To be good citizens, we must pay attention. We must notice what is happening in our world, in our country, and in our communities so that we can play a role in fixing what is broken. To be hopeful citizens we must also notice what is good and beautiful. In today’s episode, Laura Martin and I discuss poetry as a spiritual practice that can help us pay attention, so that we may “look at all that devastates, all that breaks, and proclaim the greatest of all is still Love.”

Laura shares poems from her new book, Breaking into Light, and we discuss:

Voting for the world we hope for
The intimacy of poetry and how that can move us to action
How grief can invite us into community with others
How poetry invites us to pay attention and other spiritual practices that can cultivate our capacity to notice
The multigenerational task of pursuing justice and how poetry can help us be in the moment and connect us to the long arc of history
The urgency of centering ourselves in the final weeks before the election
How poetry redefines strength and calls us to action
The importance of the small choices we make to love those around us
How an expansive definition of the divine helps us heal individually and collectively
Lectio Divina as a practice for holy reading

Poems from Laura that you can use as a spiritual resource this election:

Let There Be: A Benediction for Right Now (A Poem)
Breaking into Light (A book of Poetry)

The offerings from all of our guests, and the text of Laura’s poem, Little Benedictions, can be found on our Spiritual Practices for Political Engagement Page.

Connect with Laura through her website or on Facebook, and instagram @lauramartinpoetry.

Connect with me at katie@thiselection.org or on instagram @katie.m.cochran.

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