About Maude Carolan Pych
Who am I? I am God’s poem.
Ephesians 2:10 (NASB) says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them…” The Greek word for workmanship in that verse is poiema, which means thing that is made. It is the root word for poem. Therefore, I see my primary life’s work as being a living poem to the Lord I love. I cannot think of any more wonderful ministry than that! The talent to write, I believe is a gift God has given. My heart’s desire is to use my gift to glorify Him.
My background as a writer includes working as a reporter for the Paterson News and columnist for the Totowa Times Herald way back in the 60s. Now I write Christian inspirational poetry as my ministry and compose poems to record family history, as well.
On four occasions, I have received an honorable mention in the national Allen Ginsberg Poetry Contest, and three times my poems were granted Editor’s Choice awards. I’ve achieved second and third place prizes and the spiritual award for poetry at the annual St. Catherine of Bologna Photo, Art & Poetry Exhibition in Ringwood, NJ. Several of my poems have been published in anthologies and publications including The Paterson Literary Review, Sensations Magazine, Lips, The Pillar Monthly, and William W. Francis’ book, Celebrate the Feasts of the Lord.
A member of the North Jersey Christian Writers’ Group, I led the writer’s ministry at my congregation for several years and have self-published five chapbooks, The Circumcised Heart, Bliss, From My Heart to Yours at Christmas…Cookies & Poems, The Widow’s Song, and God’s Square Mile…Poems about Ocean Grove, NJ.
Now, a little about my faith-walk…I was raised Roman Catholic. In 1979, my pastor, the late Fr. Matthew Gaskin, prayed with me to become Born Again and filled with the Holy Spirit. That simple prayer transformed me from a Sunday church-goer who loved the Lord in my own quiet way, to a woman on fire. Immediately, I delved deeply into the Holy Scriptures and became a member and then a leader of my church’s charismatic prayer group. Bible study stirred in me a lively interest in Christianity’s roots in Judaism. In 1986, I set off on the first of three pilgrimages to Israel and soon began attending Shabbat services on Friday evenings at Beth Israel Messianic Worship Center, now located in Wayne, NJ. In 1991, I became a member of Beth Israel, and presently serve as a deaconess.
At the time I was Born Again, my husband and I were raising our three children in Ringwood, a lovely lake community in the Ramapo Mountains. After many good years of marriage, my husband’s heart changed toward me and although I worked at and fervently prayed for reconciliation, we divorced in our 27th year. The period of our separation was a devastating time for me. It was during that season of sorrow and crying out to the Lord that I turned to poetry. Always a writer, I’d written poetry as a teenager, worked as a newspaper reporter after I finished school, composed an art association newsletter, and kept personal journals in the 70s and 80s. Suddenly, I was back to my first writing love…poetry! In a short time I recognized poetry was my precious God-given gift, a gift I was not about to hide under a bushel!
Romans 8:28 became real to me when I remarried. Leo F. Carolan was a man whose life turned on a dime when he surrendered to the Lord. He loved God greatly and taught me to trust God more deeply than I ever had before. Leo lived with asthma and emphysema and needed to trust God for every breath. My husband supported me in my writing and became my editor. He encouraged me to participate in workshops, take voice lessons, publish poems and chapbooks, and to generate a poetry publication for email subscribers. We were married for twelve wonderful years. In our final year he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Leo’s faith remained inspiring throughout his affliction and he openly shared his love for his Savior and trusted Him to his final breath. Following his death, I wrote a collection of 80 poems, which gave me comfort and helped me heal.
A man from our congregation came with a group to minister to my husband a few days before Leo went to be with the Lord. His name is Bob Pych. Bob’s wife, Joan, who happened also to have been a poet, passed away the year before. Bob and I easily became friends who ministered to each other in bereavement. Two and a half years later we married. He is an extraordinarily kind and loving man who serves the Lord with all his heart. Bob is a driving force behind my poetry. God bless him. It’s Romans 8:28 once again…
In 2017, I experienced the fulfillment of a long-standing dream, by publishing a 411-page memoir in poetry, Wonderhoods, and in 2019 crossed the top item off my bucket list when Behold the Lamb…poetically! was published by Elm Hill, a division of HarperCollins. The book is available online.
Bob and I are retired and reside in Northern New Jersey. We enjoy traveling. Both of us have grown children and delightful grandchildren who climb upon our knees, put smiles on our faces and crown our lives with uncountable blessings. God has been good to us!
My heart’s desire is that you enjoy my poems and that each one will draw you closer and closer to the Lover of your soul…Jesus.