Attempts at Light

By Michael Harvey

Michael Harvey blends truth, beauty, passion, and insight in an inspirational collection of scripture, poems, essays, and other writings shared to celebrate a new chapter in life.

Harvey, a seasoned pastor, brings to his writing his experiences and encounters with people from Appalachia, Chicago, and New England, as well as his love of the Bible and his devotion to the teachings of Jesus. He presents re-readings of the Hebrew and Greek scriptures translated into modern American English, communicating the ancient texts in thoughtful and life-affirming ways. In his poems, he explores the mundane and theological with wit, passion, and clarity. Harvey’s essays engage and challenge others with a worldview grounded in the goodness and joy of living well in Creation while offering a moving glimpse into his lifelong search for meaning.

Attempts at Light is a volume of inspirational writings that showcases the career of a gracious pastor, an inquiring theologian, and a bold speaker of truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Oct 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781480896963

Michael Harvey

Michael Harvey is the author of seven previous novels, including Brighton and The Chicago Way. He’s also a journalist and documentarian whose work has won multiple News & Documentary Emmys, two Primetime Emmy nominations, and an Academy Award nomination. Raised in Boston, he now lives in Chicago.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Michael Harvey.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.archwaypublishing.com

844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture is the author’s own translation.

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are from New Revised Standard Version

Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the

United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9695-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4808-9696-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020918800

Archway Publishing rev. date: 10/27/2020

To all who bear witness to the light

Ministry

for my father, Michael Harvey

Messenger from the other world in white

sneakers, Patron Saint of the Terminal

Wing, my father. He reads

a passage from the Book

of Living Comfort that was given

by the dead. What is your name?

he asks, and they lapse

into an unknown tongue: I am a rock.

My back strained

over the broken field. I am a child

of God. Most quake at the approach

of this remarkable

cleavage. Others remain

polite to the end, weaving blind

folds of words

on weather and the next

vacation, until the sentences

drift slowly apart, the words slur

into silences, and the untranslatable last

syllable spills from the hardened tongue.

A few have looked and looked and betrayed

no fear, but after twenty-five years

he could count

them on the fingers of a single

hand, and still

he would have a thumb

for himself.

SEAN HARVEY

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

SCRIPTURE

Let There Be Light (Genesis 1:1–2:3)

The Garden on High, Level Ground

Psalm 1

Psalm 23

A Translation from Proverbs

The New Covenant

The House on the Rock

The Prayer of Jesus

A New Listen

Some Crucial Texts in Matthew

A Litany on John 1

Stops on the Roman Road of Salvation

Rewiring the Brain

The Most Excellent Way

The Armor God Provides

POEMS

My Religion Is Jesus

The Wounded and Risen Jesus

I Thirst

Calvary

Passover

Forgiveness

Hope

Scars

Hungry

Grandpa

Joyce

A Woman with Her Mother at the Time of Death

Your Spirit

A Sacrificed Body

A Revolution in Thinking

The Statue of Liberty

Habituation to Domination

The Rich

Kitsch Religiosity

Sit Down in This Circle

The Preacher

Preaching as Creative Work

Too Angry to Pray

Blood on Our Hands

Smiley-Faced Violence

The Last Chance Saloon

City

Four Horses of the Apocalypse

Pentecost

Last Words

ESSAYS AND OTHER WRITINGS

Conversation Covenant, or the Art of Thinking Together

Three Acts of Justice

All the Children of the World

That’s Righteous

Dialogue as Prayer

Peace in Our Time

Family Values

The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life

Summer Reading

Human Sexuality and God

The Successful Church

You Don’t Speak unless You Quake

A Fork in the Road

The Power of Negative Thinking

The Glory of the Human

The Quest for the Holy Grail

TRIBUTES FROM CURRENT AND PAST PRESIDENTS OF THE

CONFERENCE OF BAPTIST MINISTERS IN MASSACHUSETTS

Cheryl Harris

Richard Haley

Carl Heick

Mary Bettencourt

Cindy Maybeck

Brian Dixon

Foreword

There’s an old joke about Presbyterians being Methodists who can read and about Methodists being Baptists who wear shoes. Old Protestant classism notwithstanding, we members of the board of the Conference of Baptist Ministers in Massachusetts envy our unshod ancestors because it is clear that none of us will ever be able to fill the shoes Michael Harvey has worn for 17 years as our beloved Executive Director. His retirement is a watershed moment in the 190+-year history of our Conference.

Michael has graciously allowed the Board to publish this volume of his collected works in celebration of his retirement. Enclosed here you will find writings spanning the various stages of his long career serving the Church and supporting those who lead the Church. Michael’s unflappable commitment to the ideals of egalitarianism, environmentalism, peace, and dialogical process suffuse every page of Attempts at Light. He speaks of our Creator and of Creation with awe and wonder; he speaks boldly about our human condition; and with a mild Appalachian lilt, he speaks truth to power and to the powerless, wrapped warmly in love.

The 1829 charter of the Conference of Baptist Ministers in Massachusetts mandates that we exist to promote the union and usefulness of clergy in our Commonwealth. We members of the Board can say with great certainty that Michael’s ministry among us has knit our union and multiplied our usefulness beyond all that would seem possible. For this, and for the enduring gift of these words that will lift our spirits and light our paths for years to come, we are profoundly grateful.

The Board of the Conference of Baptist Ministers in Massachusetts

Pentecost, the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty

How beautiful upon the mountains

Are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,

Who brings good news, who announces salvation,

Who says to Zion, Your God reigns.

(Isaiah 52:7)

Acknowledgments

It would take another book to thank the people who have blessed my life, who have challenged me, who have taught me, who have encouraged me, and