The great poem of the 1855 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman is The Sleepers. It alternates between phantasmagoria and vivid naturalism by taking the reader through confusing and strange scenes that are dream-like. As author Harold Bloom writes: "Only in the dream can Walt discover his otherwise unknowable soul."
Whitman, the dreamer, describes his journey this way:
"I too pass from the night;
I stay awhile away O night, but I return to you again and love you;
Why should I be afraid to trust myself to you?
I am not afraid . . . I have been well brought forward by you;
I love the rich running day , but I do not desert her in whom I lay so long;
I know not how I came of you, and I know not where I go with you . . . but I know I came well and shall go well."
It was from the Bible's Isaiah and First Peter that Whitman compounded the fiction of the leaves. The biblical passages read:
"All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field" [Isaiah 40:6 KJV].
"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." [1 Peter 1:24-25 KJV].
The lesson here is that the Bible inspires great poetry. And the Bible's God inspires us to dream even in the dark of confusion and the night of uncertainty. We have all, in Whitman's words, "been well brought forward" by God. God's momentum is always a forward momentum taking us through the dark of night to another brand new day.
Who among us does not love "the rich running day" that we repeatedly surrender back to the night?
And who among us cannot say with all honesty to God: "I know not how I came of you, and I know not where I go with you . . . but I know I came well and shall go well"?
God surrounds all of us with God's love. The old words of the genuflection say it best: "God is in my head. God is in my heart. God is on the left of me. God is on the right of me." As we make the sign of the cross, a sign not limited to Roman Catholics alone, we can be assured that God will take care of you and me.
Discover your otherwise unknowable soul by immersing yourselves in the Bible and in the great literary masterpieces of the ages. They will cause you to dream, adding a depth to your person and a relevancy to your congregational life. You will offer to those to whom you minister a sweep of the millennia and a connection to the heart and soul of the Christian faith.
Immersing-ly and soulfully yours,
impacts of climate change in our congregations and communities. Convened with the assistance of partner organizations that helped lead the conference. Presenters included Vice President Al Gore (Climate Reality Project), Sister Simone Campbell (NETWORK), Jacqui Patterson (NAACP), Rev. Leo Woodberry, Tim DeChristopher (Climate Disobedience Center), Rev. Ed Brown (Care of Creation), Shantha Ready Alonso (Creation Justice Ministries) and many others.
coverage of what often has been called the "Flint Water Crisis." Also overlooked in the complexity of the crisis has been the collaborative efforts of the church to turn this crisis into action. The summer 2016 issue of Just Women magazine features a report and update on work being done in Flint by Vermont Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Flint, Michigan; the Disciples Michigan Region; the Michigan Conference of the United Church of Christ; the Week of Compassion; as well as other partners to bring clean water -- and justice to Flint. The feature article is only one of the ecojustice topics covered in the issue. The summer issue comes out in July and you can 
