What is most essentially human is our capacity to love and hope even in the face of anguish, anger, and despair. As May Sarton writes in "Unison Benediction":
"Return, return to the deep sources,
nothing less will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve,
to carve into our lives the forms of tenderness …"
We are happy to welcome Roger Housden back for an e-course that brings you poems chosen because they speak of the heartbreaking realities we face and yet offer an element of hope, resilience, love, gratitude, and recognition of the human spirit's ability to endure. Taken one by one, these poems can help restore your reservoir of courage.
Bestselling author and poetry aficionado Roger Housden has chosen from the works of Rainer Maria Rilke, Maya Angelou, W. H. Auden, May Sarton, Mark Nepo, Ellen Bass, W. S. Merwin, David Ignatow, and many more highly esteemed poets. In this unique program, you will receive 31 emails, each containing:
- a poem chosen by Roger for its personally relevant way of addressing world concerns;
- a short commentary on the poem by Roger;
- guidance on how to consciously reflect on the poem;
- an audio recording of the poem read by Roger;
- a simple practice based on the poem's theme for you to bring into your day;
- encouragement to reflect on the poem in your personal journal.
Best-selling author, speaker, and writing guide Roger Housden is one of the Living Spiritual Teachers profiled on Spirituality & Practice. We at S&P are big fans of his collections of "Ten Poems" books with poetry to open your heart, to set you free, to last a lifetime, to change your life again and again, to say goodbye, and for difficult times. He calls himself a lifelong student of the beauty of the word, a quality that shines through both his choices of poems and his commentaries on their meanings.
As you seek to bring a courageous, loving heart to the current world situation, we hope that these poems can give you a needed boost of clarity and insight. We often hear the call to "be the change you wish to see in the world," and poetry is one powerful tool to build that way of being.
4 CEHs for chaplains available.
Available On-Demand
(choose your own start date and frequency)
$49.95
