Poetic Prayers: Where Cultures Meet. Verna Ernestine Penn Moll. Road Town, Virgin Islands: Virgin Islands Millennium Committee, 1999. ‘Poetic Prayers: Where Cultures Meet,’ was inspired when the author Verna Ernestine Penn Moll attended a spiritual retreat (sponsored by the St. Michael Church, Colchester, England, at Ringsfield in…., UK), which explored the spirituality of early Christian cultures.
Poetic Prayers: where Cultures meet was first published in the United Kingdom (UK) with commendations from the Reverend Stanley Withers of Leicestershire, UK, and the late Rev. Douglas O. Field of Halesowen, UK, both of whom served in the Virgin Islands as Superintendent Ministers of the Methodist Church. A Millenium edition was published in 2000 with a foreword by the Reverend Edris O’Neal. The 3rd printing in 2014 was especially to coincide with the local Authors’ Exhibition at the 1780 Sugar Works Museum, Road Town, Tortola, BVI.
“These poetic prayers are relevant and refreshing, suitable for public and private use,” according to one commentator. Another said, “I commend these spiritual verses, some reminiscent of St. Francis of Assisi, some of the beauty of the Caribbean and the natural world but the predominant theme is the lightness of God’s touch on His children, allowing them to feel the warmth and breadth of His spirit guiding them.” The book was available at the Methodist Church Office in Road Town, Tortola at a cost of $10.00 usc. Sales from the Church Office benefited the Church’s publication fund. ‘Poetic Prayers: Where Cultures Meet’ is currently out of print.
Here are samplings of Poetic Prayers:
FILL ME TODAY
Lord, rise with me today
As you rise with the sun.
Lord, warm my heart today
That good deeds may be done.
Lord, stir my heart today
For the journey begun.
Spirit of God, Fill me today,
And always stay, I pray.
THE SOURCE
You are the spring of my beginning!
Keep welling-up in me
Please keep my outlets free.
You are the spring of my beginning!
Keep bubbling up in me
Let me go on flowing, flowing free.
You are the spring of my beginning!
Stir up your gift again
Create new words in me.
You are the spring of my beginning!
Keep bubbling truths of liberty
In me, in me, in me.
You are the spring of my beginning!
Keep truth flowing, flowing free
For now and all eternity.
WOODLAND HARMONY
May God reveal Himself
When in the woods I wander,
May I discover His nature.
May Jesus guide my way
When in the wilderness I stray
May I learn to pray.
May I feel the spirit
Of the woodland’s harmony
Descending like a dove on me.
THE LOVE OF GOD
I see the power of God
in the gentle ripple
on the sea.
I see the love of God
caring for the rose
and the lily.
I see the wisdom of God
in the ant’s routine
and in the queen bee.
COLLECTIVE GRIEF
I saw children
Little children,
Sweet and innocent lambs of God
Bearing crosses
High above their heads:
Little Simeons of our time
Passing through the valley
And the great shadow,
And Christ is crucified again!
GENTLE VOICES
Thank you for the voices
That fall as gentle dew
To quell the angry noises
Of international brew.
But there are other voices
That are homely and sincere,
To soothe the many bruises
That are familiarly near.
You are the Voice of voices
That falls on inner ear
And calms the frightful forces
And drives away our fear.
Dissolve My Thoughts
Lord, sometimes I feel uneasy,
I should be there, not here
Doing that, not this.
Pierced by the Paulian thorn
That would not be drawn,
Sometimes I feel broken-down.
But you had a taster, Lord,
For you were there
And left to come here
Burdens and insults to bear,
Emptying yourself to bear
The gift of peace.
And when you gasped for breath,
God gave strength again
To endure the pain
Inflicted by the cruel nail,
Strength that cried,
“Forgive! Forgive!”
So, dissolve my thoughts in yours, Lord
Wing them o’er land and sea
To turn some wounded soul to Thee!