Us Pause

Us Pause

(“I’ll tell my good friends, my brothers and sisters, all I know about you; I’ll join them in worship and praise to you.” Hebrews 2:12 [The Message])

As the word went round the circle, mouth to mouth
the quotes and opinions spun; each word hastily proclaimed
like a king or prince or monarch on the run. We were quite
glad for the stories and judgments laid down, for they reminded us
how different, how silver, how shiny we have become. No one
has opinions any more, no estimates or guesses; just a rockslide
of well-worn facts without footnotes; leaving no argument
available for the person cradling coffee alone, silent
at the next table.

We know too much, we echo the findings of our favorite
hole-puncher,
and stutter grain-sized worship that falls upon the carpet
to be vacuumed with the mud and dust later in the afternoon.

Oh Christ, our Love, our Pioneer into our uncharted souls,
Your silence is more eloquent than our flappery, aglow with
patience while we predict the next planetary virus will wipe
out the worst of them-not-us.

Oh Son of Man, our Song, our Conductor into concerted whole,
Your song over them, over us, over all, breaks our hearts,
numbs our tongues until we’ve learned the chorus so well
we no longer tell unrestrained stories to back our cause;

You, our only option, have given us pause…

To begin the ballad sweeter and deeper from front
to end.