One of the blogs I frequent, belongs to April Yamasaki. Recently she posted about a writing exercise that turns out to be a fun way to meditate on scripture. At a Christian writers’ event, one of the participants wrote his own paraphrase to Psalm 23, using the letter L. April followed suit, posting her paraphrase of the Psalm with the letter G as her muse.
She closed her post with this Writing Prompt:
Try your own version of this psalm, using the letter M and starting with the line “My Master is my Mentor.” Or choose a letter and opening line of your own. If you send me your creation, I’ll gladly include it in a follow-up article. If you’re a blogger, post it on your own site and leave a link in the comments below. Have fun, and may God work Psalm 23 more deeply into your soul.
I chose to use the letter C. Here is my version of the Psalm:
My Creator is caretaker and captain,
with him I crave nothing
At his command, I lay couched in clover,
he carries me to where calm currents run their course,
He cleanses and collects me—
my cowardly, crumbled soul.
He commends to me the correct course
’cause of his name.
I clambered about on the cliffs and
found myself
in a canon, caught
by clouds,
and cold.
Yet I am not concerned,
You are my Companion!
Clutching that club and cane You carry,
You comfort me.
You cater the consummate feast,
though contentious challengers convene to crush me.
You consecrate me: crowning my head with oil;
my cup overflows, a chalice chockful—
a cask in the cellar,
chilled and waiting.
I am certain your care and compassion will chase after me
until my life’s conclusion.
I’ll crash at your castle
continually.
thoughts, prayers & songs: 