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This resource relating to Romans 14:1-12 provides a poem by Adelaide Anne Procter (1825-1864) encouraging the avoidance of hasty judgments and a poem by Theodore Roethke (1908-1963) exploring themes of resilience and strength in adversity.
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Lectionary:
Revised Common Lectionary
Source:
Englewood Review
Related to Children or Youth:
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Audio/Video:
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Full Text:
*** Revised Common Lectionary ***
Lectionary Reading:
Romans 14:1-12
CLASSIC POEM:
Judge Not
Adelaide Anne Proctor
Judge not; the workings of his brain
And of his heart thou canst not see;
What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,
In God’s pure light may only be
A scar, brought from some well-won field,
Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.
The look, the air, that frets thy sight,
May be a token, that below
The soul has closed in deadly fight
With some infernal fiery foe,
Whose glance would scorch thy smiling grace,
And cast thee shuddering on thy face!
The fall thou darest to despise–
May be the angel’s slackened hand
Has suffered it, that he may rise
And take a firmer, surer stand;
Or, trusting less to earthly things,
May henceforth learn to use his wings.
And judge none lost; but wait, and see,
With hopeful pity, not disdain;
The depth of the abyss may be
The measure of the height of pain
And love and glory that may raise
This soul to God in after days.
*** This poem is in the public domain,
and may be read in a live-streamed worship service.
CONTEMPORARY POEM:
Judge Not
Theodore Roethke
SNIPPET:
Faces greying faster than loam-crumbs on a harrow;
Children, their bellies swollen like blown-up paper bags,
…
[ READ THE FULL POEM ]
Content Type:
Key Scriptures:
Romans 14:1-12
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Non English Resource:
RCL Lectionary Week:
Year A Proper 19 (Ordinary Time 24)
Date:
Monday, September 11, 2023