A Community Poetry Project

Dear Chaotic World is a Lenten collaboration between The Local Church: A United Methodist Congregation and Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church.

During Lent 2026, we invited original poetry from our congregations and the broader community that made space for honesty and hope, lament and longing, pain and possibility.

Historically, Lent has been a time for fasting and penitence. But at its heart, Lent is really about paying attention—to the world, to ourselves, and to the divine.

This project was that invitation to slow down, to tell the truth, and to look forward with hope. The poetry you’ll find in this collection, written by community members in and around Chatham County, NC, is exactly that: honest, hopeful, and human.

As you read the poetry that follows, we pray that these words might become your own. This world may be chaotic, but it’s ours—made more peaceful, more just, and more whole because you’re in it.

Thanks be to God.