Edward Holmes
8 min read ⭑
“This year, I’ve been paying more attention to the souls around me, and I’ve come to notice that we all have deep needs. I learn from these conversations and interactions that we’re desperately human and in need of love. ”
The first time Edward Holmes stood in front of an open mic, he discovered that people hunger to be heard — including through others’ words. As an author, educator, motivator and poet, Edward gives words to deep longings, hurts and hope in people’s hearts. Over the last several years, he’s written children’s books, a poetic devotional and various poetic collections, including his latest spoken word album, “The Way We Rise.” He also created the “Life Lines: Positive Poetry” podcast, where listeners get new poetry and book reviews and hear from indie poets every week. Today, he’s getting honest about his favorite coffee shop in Illinois, his delight in majestic scenes of nature and his dependence on tea, poetry and spiritual community.
QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT
There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?
A place I continue returning to is a coffee shop in Shiloh, Illinois. They call it June’s; I call it home. I left the St. Louis Metro-East many years ago, only to return and now raise a family with my wife. We’ll typically grab the same thing: a mocha for Megan, an espresso for me and a snack for the kids. It’s less about the food and more about the atmosphere on the shady patio by the fire pit. A lot of our deep conversations about life spill out here. Conversations about faith, writing, parenting and where we feel the Lord nudging us next. In retrospect, maybe the coffee isn’t all that good, but the words we share there are definitely five-star.
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QUESTION #2: REVEAL
We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called “nonspiritual” activity (or activities) do you love engaging in, which also helps you find essential spiritual renewal?
My best friend and I once snuck into the garage of my home to change clothes an hour before my parents returned. Two boys, covered in mud up to our waists, left tracks that told the tale of where we shouldn’t have been. Our home was built fairly close to the treeline of the woods where a long creek ran, and it was in these woods that I fell into deep water, deep trouble and deeply in love with nature — a truly immersive experience.
I love hiking. Today, I’m obsessed with all things nature, from the solitude of deep forests to the majesty of mountain views. There’s an unspoken connection to the Father’s hand in all of it, and it’s in these moments that much of my inspiration is drawn from.
Getting out in nature helps me to disconnect from this noisy world. There are thousands of synthetic pleasures grasping for our attention, and if we’re not careful as creatives, we’ll waste our energy and time pursuing them instead.
QUESTION #3: CONFESS
Every superhero has a weakness. Every human too. We’re just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite, and how do you hide it?
Words are some of the most powerful things we’ll ever harness. They can give life or take it. I wish I could say my youth was lined with positive words of encouragement. I wish I could tell you I was raised to believe in myself. I wish I could tell you I felt safe, but much of what we battle today often stems from our youth.
Today, much of my energy is spent fighting fear and low self-esteem behind the scenes. Fear of the unknown, fear of failure and the lies that what I have to offer aren’t worthy enough.
It’s pretty embarrassing. There are days when impostor syndrome is so paralyzing that I can’t create anything at all, which makes me feel like a failure. It’s a vicious cycle. I’m learning to combat this with hope and writing words I often need to hear myself.
QUESTION #4: FIRE UP
Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your current obsession? And why should it be ours?
After living through the years 2020 through 2024, I think hope is something our listeners need, especially in the poetic space. They need to know that life is still worth living, even amid chaos. The idea for a spoken word album came to me on the last day of December, and I started writing and recording tracks for “The Way We Rise” on Jan. 1.
To a great degree, we’re all quietly fearful of something. I spent the latter half of 2023 wrestling with the fear of death, illness, unstable mental health and loss. However, when I prayed, “rise” was the word that continued to return to me, and this is where everything sort of clicked.
This is an album of hope and a rebellion against the spirit of fear in our lives.
If you’re struggling like I did, this album is for you, and I hope it (and my future poetry) brings you peace.
QUESTION #5: BOOST
Cashiers, CEOs, contractors or customer service reps, we all need grace flowing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it’s God when it happens?
We did a little gardening this year. We don’t have a robust greenhouse, so we’re working with what we have. A lot of our plants grew, but most of them died. Okay, all of them died. The point is that we didn’t plant our seeds in an environment that was conducive to their growth.
I don’t know about you, but God is pretty practical with me. I get inspired through the Word and intentionally cultivated moments of silence; it’s never just happenstance. This is probably why I’m so drawn to nature. Even Jesus had to separate from the noise to hear the Father clearly at times. I believe it’s in these undistracted moments that we can better hear what he’s trying to say, but we have to prepare the soil.
QUESTION #6: inspire
Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied habits that open our hearts to the presence of God. So let us in. Which spiritual practice is working best for you right now?
As much as I love personal time and moments of peace, I need to drag myself out into the wild world of social connections and community. I’m not even talking about church but rather intentional relationships and conversations. Community as of late has been very revitalizing for me, both virtually and physically.
This year, I’ve been paying more attention to the souls around me, and I’ve come to notice that we all have deep needs.
I learn from these conversations and interactions that we’re desperately human and in need of love. This is where my passion for writing comes from. If I deliver something to make you think differently about your circumstance, then it’s all worth it.
QUESTION #7: FOCUS
Looking backward, considering the full sweep of your unique faith journey and all you encountered along the way, what top three resources stand out to you? What changed the game and changed your heart? What radically altered your life? What changed your reality?
Joyce Meyer’s “Battlefield of the Mind” was a huge cornerstone for me, as I’ve been fascinated with the mind and thought for many years. As a new believer, I struggled with destructive habits that I thought God would whisk away if I prayed longer and louder. That didn’t happen. Instead, I learned that healing often takes prayer with knowledge and action. It takes effort.
The second resource is an album by former metalcore frontman Mattie Montgomery of For Today. (I suppose some of my music tastes are surfacing.) It’s called “When Sons Become Fathers.” It opened my eyes that my newfound belief wasn’t a thing of passivity or timidity. I highly recommend you go stream it after this.
The next is for all the lexical geeks out here. The third most important resource for me was and still is “Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.” You can’t study Scripture without it. Even in the realm of apologetics or evangelism, it’s critical to have your world history and word history locked in before opening your mouth. I hope that’s not too harsh.
We all have things we cling to to survive (or even thrive) in tough times — times like these! Name one resource you’re savoring and/or finding indispensable in this current season, and tell us what it’s doing for you.
Tea and poetry.
This might sound cliché, and I hope it does. Spiritually, art speaks to me in a powerful way, almost as strongly as a well-crafted sermon. It’s an intentional practice to meditate on Christ-centered creative work because it nourishes both the creative and spiritual parts of me. It feels good to be both edified and inspired by other creatives in a similar space.
If you’ve heard of P4CM, the Perrys or Tanner Olson, you can understand what strikes my flint.
QUESTION #8: dream
God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?
I attended my first open mic around eight years ago, and at that time, it was just an open mic. After a few attendees approached me about how certain poems struck a chord, I realized that speaking words is not just a thing we do — it’s almost a ministry. It becomes real when someone confesses an addiction they’ve been battling to a random poet. Where do you go from there, right? You go back.
I have a lofty dream of doing more live events. Last year, I spoke at schools, a retreat and a local bookstore, but I feel called to connect on a larger, more professional level. There’s such a special connection with people you can’t get through a screen, so I’ve started reaching out for bookings. You can find me here. We need authentic meetings with hope, humor and heart through poetry and stories, so I hope many more reach out.
“Even Jesus had to separate from the noise to hear the Father clearly at times,” Edward said earlier. “I believe it’s in these undistracted moments that we can better hear what he’s trying to say, but we have to prepare the soil.”
How do you prepare the soil of your heart to hear from God? Some of us hear best in nature, surrounded by the beauty God has created. Others of us may feel closer to him when we’re singing worship songs at the top of our lungs, digging deep into the original biblical Hebrew or Greek, or praying hand in hand with other brothers and sisters in Christ.
Whatever spiritual growth habits work best for you, why not set aside time for them today?
Edward Holmes is an author and poet on a mission to spread hope into hearts through the written (and often spoken) word. He is the author of four books and shares new poetry weekly through his podcast Life Lines. His writing is hopeful, humorous and honest — all fueled by black coffee and dark chocolate. Edward has an affinity with practical theology and biblical apologetics, previously serving as an evangelist and youth minister for seven years in Missouri. He currently resides in Illinois with his wife and kids, living every day with three reasons to keep hope alive.
