See Her Better

See Her Better

(“If there are poor among you, in one of the towns of the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be selfish or greedy toward them.  But give freely to them, and freely lend them whatever they need.” Deuteronomy 15:7-8)

What do I know, you know;
what have I seen behind the screen,
the half-closed eyes of the mother, (I assume)
the grandmother, (yes, once again)
those eyes, cleansed by the crying of endless
days sitting in the same spot above the boulevard
where passersby take the pedestrian bridge.
Yes, those eyes reddened by countless tears;
her face pulpy and sallow and barely seen.

On the Mexican winter she rides on the hopes
that those who know her will not miss her. We barely
see beauty of cascades tipping over rocky cliffs after
a month of walking by. So we see even less this
disturbance to our soul
after a week of crossing.

Does she pin her hopes on tourists in this fishing village
filled with spring breakers and old couple romance seekers?
Will they see her better, covered in her native best; hues
bleeding across the shawl and stopping at the holes worn by
constant wear? Or did they cut their budget so close that
dropping pesos in her cup means one night sober,
or one less souvenir?

Or perhaps, it is often true, there is enough left, but we
hear the religious impulse from our idols of self-advancement,
“You, get a job”. We are jesters in the court of
capital palaces and advancement.

But some, hearing the words of the better God, hear words
spoken to them, “Give. Do not let your left hand know
what your right hand has done.” And quietly,
they slip their hand inside their pockets, grab a wad of
what they will,
and slightly, and sleight of hand,
silent as they can, slide the bills into the cup
without breaking stride.

Milk, a roast, diapers, or one more week
with power; the hearts of an aged widow and
an unknown traveler meet once,
and only once. But again love has leapt
over hurdles and past benches of cultural inertia.

False Projections

False Projections

(“And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words.” 2 Peter 2:3a)

You’ve made you words tools so slick
they mention “grace” and trick the ear to follow
your foolish ways that, discovered further and later,
alter the abundance called charis into a claustrophobic
closet of destruction.

You love so well, it would seem, that your words go
down sweetly, honey and cream,
and sell the love that smothers truth from young lungs
not yet learning to lie.

You give so well, it appears; charity of time and money,
cash and minutes…yet disappears at the first sign
the chosen few can see through your veiled morality.

Sometimes it takes years to dig deep enough to know
the truth you’ve been hearing
is no truth at all. And sometimes
it takes more light to come out of a cavern
than it did to be ushered within.

Be the beloved and leave the shovels of treasure seeking
behind the shed;
see the rain the waters the seed, that disturbs the earth,
moving clods aside to embrace the sun (along with
every other sprout planted with purpose or
scattered haphazard)

Share the coveted place inside the crowded spaces
where finally the light has broken the voices that
vanish like the morning fog near noon. They
held nothing and offered less; their smiles
were aliases for minds waiting to deploy their
final appeal. Padding their philosophy with
references to karma or “sowing and reaping”
they live in style until

The light dispels their false projection on old barn doors.

Of Coffee and God's Kingdom

“For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.” Ephesians 5:5

When we spend all of our time trying to decide who is “in” and who is “out” of heaven, we run a giant risk of interpreting everything in Scripture in that way. So, we turn this passage into a dividing line between who is “saved” and who is not. What if there is the “kingdom of God” means something different than a guaranteed ticket to heaven?