Robert O’Sullivan, a retired high school English teacher and pastor, has published new verses he has written to traditional holiday carols at the Progressive Christianity website.
The verses, originally created for greeting cards sent by him and his wife, emphasize peace, goodwill, justice, care of the earth and loving acceptance of strangers.
At the same time, the poet has attempted to be consistent with the mood and language of favorites such as “Joy to the World,” “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “Lo, How a Rose is Blooming,” and “In a Bleak Midwinter.”
O’Sullivan, who used to teach at Oakland High while being pastor of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Berkeley, says he has decided to try to share these verses widely “to remind fellow believers of the ‘this worldly’ aspects of biblical faith, as found in the angels’ song in St. Luke’s birth narrative, the Sermon on the Mount and the Parable of the Last Judgment, not to forget the prophetic emphases of the Hebrew Scriptures.”
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