New Look for SoundofLivingWaters

Thank you everyone for sticking patiently with SoundofLivingWaters as it has grown haphazardly. As all posts were in date order, some poems that I think were pretty good were stuck at the bottom where it was hard to find them, while still more posts, good and bad, arrived above them in the sequence. There was no thematic arrangement, so you couldn't look for the type of poems you were interested in, you just had to keep on burrowing down into the heap until either you found something you liked or gave up. There have grown to be over 50 posts, so it could take you a while...

I'm now attempting to grapple with these structural issues. I've noticed that my poems tend to cluster around certain themes: prayer and worship, the cross, following Jesus and being a disciple, connecting with other people, birds, trees, water (especially with the light sparkling on it), and so on. So why not group the posts around these themes, with several poems on each theme all together in the same post? People will be able to go straight to what they are looking for and scroll through to those they particularly like. The poems in each of these themed posts can be put in some order: often the ones I think the best will come first, but sometimes they could be arranged so as to tell a story or develop a theme...

This is work in progress. So far (21 May 2026) I've produced four pages that follow the new structure, on Worshipping, Searching (identity really), Beginning (poems inspired by Genesis) and Trees. That leaves plenty more to be created! You can tell the new style posts because the titles end in ... to show that there is more than one negget in that particular treasure chest.

There's also quite a bit of tinkering to do: for example

• I've used the texts saved on my computer but I know I edited some poems straight to the blog, so I need to make sure I've used the best versions.
• Some poems are going to fit into more than one category, so I have to think which is the best fit, or whether this or that particular poem needs to be in more than one post.
• Some poems have pictures or text that accompany them, so I need to add or update these.
• For now the old style posts are still there but at some point I'll have to start deleting them as the new ones expand. Perhaps some of the old ones won't fit anywhere? Maybe the better ones could go into a bits and pieces page?
• I'm sure I'll change my mind about some of these decisions as I get a better grip on what I'm trying to achieve - so watch out for changes!

Whatever else happens, the point is that you continue to enjoy these poems. Please comment and let me know what you think, what's helped you and what hasn't, and how I might improve.

Please note that all poems on this blog, whether in the new format or the old, are written by me and are my copyright. I would be absolutely delighted if anyone wants to make use of them in the contexts of Christian worship, teaching, retreats or seminars, but please contact me and let me know if you intend to do this.

Finally, readers of SoundofLivingWaters are an expanding family! So far there have been nearly 8,000 views, including 5,000 in the last 12 months alone. Thank you so much for taking an interest - happy reading! 

Colin.