As congregants enter, ushers hand each person a golf pencil and slip of paper. Each slip is a quarter-sheet of letter-sized paper, with one of four prompts written on it:
[Worship Leader]: As you each came into this physical space, a member of this community handed you a piece of paper and a pencil. As you each came into the digital Zoom space, you may have noticed four phrases in the chat. We will use these for a deepening practice called Thirteen Words. This is a practice to explore poetry making and receiving as a practice of deepening our connections with one another and our world.
After this gong chimes, each of us will spend five minutes writing a short poem, just thirteen words. On the back of each sheet of paper is a short prompt to guide you. When you hear the second chime, turn to a neighbor. You two will share and receive the poems you have made. This is an exercise in nonjudgment – both in what you make and what you receive, following Wendell Berry’s direction to accept what comes from the silence and make the best of it we can. When your neighbor has shared this poem, thank them. And if you feel so moved, share one more word, one word to describe what came up for you in receiving this poem.
[Chime gong, wait five minutes. Chime gong, wait one minute]
Thank you.
This was a practice I designed & offered in a service about the spirituality of poetry at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ames on 16 July 2023.