Malcolm Guite is a poet, priest and theologian. Years of inhabiting these roles has led him to the belief that we’re relying far too much on reason and thought in the formation of our faith, and are overlooking the significance of the ‘poetic imagination’.
He believes that we can find deep truth in the imagination and that poetry can bring our faith alive in a way that nothing else can. It’s a fascinating and hope-filled conversation!
Interview begins at 6m 50s
Image provided by Malcolm Guite. Used with permission.
BOOKS
Sounding the Seasons: Poetry for the Christian Year
QUOTES
“Liturgy is poetry, necessarily. Liturgy is a made and shaped thing that brings you in, takes you on a journey, transforms you and sends you out again with a new vision and that’s what a poem does.”
“Love is meaningful because it involves lament. And that’s what’s just completely missing, I think, from contemporary Christian music.”
“The whole [Seamus Heaney] poem is about a music you would never have known to listen for in a cactus stalk. It’s about upending things. The poem is about how you take this stupid dry stick from the desert and then, weirdly, the sound of refreshment comes out of it. And life is like that – that it’s actually often at the zero point, the worst point, that suddenly something extraordinary actually happens. And what makes it extraordinary is the unexpectedness of it.”
This is one of my favorite episodes you’ve done (along with everything by NT Wright (of course) and Alistair McIntosh, and the addition of David). Just reinforces my need to engage with YHWH and reality on a more visceral level. And furthers my growing understanding of how to engage with scripture as literature; and express truth through art.
More of this kind of thing please.
Thanks Nathan, great to hear you found the episode helpful! Tim
This episode is still probably my all-time favourite, and how I found you guys- I watched a Youtube video by Malcolm Guite about Advent and had to hear more, so I searched his name in my podcast app and found Nomad! Here I am dozens of episodes later. Thanks for the time and energy you all put into each episode. It’s greatly appreciated in my home, and has instigated many, many great conversations. Keep up the good work!
Abigail in southwest Florida, U.S.A.
So glad you found us Abigail, and are finding nomad helpful. Malcolm is a legend, isn’t he?!