Poetry as Spiritual Practice 

By Rev. Catherine Lauber

The Convention Worship Service this year featured both music and poetry in the service. This is the reflection from Rev. Catherine Lauber, this year’s Convention Preacher. In addition to her reflection, several poems were shared at the service. If you would like to experience the full service and music, please visit our YouTube channel @TheSwedenborgianChurch.

I want to share with you a little bit of my experience with poetry. It’s not been my favorite style of literary work. If I’m going to sit down and read something, it’s almost never going to be a book of poems.

And yet, for almost two years now, I’ve been part of a monthly poetry group. It’s led by a local poet/artist/jewelry maker friend of mine. 

And I thought, this might be a good thing to help me with my sermon writing. And Denise is pretty fun, and maybe I’ll give it a try and see what happens. 

So, each month, a small group gets together, we share poetry, we write poetry, and we read poetry out loud to each other. Each month, Denise sends out a prompt for the theme of the month, and she will also include a specific style or form of poetry that we can try our hand at if we want (i.e., a sonnet, a haiku, an ode, etc.).  The important thing is to come and invite in that space for poetic creativity to flow, even if it’s simply in listening to poetry. I’ve realized that, in itself, it can be a spiritual practice. Simply listening to the rhythm and the meter, the rhyme or the not rhyme of the poem.  Entering into the flow of the words. 

And here’s what I’ve learned…poetry begins when language stops behaving. I had to let go of my Gen X obsession with grammar rules, two spaces after the period, and proper spelling (which is subjective, by the way, and depends on what country you’re in—I’ve been in three different countries, three different spelling and grammar rules—and that’s not even counting academic writing). 

Worrying about all of that…it stops the flow of creativity. I had to let all that go and start misbehaving with words and language. 

When I can do that and be more intentional about writing poetry as a spiritual practice, I’ve found it to be a useful tool for expressing the dynamics of my inner life—thoughts, emotions and feelings about God, community, life in general, relationships, current events, etc.

And so this poetry practice has become a spiritual practice. It’s helping me connect to God; it’s moving my spirit towards creativity; it’s bringing me into community; and the reading, the writing, and the hearing of poetry are bringing a sense of beauty and wonder into my mind and deeper spirit. 

I’ve also found it to be helpful as a tool for regeneration. As a way to help shift, process and express the inner life. 

Here is an example. In December, I was invited to give the blessing at the annual Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony in Bradley Park. It’s a lovely honor, and I had been invited the year before, so I knew what to expect and I was really looking forward to it. 

Well, the day before the ceremony, we were expecting a big storm, and a notice went out that the event was cancelled due to the weather. I was a little disappointed about that, but—it really wasn’t about me—so I didn’t want to dwell on it. But to me it felt…unfinished. 

The day after the ceremony was to take place, I drove past the park and saw that the Christmas lights were on and the tree was lit up, and it looked very festive. So the lights got turned on, but we missed the gathering and the community connection. 

The poetry group was that week, and I was thinking about the tree, and the blessing, and the sense of incompleteness that I felt about the whole thing, and I wrote the following poem:

Blessings on the tree,
lit, unceremoniously,
the day after 
the event
was meant 
to be. 

Poetry allowed me to wrap up this commitment in a way that felt good to me, and then I could share my poem with the community to help bring the sense of togetherness, and the tree got its blessing.

A few months later, Denise sent out a prompt introducing us to the Haiku form of poetry; usually nature-based, three lines with some sort of active, movement component. As I was staring out the upstairs window, the inspiration came for this little ditty that is very New England-y:’

February 2, 2026

I. Sunshine in winter.
Drip, drip, drip…icicles shrink.
Roof’s edge is cleared. 

II. Rumble….bang-crash! Sound
interrupts quiet reflection — 
Heart leaps as snow slides. 

III. Melting to liquid,
landscape changes appearance —
Mud season begins.

Anyone who has heard the thunder of snow falling off the slant roof can relate to that heart-in-the-throat feeling. But the haiku provided a fun way of talking about everyday experiences. The changing of the seasons…

…The melting of the ICE. 

Poetry can be the vehicle to help express more taboo topics or unpopular stances, in a way that is often more accessible, while still allowing us to honor and express our inner life. 

When the Limerick came around as the poetic form for the month I think I probably rolled my eyes. Limerick… hmmm… how am I going to turn that into spiritual practice? 

I was surprised by the inspiration that came up for this poem:

There once was a man who stated 
that empathy was overrated.
To those who know better,
Be the trendsetter,
And share love and compassion, unabated. 

The Limerick gave me a vehicle to express some inner tension and wrestling with things that come up in the daily news. Poetry doesn’t require you to take a position, craft an argument, defend it, debate it, and line up the facts. Poetry simply allowed me to share an inner ‘a tension,’ in a way that was non-threatening, light-hearted and still made a point. 

Through poetry, you can share ideas, feelings, movements, a little more freely and creatively, and express your inner world through the written and spoken word. 

In doing so, we join in an ancient tradition of using poetic language to pray and to praise God, to express joy and wonder at the beauty of creation. 

Scripture is full of poetic language, and some of the most beautiful poems, prayers, and hymns come to us in the Book of Psalms. I wanted to share just a few verses of Hebrew poetry from Psalm 19—a testimony to the power of God and an expression of awe and wonder at the beauty of creation. 

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 
Day after day they pour forth speech; 
night after night they reveal knowledge. 
They have no speech, they use no words; 
no sound is heard from them. 
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, 
their words to the ends of the world. 
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, 
like a champion rejoicing to run his course. 
It rises at one end of the heavens 
and makes its circuit to the other; 
nothing is deprived of its warmth. 
—Psalm 19:1-6

Beautiful, poetic expression of praise. It stirs the soul and inspires the mind. 

As I was putting this service together and working with Ken Turley on the music, I sent him a draft of the service. He saw the reading of Psalm 19 and said, “I have a song based on Psalm 19.” And I think I heard Laurie in the background say “it’s the most beautiful song!” so we had to include it in this service. 

One of the practices that we do monthly at the poetry group is to actually write a poem, right then and there. Denise will give us a prompt, and then we have five to seven minutes to write a poem, and afterwards we share them with the group. 

This practice has shown me that I don’t always need an elaborate ritual, or a special writing pen, or twenty minutes of meditation before I create a poem. A short deadline and a small prompt can help us connect with the inner poet. 

I wrote the following poem at one of those gatherings, in about five minutes, using a small piece of rock as inspiration. 

MICA
January 18, 2026

Shining slivers of light
cast between rock and stone.
Cold and dull, 
now turned to the sun,
shimmers and glows. 

Reflection of the One 
light of creation. 
A reminder, that all is filled
with Divine light. 
Sometimes, all it takes
is a slight turn to see.  

When we allow for space for the Spirit to move, with the intention of creating, in the span of even just five minutes, we can connect to God and receive that inspiration. That influx of heavenly power that is constantly pouring into us.

A simple practice can lead to profound spiritual experiences. 

Poetry is one tool that we can use to support our spiritual life, our regeneration, and our connection to God. 

Throughout this evening, we have heard poems, songs, scripture, and reflections—different expressions of the same spiritual impulse: the desire to respond to the Lord’s presence in our lives.

We share these examples with you (poems, lyrics, readings, songs) to help maybe inspire you to think about Poetry as a Spiritual Practice. Using poetry, as a way to engage your creativity, as a way to connect with God and with others, through a place of love and integrity, of honesty, and compassion. With maybe a little humor and a limerick or two thrown in there. I invite you to give it a try. 

Read the full issue of the 2026 Convention Special.