Reckless Pilgrims

Thomas Sabel teaches English at Purdue University-Fort Wayne where he is also chaplain to the Lutheran campus ministry. His poetry has been published in a variety of journals. He is also the author of the novels Legends of Luternia (2011), I is Dead (2016), and Cahokia Trembles (2018).

In this provocative yet thoughtful collection of poems, Rev. Sabel reinvigorates the neglected art of poetical reflection on the Christian life. Avoiding the dull didacticism and self-interrogation which characterize much contemporary poetry, Sabel's work recalls a more fundamental and generous purpose in poetry: it invites the reader to contemplate matters which can only be intimated. The matters which Rev. Sabel calls us to contemplate are those of the Christian life ""in a time when the Christian faith is an option among many, and when the politics of the moment seems to pollute the faith beyond recognition."" Sabel's reflections remind us that faith and art need not be separated; that, indeed, the Old and New Testament abound in a poetic rhythm, repetition, and representation which serve the glory of God. The poems in this volume--as indicated in its title--should be understood as a pilgrimage: a pilgrimage which takes the ancient affinity between faith and art as its point of origin, and which traverses out of this origin onto the uncertain paths of twenty-first-century Christian life. As all pilgrimages do, this pilgrimage aims at eternal life with Christ Jesus. On this pilgrimage, Rev. Sabel invites us as fellow travelers.