Overview
Description:
Seeking to live a Christian life in this American society can often evoke a wide range of emotions, and the precipitation sometimes looks like poetry. Times of great joy as well as times of disappointment and great sorrow are excellent catalysts for a kind of poetry that speaks in real ways to real people. This project contains both joy and sorrow, in an attempt to express different aspects of the changing atmosphere of the religious experience in the twenty-first century. I believe poetry can speak simply to deeper theological ideas in a way that is both deeply beautiful and deeply true.
At times theology can be a very inaccessible subject for the average layperson, but it can also have a certain simple beauty that anyone can appreciate. As I have read and learned about theology, I've always found that the most profound ideas can be written out logically in essays and books, or they can be stated in succinct but imaginative phrases. I write with the latter category in mind.
Pages Called Holy has been written over the past three years as I live, work, and learn in a local church. Most of these poems have their inspiration in the struggles of church life and the disparity between what I see happening and what I see God calling the Church to be. It is this tension that brings life to the poetry I write, and it is my hope that these poems would speak to an audience of the countless numbers of believers across all generations who feel that same tension between what is and what could be.
Endorsements:
""J. Ted Voigt's Pages Called Holy is a gentle revolution put to verse. It takes us deeper than mere ideas, anchoring a radical faith in a kingdom imagination.""
--Mark Van Steenwyk, founder of Missio Dei and general editor of JesusManifesto.com
""Pages called Holy is an engaging celebration of the mystery of spirituality and the joy of discovering God in the extraordinary and ordinary moments of life. Ted writes with a passion that captures the pain of a generation jaded by hollow religiosity and an optimism that believes God has not stopped pursuing his Bride. A read that is nourishing to the soul.""
--Ben Lee, ordained minister, Church of the Nazarene
""Pages Called Holy is filled with prophetic poetry that will stir your soul and shake up the status quo. This collection of poems is filled with deep reflections about church, theology, justice, and living out our faith in the midst of brokenness. Voigt cuts to the core and asks the questions that so many of us are wrestling with about how to peel away the outside layers of our faith and get to what's underneath--what does it really mean to be a Christ-follower in these changing times and how can we radically and simply participate in bringing the Kingdom of God to earth, now? There's no doubt, J. Ted Voigt is a voice to listen to.""
--Kathy Escobar, co-pastor of The Refuge and co-author of Come with Me: An Invitation to Break through the Walls between You & God
About the Contributor(s):
J. Ted Voigt is a poet living and working in Kansas City, Missouri. Pages Called Holy is the first collection of his work.
