The World in a Grain of Sand by Bret J. Saunders

View

The World in a Grain of Sand

Bret J. Saunders on the Importance of Poetry in Christian Education & Life

In a time of down-to-earth economic and political concerns, hardly anything seems less worthwhile than poetry. Poetry is the business of introspective twenty-somethings living in their parents' basements; or perhaps it is mostly the business of snobby academics and obscure journals. Poetry seems purposely vague and narcissistic. Why would any sane person squander as much time as poets do on a single image, verse, or line—sometimes even a single word? Perhaps poets, especially modern ones, are in fact not sane; or maybe they write poetry because they can't do anything (else). And specifically "Christian" objections are not hard to come by. "Shouldn't you spend more time on God's word," someone might say, "instead of Robert Frost's and your own?" Fair question. What about spiritual pursuits of deeper value, like witnessing or going on a mission trip?

What follows is a defense of poetry and its place in Christian education and life.

THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:


Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

Online
Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.


more on poetry from the online archives

37.5—Sept/Oct 2024

Young Folly & Elder Hope

A Battle Plan for Peace While Growing Old by Anthony Esolen


more from the online archives

32.6—November/December 2019

Reformation Redux?

on Taking Heed of the Parallels Between the Crises of Yesterday & Today by Korey D. Maas

17.6—July/August 2004

Reality & Reluctant Science

Old Science Confronts a Formidable Challenge in the Scientific ID Movement by Jay W. Richards

30.3—May/June 2017

St. Luke the Evangelist

by Mary Elizabeth Podles

calling all readers

Please Donate

"There are magazines worth reading but few worth saving . . . Touchstone is just such a magazine."
—Alice von Hildebrand

"Here we do not concede one square millimeter of territory to falsehood, folly, contemporary sentimentality, or fashion. We speak the truth, and let God be our judge. . . . Touchstone is the one committedly Christian conservative journal."
—Anthony Esolen, Touchstone senior editor

Support Touchstone

00