Mystery Without Rhyme or Reason

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This collection of poetic reflections is a rich resource for a faithful imagination. Michael Coffey's poems explore the deep questions and joyful affirmations of Christian faith. Never settling for easy answers or straight-forward interpretations, Coffey's writing invites the reader into new spiritual territory where the strange and unexpected, the beautiful and painful, become an encounter with the holy. Anyone preparing to preach or teach on biblical texts will find here words that inspire, challenge, and create new inroads for faith. Anyone seeking meditative or devotional readings of Scripture will find a companion for thoughtful reflection and prayer. Covering most of the Sundays and primary festivals of the church's liturgical year, these writings will enrich all who plan, prepare, and participate in worship that spans the vast themes of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and the ordinary Sundays. "Mike Coffey's poetic reflections have long sparked my imagination. They have the artistic flair one can see also in his office and worship space at First English [Lutheran Church]. Having forwarded many of these over the years, I am grateful to see them in now in print. May they tug and nudge at the edges of your consciousness, allowing you to hear, see, and feel the biblical story in new ways." --Michael Rinehart, Bishop, Texas-Louisiana Gulf Coast Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America "Coffey writes in the language of the soul about the Great Mystery of Life and Incarnation. His book of poetry is a doorway to the Sacred and you will be very blessed and transformed by tasting Mike Coffey's poems, just as I was. Be open to a new way of seeing Scripture and Theology, not from the control tower of reason, but from the dark oceanic fluids of your soul." --Antonio Ramirez, author of The Man: Reflections on Male Spirituality and Identity "There's an undeniable, concrete reality to these poems. Big ideas are tethered to physical images and contemporary speech: nanoseconds, Scotch tape, the Brooklyn Bridge, Willy Wonka, even! But don't be fooled by their accessibility. These poems are labyrinthine and they spiral in to a complex, enigmatic center: the awful, awe-filling, all-filling heart of God. These poems enflesh that mystery and remind us that once and for a while God was human and that if we fully understood him, then he wouldn't be God." --Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of New York Times bestselling book Hausfrau Michael Coffey is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, currently serving as pastor of First English Lutheran Church in Austin, TX. He has previously served parishes in Burnet, TX and San Antonio, TX. He is a contributing writer for Sundays and Seasons and Sundays and Seasons: Preaching, and Classical Considerations: Useful Wisdom from Greece and Rome (2006).