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FAQ: How did this get started?
In January 2001 my sister related a conversation to me she was having at work. She is a newspaper editor, and as newspaper editors look for ways to say the same thing in less space, the conversation she was having with a co-worker was, "How much space does it take to tell the Gospel?" which became, "What would a condensed Bible be like?"
Their tongue-in-cheek answer was, the condensed Bible might have only eight commandments, it would rain for 20 days and nights on Noah, there would be six disciples, and so on.
Some months later I actually saw a Reader's Digest Condensed Bible at a used book sale. It had all 10 commandments, 12 disciples, and it rained on Noah for 40 days and nights, but much of the repetition was taken out. I looked through it but did not buy it.
My sister told me about these conversations she had because it was an amusing diversion at her workplace, but I took a more serious turn to it, and we went down a different path. I speculated that the Gospel could be told in a few pages, in an essay, so I tried to do that. When I sent it to her, she said, as newspaper editors do, that it was too long. I shortened the essay. Still too long. I wrote a long poem. Too long. I wrote a sonnet about the Gospel. Still too long. Finally we got down to a haiku-length verse, and were able to seriously consider communicating the Gospel in 17 syllables in three lines. We both worked through many iterations of this form until we got something we both agreed we liked:
God made world and man.
Man fell down. Jesus rose, now
God sends grace and faith.
This was the first "Inspired Haiku" we wrote. My sister liked it because it contained "Jesus rose," an imaginary species of flower. Once, on Easter Sunday, she took a red rose to the grade school Sunday school class she taught. She showed her students how beautiful the rose was and how much God must love it to have made it so beautiful and perfect. Then, to their dismay, she nailed it to a wooden cross. She told the children this was like God's love for us, that he would send his son to us as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Her class got the message in a way they will never forget.
Later in January 2001, I saw my first Bible Haiku, a complete verse found word-for-word in the Bible, consisting of 17 consecutive syllables. God brought this awareness into my life. It was on the cover of a religious periodical. Not only did it have a seasonal reference; it also converted easily into three lines of five, seven, and five syllables:
By the breath of God
Ice is given and the broad
Waters are frozen.
Job 37:10 NKJV
I was hooked immediately, and started seriously looking for haiku verses in the Bible, and writing Inspired Haiku. During Lent in 2001, I wrote an Inspired Haiku every day along with a devotion or prayer as well as my personal reflections on the scripture that inspired the haiku. I started a list service and sent one out every day for almost six months, to a small group of subscribers. The Lenten journey lasted until Pentecost.
Many of these Inspired Haiku are posted on the Inspired Haiku site. The original sequence of these devotions is preserved in an MS Word document in the Documents folder on the Bible Haiku site, which members may view and download.
After this series of Inspired Haiku my attention turned back to Bible Haiku. I would find three or four every week in my casual Bible readings. By the spring of 2003, I had found one in every book of the Bible. In the process I had, of course, read every chapter of the Bible.
In retrospect I understand this time was God's preparation of me to answer questions my teenage son asked after I gave him my testimony and the Gospel on 30 December 2003. I was able to answer his questions by quoting scripture put on my tongue by God. I can rarely memorize even these short little verses, but that night with my son the Spirit provided the scriptures to me. I was able to quote the scriptures then I explained to him how they answered his questions. My son has since started attending church with me. He asks me if he can go with me! I try to let God work in his heart through others and I try not get in the way. My sister says I am God's wheels, taking the young man back and forth to church.
On 14 April 2004 this son of mine invited Christ into his heart. All glory to God for that miracle.
In April 2003 it became my challenge to see if there were Bible Haiku in every chapter and book of the Bible. After I was able to coax one out of the shortest chapter of the Bible, Psalm 117, the project became intentional and systematic. One of the first things I learned was that there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. It looked like a huge task.
By 25 August 2003, there was at least one Bible Haiku found and posted on this site for every chapter of every book in the Bible. Several people joined with me and posted Bible Haiku on this site to achieve this goal. I am very grateful for their encouragement, fellowship, and the Bible Haiku they found. This was all done on the internet; I have never met these good people face to face.
As of 05 March 2004 there were over 2,000 Bible Haiku posted from 18 translations of the Bible, spanning over 600 years of English language Bible translations.
It is still fun to look for Bible Haiku. They are always a beautiful surprise. I find them in hymnals, on outdoor displays in front of churches, on the internet, in email from friends, and when I read the Bible.
I hope all your meditations on the word of God lead you to a closer relationship with your creator, sustainer, and redeemer, in whose image you were created.
The journey continues. There are hundreds more Bible Haiku awaiting discovery.
Larry S.
10 November 2004
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