“Epiphany 2023”: A poem by Jock Stein, a “renaissance man of theology, music, art, and literature, and a much-loved pastor”
[Reading Time: 5 minutes]
Introduction to Jock Stein and his work
We present below an Epiphany poem by Jock Stein. For those of us, who do not know him, he studied at Sedbergh School then Emmanuel College, Cambridge before pursuing theological studies at the University of Edinburgh under Thomas F. Torrance. He thereafter left for the mission field in Kenya, where he was ordained by the Presbyterian Church of East Africa. After returning to the U.K. to lead a city centre church in Dundee, he became director of the Carberry Tower conference centre. In retirement he now chairs the Scottish Church Theology Society and is engaged in PhD research at Glasgow University.
He has written such fascinating and highly original books as From Cosmos to Canaan: The Bible in Verse, which introduces the first six books of the Bible through a combination of poetry (in styles ranging from sonnets to Haikus) with conversation and commentary.
Reviews of this work have made such statements as,
“Jock Stein is one of the great figures of the late twentieth-century Scottish Kirk, a renaissance man of theology, music, art, and literature, and a much-loved pastor to many. His new book, From Cosmos to Canaan, is a remarkable volume which deserves to be in the hands of ministers and parishioners everywhere. … In a time when acres of print attempts to tackle the subject of training for ministry, this relatively slim volume gets to the heart of the matter in ways that are wise, deeply focused on God, yet open to revelation in our own times. Highly recommended.”
-Martin Ritchie, Theology in Scotland
“The theological world is hardly short of introductions to Scripture, but this is like nothing I’ve previously encountered. … The author says he loves ‘crossing boundaries and tearing up labels’. I identify strongly with that, and found this refreshingly impossible to categorise…”
-Stuart Thomas, Praxis News of Worship
“This is an original approach to ancient texts, and, in its appeal to modern concerns, and great world events, as well as to culture and common human experience, it speaks to a wide audience—to those interested in poetry and in theology.”
-Katharine Dell (Director of Studies in Theology and Religious Studies at St Catharine's College, Cambridge), The Church Times
A more recent 2023 work, entitled, Temple and Tartan: Psalms, poetry and Scotland, contains a collection of poems based on the Psalms, offering “an intriguing vision of how the Psalms might be reinterpreted for a modern audience.” An additional review from the Church Times commented, in short, that “the results are arresting.”
The review then quotes Stein’s question from the beginning of Psalm 13 (“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me for ever?”), which then “triggers these lines,”
I’m beating God, upon your door.
I screw my eyes to read your lips
But I am shaken to the core
By Covid, climate and what’s more
You’ve morphed into a God who sleeps
When I would worship and adore.”
To quote the earlier review above, “refreshingly impossible to categorise.”
To which we would add, this is not a collection for the light-hearted, modern evangelical…!
And as such, it is a work that we should most certainly take the time to read.
With that introduction, we present below his most recent poem that he kindly offered to us at the start of Epiphany.
Thank you, Jock!
And Enjoy!
Epiphany 2023
Hold up the sky, work through the night
to bring to life an ancient theme:
the centuries will cradle light.
The stars may fall, climate backbite
and chew and spit us all downstream.
Hold up the sky, work through the night.
We know too much, too late. Hindsight
betrays us, makes us want to scream
‘The centuries must cradle light!’
The rich delight in sitting tight,
but truth destroys such self-esteem.
Hold up the sky, work through the night.
The challenges seem infinite,
but once a baby made it seem
the centuries might cradle light.
The magi will come back to sight
and share their old, forgotten dream:
hold up the sky, work through the night,
the centuries will cradle light.
He follows with a short commentary:
A more basic challenge for someone my age is this: given the post-modern tendency to say that light is only what you as an individual happen to see, do you expect other folk to appreciate poetry which claims that light is more than that, part of an over-arching narrative of hope?
Sometimes it does feel like ‘holding up the sky’ – and when I speak of ‘the rich’ I suppose I am thinking not only of material wealth, but the wealth of current fashion.
No doubt I am trying to live up to my strap line of ‘preacher, poet and piper’ – although with regret I finally retired from the Cockenzie and Port Seton British Legion Pipe Band just before Christmas. I wish them, and you all, a happy New Year!