06 January 2016

The Poetic Soul of the Slovak

I did my vicarage with Slovaks and learned about a gentle kind of of Lutheranism that doesn't have the Teutonic combativeness about it. There was something so joyful, pious and rich in this way of being Lutheran; I fell in love with it at once!

This week I had two Slovak joys: We sang Čas Radosti in chapel on Monday (and David even showed me the difference between the ACTUAL Slovak and the Czech version I had learned on vicarage) AND I opened my mail to find a feast of poetry celebrating the Incarnation from dear Pr. Harvey Mozolak. "Our God is a poet" Franzmann once said. And I think the Slovak Lutherans totally get that. It's not just that the heretics compel us to put into words what cannot be put into words (Hilary), but that the Gospel itself compels us to put into words that Word beyond all words. The good news must be noised abroad, aloud, and put into poetry.


2 comments:

Brian P Westgate said...

Was there ever a Slovak Lutheran hymnal in English? Would be great to see something like what Matt has done for KELG done for the Slovak hymnals.

William Weedon said...

No, most of the hymns have not been translated. A pity!