Daylight Comes Shining

Daylight Comes Shining

(“Jesus turned on Peter and said, ‘Get away from me, you Satan! You are a dangerous trap to me. You are thinking merely from a human point of view, and not from God’s.’” Matthew 16:23)

It is true; my posture often discloses the poses
I take to motivate you to see what I so guardedly hide
inside.
I hope to be clearer come the morning,
with new sun shining through invisibility, not glass.
I desire the fresh air bathing tomorrow, not past.
I tip my hat to the next step I take with better vision,
the next portrait unmistakably unretouched, no airbrush,
only bad haircuts, crooked ties, unbuttoned sleeves, and
colored t’s with bob dylan or the cookie monster postered
up front.

Teach me to dance, easier, Jesus. You alone leave me unlonely;
Your love only has cured my unlovely. I never did like any photo
(black and white and waited for development, or digital and tossed
in digital packets across the wifi world), except for one: I was caught
by surprise,
my granddaughter in my arms, her face full of chocolate and my eyes,
full of messy joy.

When Your suffering is over, Lover of my soul, teach me fully,
(I fear the request) what it means to suffer and die with you,
too. Perhaps I will not cringe the unhinged photos that make me believe
all can see
each impurity and the next unearned wrinkle.

You are all the whole, and I am the cog with broken teeth
I always wished had been straightened. You are the only,
I should know your Daylight comes shining and my heart
leaps like summer’s first day after the best sleep of the year.

"If You Forgive"

“He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.’” John 20:22,23

I can only try to imagine what it must have been like to be one of Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. I really have nothing to compare it to; I have no one who has died and come back to life. I have not even been fooled; thought someone was dead, then found out later that they were alive. April 1 is only three months away, though. That would be the greatest prank ever.

Hammers and Saws

Then (Jesus) said, ‘Are you also still without understanding?’” Matthew 15:16

The Pharisees had missed the point once again. They knew the “Law” so well, it was always easy to find offenders. This time those irreverent disciples of Jesus ate before washing their hands. Jesus, as He always did, confronts them with their own hypocrisy, pointing out their own disobedience to a far greater law.

Only Finding

Only Finding

(“There was just enough for everyone. Those who gathered more had nothing left over and those who gathered little had no lack! Each home had just enough.” Exodus 16:18)

There is no hunting, there is only finding,
there is no searching, there is only gathering,
the elusive we seek is the want that demands tomorrow,
not today; next year, not this short radius of time.

There is no hoarding, there is only supply,
there is no hiding, there is only open sky,
the stockpiles we concrete and padlock
are fear’s sleight-of-hand, our fingers of
calloused. We think too much of the thorny
succulents to celebrate fresh today and today.

There is no tomorrow, no future, no long-range plan;
today is the habitation of earthly dwellings. The smile
I intend for tomorrow,
subtracts from the one you needed today.

There is sadness, there is laughter,
there is feasting, there is hunger;
we speak and only memory captures
the sounds into tomorrow.

We sing the songs our grandfathers taught,
today; they sound new. “Masters of War”
was Dylan through Pearl Jam and every Christmas
carol
is gospel harmony with electronica’s assistance.

There is feasting today, tomorrow more,
but today’s feast will not be tomorrow’s meal.
There is celebration, tomorrow new provision;
today we will sing while our ancient anxieties

(their constant hum)

Are brightened by love’s now and only,
a minute divided by 60,
a second split into infinity,
one breath begins, and ends,
behind us again.

Very/Slowly

Very/Slowly

(“Don’t be afraid! Stand still, and see what the Lord will do to save you today.” Exodus 14:13)

I am writing this to be read

Very

Slowly.

I/Mean/It!/

Take every word a-part a syllable at a time,
do not waste one single letter, do not subtract the
smallest integer. Every cluck of the tongue matters,
every vowel breath baritone will not be repeated.
The consonants cutting off air will speak once; listen

Very

Snail-pace.

/Frame/It!/

Now Moses meant it when he said the fear was in their heads
and they need only stand and watch to see (the victory) when
(in the Red Sea) overbearing chariots drowned. Moses spoke
it, perhaps wrote it,
and bequeathed it  for us to sift the leftover junk and pain
we fear might smother us like Job.

Now, I am serious, take this word by bird, beat by cheap seats;
it will not be repeated.

Moses meant it when he said the fear; Job felt it when he
saw the declaration written upon his the ridges of his dried skin,
God was his enemy, God held the winning cards, God had trumped
every bit of righteousness Job had every painted or sung. The
(bottom rung) was squeezing the life out of the affair He adored,
the GodHead, still beyond worship’s reach, had now besieged
the days of grace, replacing them with salt-herbs, potsherds and
pain.

Listen to my eyes roll slowly now. Moses meant it, Job spent
his pain divided/between love’s praise and the dazed questions
when God refuses to play fair.

Though Moses saw the chariots sink, Job’s tears splattered
the same pages; and I am left thinking

We all need to

Take it so/much/slower.

So Small

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32

The mission of the Pioneer 10 was to reach the planet of Jupiter. Launched in 1972, the probe set out on its three year, 700 thousand mile journey. Twenty-five years later, more than six million miles from the sun, the little probe was still beaming back radio signals to scientists on earth. With only an 8-watt transmitter, it continued its mission far beyond expectations. Those eight watts…about enough to power a bedroom night light.

No More Mundane

No More Mundane

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14

One year ago the Hurricane Sandy barreled into the East Coast with a fury unrivaled in recent history. The largest Atlantic hurricane on record, estimates assess damage to have been over $68 billion, surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina. At least 286 people were killed along the path of the storm. It affected people from Jamaica and the Dominican Republic, to 24 states in the United States.