,

To shape what is pure and good and right and holy.
He has filled His world with riches beyond knowledge,

Created in every form to serve every being,
And like ripe fruit, I pluck what I need.

His creativity knows no end,
And I will rejoice in Him and His works forever.

About Carlene:

The former editor of New England Church Life and The New England Christian, Carlene Hill Byron is enjoying being home in Maine after 20 years in North Carolina. She is a professional fundraiser supporting adults with disabilities and is a member of the Redbud Writers Guild. Find her at Pocket Purpose Blog , The Church and Mental Illness, and on Facebook.

BOOK GIVEAWAY!

We are giving away two of Abigail Carroll’s books of poetry: Habitation of Wonder (Wipf & Stock 2018) and A Gathering of Larks: Letters to Saint Francis from a Modern-Day Pilgrim (Eerdmans 2017). You can read her post here.

TWO WAYS TO ENTER

1. Sign up for my newsletter below AND/OR

2. Tag up to four friends on either my Instagram or Facebook posts about this blog post and I’ll enter YOU (not your friend) once per friend you tag! Contest ends Wednesday, July 4th, at midnight (MT)*Only U.S. residents, please! And no bots;-)

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This is the final post in our series on the theme “Create.” Our next theme is “Hospitality Around the World.” Email me at scrapingraisins @ gmail (dot) com if you are interested in guest posting! Guest posts should be between 500 and 900 words. Be sure to include a headshot and bio! 🙂

Sign up for the (occasional) Mid-month Digest and the (loosely) “end of the month” Secret Newsletter for Scraping Raisins Here:

*All images are the property of Carlene Byron and are used with permission.

March 28, 2017March 28, 2017

Day 28: Two Poems // Teaching in Inner City Chicago // 2002 {31 Days of #WOKE}

teach (2/19/02)

I am afraid of the water.

Cold, murky,

yet others play

freely.

Whether I jumped

or was pushed,

I don’t know.

But I do know

that if

I don’t drown,

I may learn to swim.

limbless (2/12/02)

Like the babies born without arms,

without legs;

can I teach them,

pretending they are whole?

Not Civil Rights,

the Kush Empire

or the three branches of government,

but “Please.”

“Thank you.”

“Excuse me.”

“Don’t hit when she hits you.”

“Sit quietly when you are cursed

–when he talks about your mamma.”

As he throws a tantrum over

not getting called on to read about

brown v. board.

“Shut up.”

“I hate you.”

“You look like a black monkey.”

Imagining they are whole

even as I watch them

dismember themselves.

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For further reading: What ‘White Folks that Teach in the Hood’ Get Wrong about Education

March 13, 2017March 13, 2017

Day 13: Words (A Poem) {31 Days of #WOKE}

My students
found interest
in the difference
between “oppressed” and “repressed.”

Like the time I explained
the word “minority”
to Jaquisha,
who has lived
as a black girl
in a black world
her whole life.

“Pressed down,”
I said.
“Oppressed
means ‘pressed down.’”

Me
not grasping
the meaning.

Them
not knowing they already
understand the meaning
without knowing
the word.

–Leslie Verner (written 2002 while teaching middle school in North Lawndale, Chicago)

New to the Series? Start HERE (though you can jump in at any point!).

A 31 Day Series Exploring Whiteness and Racial Perspectives

During the month of March, 2017, I will be sharing a series called 31 Days of #Woke. I’ll be doing some personal excavating of views of race I’ve developed through being in schools that were under court order to be integrated, teaching in an all black school as well as in diverse classrooms in Chicago and my experiences of whiteness living in Uganda and China. I’ll also have some people of color share their views and experiences of race in the United States (I still have some open spots, so contact me if you are a person of color who wants to share). So check back and join in the conversation. You are welcome in this space.

Tag: poem