Say It Another Way

Say It Another Way

My wife and I decided that we would put a price limit on our wedding presents to each other: we weren't allowed to spend anything. After I agreed to this stipulation I realized how difficult it was going to be because it was going to force me to be ultra-thoughtful.

I ended up writing her this sonnet (which more or less follows the scheme for a Shakespearean sonnet). The hardest part was getting every line in iambic pentameter:


October 15, 2005

My sermons come in fits and starts yet still
I know I can rely on Spirit's pow'r
To help me utter forth each Sunday hour
The words that comfort, chide, inspire, or thrill;
And Scripture's verse is, too, a steady hand
In molding what a preacher needs to say.
It never fails: the message finds its way
If mapped out word for word, or if unplanned;
But preaching love for you is when I find
I am no bard. Expression hits a wall.
The words come feebly if they come at all.
What needs be said stays trapped inside my mind.
Now, thanks to vows which make us one from two
My life, not words, declares my love for you.