{"product_id":"word-made-fresh-an-invitation-to-poetry-for-the-church-by-abram-van-engen","title":"Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church by Abram Van Engen","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eHave you ever read a book that turned your world upside down? What about a poem? \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePoetry has the power to enliven, challenge, change, and enrich our lives. But it can also feel intimidating, confusing, or simply \"not for us.\" In these joyful and wise reflections, Abram Van Engen shows readers how poetry is for everyone--and how it can reinvigorate our Christian faith.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIntertwining close readings with personal storytelling, Van Engen explains how and why to read poems as a spiritual practice. Far from dry, academic instruction, his approach encourages readers to delight in poetry, even as they come to understand its form. He also opens up the meaning of poetry and parables in Scripture, revealing the deep connection between literature and theology.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eWord Made Fresh\u003c\/i\u003e is more than a guide to poetry--it's an invitation to wonder, to speak up, to lament, to praise. Including dozens of poems from diverse authors, this book will inspire curious and thoughtful readers to see God and God's creation in surprising new ways.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the foreword: \"I've never read a book like \u003ci\u003eWord Made Fresh\u003c\/i\u003e. And I've come to realize that it's a book I've been seeking for most of my life. . . . \u003ci\u003eWord Made Fresh\u003c\/i\u003e is an introduction that stays with its reader beyond the moment of introduction to ensure that the reader can make a home with and in poetry. . . . When I was fifteen, poetry discovered me. And now I feel as if I know it for the first time.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Shane McCrae, Columbia University, author of \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePulling the Chariot of the Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e and \u003ci\u003eIn the Language of My Captor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"What a brilliant, humane, intelligent, and \u003ci\u003enecessary\u003c\/i\u003e book. Abram Van Engen is an ideal guide through the art of poetry and has written that rare book that can speak to both the novice and the expert. Most importantly, Van Engen knows that poetry is 'equipment for living' and can be, for anyone willing to listen, a vital element of faith.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Christian Wiman, Yale Divinity School, author of \u003ci\u003eZero at the Bone \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Every Riven Thing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"I've been waiting for someone to write this book. Sensitive to newcomers and even skeptics, Abram Van Engen is a warm, wise, generous guide into the manifold gifts poetry offers. A master teacher and thoughtful scholar, Van Engen writes as a fellow human, a pilgrim on the way with us, sharing his experiences with poetry to entice us to find our own. At once practical and existential, this book is a master class and a love letter. Like the Ancient Mariner, I will be grabbing people by the lapels and pressing this book into their hands: Here's why poetry is the song you didn't realize your heart wants to sing.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--James K. A. Smith, Calvin University, author of \u003ci\u003eYou Are What You Love\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eHow to Inhabit Time\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"We need poetry more than ever. In our moment in history, words have often been rendered cheap, combative, and manipulative. But poetry calls us back to the beauty, depth, and power of careful, crafted words. A gifted teacher and writer, Abram Van Engen is a deft guide for those new to poetry and those who have enjoyed it for decades. His vital exploration and expert curation of great poems rejuvenates our imagination, giving us new eyes to notice our own lives--with all the joy and pain they hold and hide--and to glimpse God's work in and among us. I will return to this luminescent book again and again.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Tish Harrison Warren, author of \u003ci\u003eLiturgy of the Ordinary \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003ePrayer in the Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"This is a book to savor. With total understanding of our wariness, Van Engen graciously ushers us into the world of poetry and makes us feel at home there. Like the tone of a concert cellist, his writing has both core and sheen: it's perfectly clear and it's also wonderfully evocative. This book is a sheer pleasure.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Cornelius Plantinga, Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, author of \u003ci\u003eMorning and Evening Prayers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Why does God keep making poets? Because the church needs to wonder anew at God's daily graces! Abram Van Engen gifts readers with a practical guide both for those who fear verse (that they will see how simple and lovely poems are), as well as for those who have never lost their delight in the grandeur of poetry. Within these pages, through the diverse assortment of spiritually thick poems that Van Engen chooses alongside his personal and clear explications, readers may taste freshly the joy of the Lord.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Jessica Hooten Wilson, Pepperdine University, author of \u003ci\u003eReading for the Love of God \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Scandal of Holiness\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"It's been a long time since I've read a book so eagerly, with so many points of resonance and shared pleasure. \u003ci\u003e Word Made Fresh\u003c\/i\u003e follows through with the title's promise, reminding me anew what a miraculous thing a poem can be. Ironically, as a career songwriter it took me a long time to realize it--how these unadorned words on a page, resting there in silence without the aid of a melody or a chord progression, can wake up and take residence in us when breathed to life on our lips. But once it happened--for me it was \"God's Grandeur,\" by Hopkins--I was changed forever. That poem is still rambling around in the chambers of my heart, along with many others. I wish I could have read this book and discovered the wonder of poetry years earlier, but I'm so glad we have it now as a winsome, wise guide into the vast library of poems and poets that might come to life and change you, too.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e--Andrew Peterson, singer-songwriter, founder of The Rabbit Room, author of \u003ci\u003eThe God of the Garden\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbram Van Engen \u003c\/b\u003eis Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities and chair of the English Department at Washington University in St. Louis. His other books include \u003ci\u003eSympathetic Puritans\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eCity on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism\u003c\/i\u003e. Passionate about teaching poetry to a wider audience, he also cohosts the podcast \u003ci\u003ePoetry for All\u003c\/i\u003e with Joanne Diaz and directs the Carver Project, a Christian nonprofit that aims to connect university, church, and society.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilliam B. Eerdman's Publishing Company\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePub Date: June 25, 2024\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e0.79\" H x 8.5\" L x 5.6\" W\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e312 pages\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePaperback\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!----\u003e","brand":"William B. 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