Holy Luck

by Eugene H. Peterson

Throughout his many years of pastoral ministry, almost everything Eugene Peterson has done -- preaching, teaching, praying, counseling, writing -- has involved words. To keep himself attuned to the power of words and to help himself use language with precision and imagination, Peterson both reads and writes poetry.

Holy Luck presents, in one luminous volume, seventy poems by Peterson, most of them not previously published. Speaking to various aspects of “Kingdom of God” living, these poems are arranged in three

Holy Luck -- poems arising out of the Beatitudes
The Rustling Grass -- poems opening up invisible Kingdom realities through particular created things
Smooth Stones -- occasional poems about discovering significance in every detail encountered while following Jesus


Echoing the language of Peterson’s popular Bible translation, The Message , the poems in Holy Luck are well suited for devotional purposes. An ideal gift item, this volume is one that readers will look to again and again.

Genres: Poetry, Christian, Spirituality, Theology, Nonfiction

104 pages, Paperback

First published May 2, 2012

About the author

Eugene H. Peterson was a pastor, scholar, author, and poet. For many years he was James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. He also served as founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland. He had written over thirty books, including Gold Medallion Book Award winner The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language a contemporary translation of the Bible. After retiring from full-time teaching, Eugene and his wife Jan lived in the Big Sky Country of rural Montana. He died in October 2018.

Reviews

[F.C. Shultz]

If you’re trying to get into reading poetry, I probably wouldn’t recommend this collection (look to Billy Collins or Mary Oliver). But, if you’re a Eugene Peterson fan, you’ll appreciate these poems. They give you a glimpse of the heart of this incredible man.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I tried to savior this book over the course of many weeks but I couldn’t… the poems were just too good! He wonderfully ties together the invisible realities of the Kingdom with everyday mundane moments.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The lovely thing about poetry books is you've never really finished with them. One to ponder and savour over and over again

[Alec Worrell-Welch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not every poem’s a 5-star poem. But more times than I can remember, I bookmarked two, or three, or four, so excited to share them with the one I love. This collection’s parts are worth pausing over. They are rich nourishment for meditative, prayerful conversation and life.

[Gentry Wigginton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful poetry from a master of language. Eugene, in each of these poems collected, makes you see the holy in the ordinary, the sacred in the mundane.

[April Jahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good food for my spirit! I couldn’t put it down. This would make a nice gift to any Eugene fan.

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am by no means a connoisseur of poetry, but I'm a huge fan of Peterson, and this little book is beautiful from start to finish.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

The poems link the spiritual with the natural. I would say that one need not be a believer in God to find truth in these words. I loved several of them that resonated with my own experience or desires. Others, as is usual with poetry, went right over my head. I bought, rather than borrowed, this book because it is beauty that I want on hand.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bookmarked a bunch of poems from this little book. Some didn’t resonate as much (or I didn’t fully grasp), and others poetically punched me in the heart. There are many lines I want to return to and let linger.

[Gabriella Llewellyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Eugene Peterson, and the introduction to this collection of poems is probably one of the most moving love letters to poetry I've ever read, however the actual poetry was disappointing.

[Josiah Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply: beautiful.

[Carol Bakker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm trying to restrain myself from flinging 5 stars here and there, but I couldn't help myself. I loved this one. I hate typing reviews on a phone so I will tell you later why I loved it.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this collection of poems/reflections on life and Scripture.

[Kathryn Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took this poetry collection nice and slow. It is a slim book but mine has many, many sticky notes marking phrases that I loved. On my way to reading everything by Eugene Peterson.

[Zach Busick · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sense is that Peterson is stronger in prose, but there are some hidden gems here!

[Casey Shobe · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a few astounding poems in here that make it well worth the time. He has a unifying poetic form that is lovely and smart, though I got a bit tired of the formula by the end.

[Roy Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eugene Peterson has had an enormous influence on pastors through his several books of theological reflection on pastoral practices and biblical commentaries. His widest influence though is likely with his popular version of the Bible - The Message. It is not a surprise that he is a poet or that his poems come from a deep listening to scripture. Peterson doesn't only listen well; he listens with a fertile imagination able to take a single line into a reflection on the universal. For instance, Peter's "practice hospitality ungrudgingly" become an opportunity to consider the way in which Christ appears to those who practice hospitality: "Christ the abused, Christ the fool,/Christ sullen, Christ laughing,/Christ angry, Christ envious,/Christ bewildered, Christ on crutches." And, "like Gospel writers of old we pray/and reminisce over left-behind guest signs–/A bra, a sock, a scribbled thank you–And let them grow into stories." Before his reflection is over we are in the presence of the resurrection through an ordinary practice of hospitality. These poems are written in what Peterson calls "the working context of the Kingdom of God" and are divided into three sections: Holy Luck, which focus on the Beatitudes; Rustling Grass which are "field notes on scripture" and Smooth Stones, occasional poems in various outdoor settings. These poems will stir up your imagination.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up Peterson's poems with hopes to read poems set to the rhythm of spirituality and faith, words that send the soul into the depths of thought or prayer instead of deadened by cliche. I once read that such a thing, poems on faith, couldn't be done well - that the language so often associated with faith in the West was laden with cliche. Peterson, with this thought in my mind, comes at the task with a scythe, clearing the path.

In all, I felt Peterson's work was the best I've read on this, but I think (and he might agree) that there's much to do in redeeming words of faith, images of faith.

[Jason Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful. When I read poetry, I expect that only a portion of it will resonate. Expecting to ring with half of the poems in any collection is too ambitious for me, but once I reached the halfway mark of this book, I anticipated wonder on the next page. I began to look for signs of life and a wiser, kindred spirit to shine a light for me. I laughed a fair amount and wept more than I deserve. This is wonderful poetry and borne of an abundant life. And don't skip the preface, it is piercing and beautiful.

[Farzana Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This refreshing book of poems contains many stunning details and memorable moments, as in these lines from "The Lucky Sad:"
"...Under
The Mercy every hurt is a fossil
Link in that great chain of becoming.
Pick and shovel prayers often
Turn them up in valleys of death." (p. 5)

Some of the poems don't reach their full potential, as they are either unimaginatively titled (mostly the one-word titles in Part II) or recycle certain tired wording and tropes that on the whole Eugene Peterson is very successful in escaping. Grateful to him for this uplifting collection!

[Tamara Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ever since Brian and I heard Pastor Peterson speak in 2008 during a symposium, we have reclaimed the word "luck" as another way to say "We are surprisingly blessed, indeed!" This small book of poetry reminds me that this man wrote the Message translation of the Bible. And he knows he is a lucky man, indeed.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eugene Peterson's poetry is gentle and reflective. Here he presents a Bible verse with each poem to indicate where his inspiration was drawn from. The poems are rather brief, yet reflect the human experience and nature simply and poignantly.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved these short poems steeped in meditation on Scripture. Many were very thought provoking and some unraveled new layers of meditating on certain passages.

[Joy Matteson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful book of poems for those who don't read poems. Haunting, beautiful, and filled with Jesus.

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I do not have more information after reading a poem; I have more experience."

[Alex Strohschein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, despite being mostly blank verse.

[Monica Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful word art I will return to again and again.

[David Pierce]

Anything Eugene Peterson writes, I want to read. I am drawn to his command of words. This book is no exception to the rule. I want to read what Eugene Peterson writes.