First Things RSS Feed - Sr. Lou Ella Hickman, I.W.B.S. https://www.firstthings.com/author/sr-lou-ella-hickman-iwbs en-us Copyright 2025 First Things. All Rights Reserved. ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) ft@firstthings.com (The Editors) Mon, 20 Jan 2025 16:56:07 -0500 https://d2201k5v4hmrsv.cloudfront.net/img/favicon-196.png First Things RSS Feed Image https://www.firstthings.com/rss/author/sr-lou-ella-hickman-iwbs 60 The Book of Revelation: A Class Lesson https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/06/the-book-of-revelation-a-class-lesson https://www.firstthings.com/article/2017/06/the-book-of-revelation-a-class-lesson Thu, 01 Jun 2017 00:00:00 -0400 during the years i taught scripture to adults—
i would tell them this is my favorite book
and for that lesson i would play handel’s messiah :
this is what revelation would sound like if put to music
the alleluia chorus got king george to stand up
but this . . .
 this is adoration in D major
 then  i would sit down . . .
worthy is the lamb hung in the silence 
as if the voices’ trumpet was praying
and it was
i would close my eyes
both lost and found until the end . . .
now that is the book of revelation
i would end the class with my own theory
the new testament needed the liturgical pulse of the psalms 
singing how long o Lord how long
singing praise and adoration under the branding iron of rome
today it still sings

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]]> Holy Childhood https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/04/holy-childhood https://www.firstthings.com/article/2011/04/holy-childhood Fri, 01 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0400 did you know summer hides
even as she shines

once, she whispered to the chinese tallows and the maples
let me sleep among your branches
sometimes my own brightness tires

then, when her yellows and reds stir,
summer, a sleepy child, journeys to her own bed
on the shoulder of another season

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