About Stonework

Stonework is published by Houghton College, a Christian liberal arts college located in New York’s rural Genesee Valley. Stonework seeks a diverse mix of mature and emerging voices in fellowship with the evangelical tradition. Published twice a year, the journal reflects the arts community at Houghton College where excellence in music, writing, and the visual arts has long been a distinctive.

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Read Stonework

  • Issue 6
    Poetry by Paul Willis and Thom Satterlee. Fiction and interview with Lori Huth. Essay by James Wardwell, and student poets from Christian campuses.
  • Issue 5
    Poetry by Susanna Childress and Debra Rienstra. Fiction excerpt by Emilie Griffin. Art from Houghton's 2007 presidential inauguration and a forum on women writing.
  • Issue 4
    Matthew Roth--new poems. Diane Glancy--from One of Us and an interview. John Tatter-on gardens and poetry. The Landscapes of John Rhett. Stephen Woolsey--on the poetry of Jack Clemo. James Wardwell--on Herrick.
  • Issue 3
    Poetry by Julia Kasdorf, Robert Siegel and Sandra Duguid. Fiction by Tom Noyes. The portraits of Alieen Ortlip Shea. An anthology of Australian Poets
  • Issue 2
    Thom Satterlee - Poems from Burning Wycliff with an appreciation by David Perkins. Alison Gresik - new fiction and an interview. James Zoller - Poems from Living on the Floodplain.
  • Issue 1
    Luci Shaw — new poems with an appreciation by Eugene H. Peterson & Hugh Cook — new fiction and an interview

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Notes for This High Calling

A Tribute to William T. Allen at Fourscore
Matthew 5:14-16

~James Zoller

Let us say:
Blessed are the common places,
for they shall sustain us.
Blessed are the humble,
for they shall guide our steps.
Blessed are the reticent, Blessed the quiet,
for they shall point us to God,
they shall open our ears.
On a curb at a village cross-
roads late at night, passing
among shadows, a trash bin
Painted after Van Gogh, redeemed
by a copier, nameless artist,
who turns our thoughts upward
in great darkness to starry songs of light,
Called to bear witness in this troubled world.
We travel homeward through night -
our journeys, somehow, enlightened.
Let us say:
Blessed are the un-likely,
for they shall be called by name.
Blessed are the deep coals,
for they shall be fanned to flame.
Blessed are the willing, Blessed the servant hearts,
for their hands shall be calloused,
they shall be given, abundantly.
Joy of spring dawning
sun dazzling, bush burning,
forsythia in bloom!
Joyously red at its heart
all but hidden in aureolin,
a cardinal declaims
his song, pulsing, a many noted aria.
Called to witness, unwitting wonderers,
we stand, arrested, air vibrant -
our very souls aflame.
Let us say:
Blessed are the uncommon places,
for they shall breathe life.
Blessed are the restless minds,
for they are heir to the God of Creation.
Blessed is the deep welling, Blessed the music maker,
who has brought us nearer to God
and bids us listen. Children, listen.