Many years ago, one of us on our creative team had a mentor that  had written a book about preaching. His book was called “30 Minutes to Raise the Dead.” It is a clever title, and also an all too real tension many of us face with the creative process: How do we rouse a deaf world?  How do we get people’s attention in a world full of distractions?  Obviously it is God’s roll to do that, but how do we partner with Him to give people the opportunity to listen?

In our Art Effect Series this fall we have been highlighting a Psalm each Sunday as well as continuing our Transformed series, while also drawing from the talent of artists from all kinds of creative genres (photography, vocal performance, song writing, dance, video, etc), This past Sunday we highlighted Ps. 72 and also drew upon the artistry of Hosanna Poetry, a spoken word artist.

For the Psalm 72 moment, we discovered a retelling of the psalm from a Rabbi named Brandt Rosen.  We asked Hosanna to deliver this before the message. Here is the text:

Psalm 72: Transformation | Rabbi Brandt Rosen

let the lowly rise up,
let them crash and collide like
tectonic plates, let them burst forth
leaving soaring mountains
in their wake.

let the oppressed, buried deep
within the earth smolder and
shape like pressurized carbon
gliding inevitably upwards
only to emerge like diamonds
in the morning sun.

let the justice that trickled first
from shallow creeks now
roar through the valley and saturate
the dry parched earth, let it flow
relentlessly throughout the land
where life once grew
and will grow again.

let those who cry out in pain
feel your presence growing within
their broken souls like green
stems shooting through cracked pavement,
let them live to see new life spreading
through abandoned streets and
neighborhoods and cities and nations.

let the promise of your transformation beckon
still that we might finally take the first
tentative step into this new day, yes
let it be so.

Here is Hosanna’s live version:

 

 

After the message, we asked Hosanna to perform one of her own works.  She performed “Speak Lord.” Here is what she shared:

 

Our prayer is that when God speaks, He will rouse a deaf world… that He might rouse our deaf ears… to listen when He speaks.

To see more of Hosanna’s work, please visit her website: hosannapoetry.com