My Alpha and My Omega

*** Revised Common Lectionary *** Lectionary Reading: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 CLASSIC POEM: Sonnet 15 William Shakespeare Of all my loves this is the first and last That in the autumn of my years has grown, A secret fern, a violet in the grass, A final leaf where all the rest are gone. Would that I could give all and more, my life, My world, my thoughts, my arms, my breath, my future, My love eternal, endless, infinite, yet brief, As all loves are, and hopes, though they endure. You are my sun and stars, my night, my day, My seasons, summer, winter, my sweet spring, My autumn song, the church in which I pray, My land and ocean, all that the earth can bring Of glory and of sustenance, all that might be divine, My alpha and my omega, and all that was ever mine. *** This poem is in the public domain, and may be read in a live-streamed worship service. CONTEMPORARY POEM: Five Psalms (No. 1) Mark Jarman SNIPPET: Let us think of God as a lover Who never calls, Whose pleasure in us is aroused In unrepeatable ways, … [ READ THE FULL POEM ]