Purple Book Hymns: A Pastor's Poetic Liturgy of Poems, Prayers, and Litanies

Welcome to the written world where limitation becomes liberation, and a little purple book becomes a mighty voice.

United Methodist pastor the Reverend Amiri B. Hooker was told reading and writing weren't his gifts. Diagnosed with dyslexia and dysgraphia, he spent his early years in learning disability classes, fighting to decode the words on the page. But one teacher saw something different-and handed him a small purple book with a simple instruction: "Write in this whatever you want."

That purple book became a sanctuary: a place where words weren't obstacles but openings. Where faith could be felt in rhythm and meter. Where justice could be spoken in stanza and verse.

Purple Book Hymns is the fruit of that journey-a deeply personal collection of poems, prayers, and litanies born from the intersection of faith, justice, and identity. These aren't just devotional writings; they're declarations forged in the fire of lived experience. Here, church and culture collide. Biblical interpretation meets racial reality. Priestly liturgy expands to embrace the prophetic cry for justice.

Each poem is a prayer. Each line, a step toward understanding the divine dance between scripture and struggle, worship and witness, hurt and healing.

Whether you're a pastor seeking fresh language for Sunday morning, a poet hungry for work that grapples with both God and the world, or simply a soul searching for words that name what you've always felt-this collection offers a poetic liturgy unlike any other.

This book is for those who believe words can still change us. For those who know faith must do more than comfort-it must challenge, convict, and call us forward.

Buy Purple Book Hymns today and go from struggle to sermon and from silence to song.