Among the Noises

Among the Noises

“[God] first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it.” 2 Timothy 1:9 [The Message])

Banish the velvet thrones, the lookout points above the rest,
Bulldoze the silver stands, the pulpits of pretense undressed;
And plant in their places, build common spaces,
quads and plazas, parks and picnics
where gifts are shared at sea level,
work is hands upon hands passing the plans
initialed before notions of my,
authored above contests of why.

Ears to the sky, eyes flying in reply to
the request sent pre-echo,
the orders cast, the Word applied,
the first are last, the down upside,
and few find their way, and pass the
narrow gate with their furniture too wide
to carry home.

Build me a legend and I’ll feed you hungry,
story upon story, we covet the sky,
Tell me your hero and I’ll know you roughly,
conquest upon success, we conspire to buy

Our way home.

But bought before us, and called last and first,
the Beginning of beginnings, the Author of earth
tracks us down, subtracts our precious,
counts our zeroes and calls us total when we
step down from our thrones and all other self-owns,
to find our voices among the noises of the redeemed.