To the Unknown God

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This resource relating to Acts 17:22-31 provides a poem by Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) highlighting a yearning for God and a poem by Denise Levertov (1923-1997) highlighting God's presence.
Paid Resource: 
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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: Acts 17:22-31 CLASSIC POEM: To the Unknown God Friedrich Nietzsche (This translation found in Janko Lavrin, Nietzsche and Modern Consciousness, 1922) Once more, before my vision turns To strange horizons, untried lands, To thee I lift my lonely hands For whom my spirit yearns, To whom, within its ultimate shrine, Are solemn altars dedicate While yet I wait The summoning voice to claim me thine. Thereon is writ in characters ablaze The deep-cut legend, “To the Unknown God”; For his am I, although my feet have trod, Even to this hour, in foul and miry ways, Yea, I will know thee, great Unknown, Who shakest the foundations of my soul, Urgent and clamorous as the thunder’s roll. Eternally apart, eternally my own, Yea, I will know thee — I will serve thee. *** This poem is in the public domain, and may be read in a live-streamed worship service. CONTEMPORARY POEM: “In Whom We Live and Move and Have Our Being” Denise Levertov SNIPPET: Birds afloat in air’s current, sacred breath? No, not breath of God, it seems, but God the air enveloping the whole globe of being. … [ READ THE FULL POEM ]
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Primary Author
Author: 
Friedrich Nietzsche
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Primary Author
Author: 
Denise Levertov
Content Type: 
Key Scriptures: 
Acts 17:22-31
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RCL Lectionary Week: 
Year A Sixth Sunday of Easter
Date: 
Monday, May 8, 2023