2.02.2014

The Seven Deadly Sins

Forget about the other six, says Pride.
They're only using you.
Admittedly, Lust is a looker,
but you can do better.

And why do they keep bringing us
to this cheesy dive?
The food's so bad that even Gluttony
can't finish his meal.

Notice how Avarice
keeps refilling his glass
whenever he thinks we're not looking,
while Envy eyes your plate.

Hell, we're not even done, and Anger
is already arguing about the bill.
I'm the only one who
ever leaves a decent tip.

Let them all go, the losers!
It's a relief to see Sloth's
fat ass go out the door.
But stick around. I have a story

that not everyone appreciates
about the special satisfaction
of staying on board as the last
grubby lifeboat pushes away.

Dana Gioia

Gifts

The Prodigal Son
All callow thoughtlessness
Outshone his brother

Unfair or unwise
To favor the miscreant
Yet it's instinctive

We value others
For the love that we give them
Not the love returned


Martin Locock 

1.26.2014

Small deaths

Jesus suffered the small deaths of life.

Losses of Joseph and John.

Rejected in His hometown.

Being misunderstood
by His followers and the crowds.

Grieving over Lazarus.

Angered by the condition
of His Father’s house.  

Denied by Peter.

Betrayed by Judas.

The bullshit trial.

Which lead to His Big Death

That blessed us 
(as we suffer 
our own small deaths)
never to experience
the curse of a
Big Death.

The Day After Sinatra Married Mia Farrow

So the coffee would stay hot all morning 
Edna, the large-boned Dutch waitress, 
her face and throat flushed from the heat 
would first fill my thermos with boiling water 
in the Circle Diner on Kutztown Road, 
this July morning steamy and loud 
with a highway crew at the counter, 
two grizzled mailmen in the side booth 
and us from the nearby construction site, 
a job I loved for its noise and fresh air, 
screwing big lag bolts into the sills 
of Caloric Stove's new factory warehouse, 
the whirr of the countersink drilling the wood, 
clean white hemlock or spruce

and when one of the mailmen heads for the door 
Edna calls out to him "Hey Jack 
how you think Frank's feeling this morning?" 
Smoke from the grill and the cook's cigar 
clouding the wide glass window: 
Frank, 20 years her senior, 
stepping from Sam Giancana's limo 
or else whispering One For My Baby 
into the spotlight: his death 
in his voice with its flawless control, 
his slanted fedora and raincoat, 
his glittering life we could only imagine

though most of us are laughing by now 
wolfing our hot cakes and eggs 
when the old man yells back, "Tired as hell!" 
pulling his hat down low at the door, 
happy enough to be going to work 
on a Friday under the dawnwashed sky 
of Johnson's Great Society, 
with the Lehigh Valley opening its thighs 
and the weekend gorged with promise.

Joseph Millar

1.19.2014

The Gates of Love Budged an Inch


Just an ordinary day.

Casting for cash.
Mending our tools.
Minding our own business.

Then the Extraordinary enters,
and 
asks us
to join Him 
in finding His lost sheep.

And the fools
run off with Him,
while the rest of us
have to hold the fort
without them.

A Great Leaf

A great leaf, that God and you and I
have covered with writing
turns now, overhead, in strange hands.
We feel the sweep of it like a wind.

We see the brightness of a new page
where everything yet can happen.

Unmoved by us, the fates take its measure
and look at one another, saying nothing.

Rainer Maria Rilke

1.12.2014

The Poor Rich Man


The poor rich man
misheard the gospel.

He thought 
his fellow one percenter
went away mad
instead of sad.

"Oh, My God!"

Not only in church
and nightly by their bedsides
do young girls pray these days.

Wherever they go,
prayer is woven into their talk
like a bright thread of awe.

Even at the pedestrian mall
outbursts of praise
spring unbidden from their glossy lips.

 Billy Collins

1.05.2014

“Merry…”

No one’s hangin’ stockin’s up,
No one’s bakin’ pie,
No one’s lookin’ up to see
A new star in the sky.
No one’s talkin’ brotherhood,
No one’s givin’ gifts,
And no one loves a Christmas tree
On March the twenty-fifth.

Shel Silverstein

"...but deliver us from evil."

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)


Lord,
please deliver me from 
the pleasures of sins.

And when I fall,
grant me Your mercy
as I suffer its consequences.

Amen.

12.23.2013

Canticle of Mary

(The Magnificat)


My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
   and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever,
world without end. Amen.


"...not into temptation"

(A meditation on each word(s)
 of the Lord's prayer)

Even though I profess
You are the one true God,
the world contains 
so many of
its own gods.

Trying to seduce me
that their fantasies 
are able to
fulfill my 
needs and wants.

Lord,
may every choice
I make today,
be considered
between
Your Way
and the 
world's temptations.

12.16.2013

A Christmas Circular Letter


The city had withdrawn into itself 
And left at last the country to the country; 
When between whirls of snow not come to lie 
And whirls of foliage not yet laid, there drove 
A stranger to our yard, who looked the city, 
Yet did in country fashion in that there 
He sat and waited till he drew us out 
A-buttoning coats to ask him who he was. 
He proved to be the city come again 
To look for something it had left behind 
And could not do without and keep its Christmas. 
He asked if I would sell my Christmas trees; 
My woods—the young fir balsams like a place 
Where houses all are churches and have spires. 
I hadn't thought of them as Christmas Trees. 
I doubt if I was tempted for a moment 
To sell them off their feet to go in cars 
And leave the slope behind the house all bare, 
Where the sun shines now no warmer than the moon. 
I'd hate to have them know it if I was. 
Yet more I'd hate to hold my trees except 
As others hold theirs or refuse for them, 
Beyond the time of profitable growth, 
The trial by market everything must come to. 
I dallied so much with the thought of selling. 
Then whether from mistaken courtesy 
And fear of seeming short of speech, or whether 
From hope of hearing good of what was mine, 
I said, "There aren't enough to be worth while." 

"I could soon tell how many they would cut, You let me look them over." 

                                    "You could look. 
But don't expect I'm going to let you have them." 
Pasture they spring in, some in clumps too close 
That lop each other of boughs, but not a few 
Quite solitary and having equal boughs 
All round and round. The latter he nodded "Yes" to, 
Or paused to say beneath some lovelier one, 
With a buyer's moderation, "That would do." 
I thought so too, but wasn't there to say so. 
We climbed the pasture on the south, crossed over, 
And came down on the north.
                                     He said, "A thousand." 
"A thousand Christmas trees!—at what apiece?" 

He felt some need of softening that to me:
 "A thousand trees would come to thirty dollars." 

Then I was certain I had never meant 
To let him have them. 
Never show surprise! 
But thirty dollars seemed so small beside 
The extent of pasture I should strip, three cents 
(For that was all they figured out apiece), 
Three cents so small beside the dollar friends 
I should be writing to within the hour 
Would pay in cities for good trees like those, 
Regular vestry-trees whole Sunday Schools 
Could hang enough on to pick off enough. 
A thousand Christmas trees I didn't know I had! 
Worth three cents more to give away than sell, 
As may be shown by a simple calculation. 
Too bad I couldn't lay one in a letter. 
I can't help wishing I could send you one, 
In wishing you herewith a Merry Christmas. 

Robert Frost

"And lead us..."

(A meditation on each word(s)
 of the Lord's prayer)


It is true
that the angels
cheer and rejoice
over the one
that the Shepherd
has returned to the fold.

However,
they are mystified
at the Master's
difficulty to
lead the 99
from the 
pastures of the past
to
fresh new meadows.

12.08.2013

"...we forgive those who trespass against us."

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

The Physician
said:

"In order to stop
suffering,
you must end
this self-medication of 
bitterness,
addictions,
grudges,
habits,
and hurts."

But we respond:
"We will
really suffer!"

And He answered:
"Then healing 
can start."

So we make the decision-
Should we
consider this cure
or 
start exploring
second opinions?

"As we..."

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

Lord,
we're having this
nice conversation of
what You will provide
now and in the future.

And then
 unexpectedly, 
You bring 
us 
into the discussion.

"What could we do for You?"
we ask.

And after a
moment of
silence,
the Other speaks
one word:
"Love."

MANDELA'S FAVORITE POEM

Invictus
William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
      Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
      For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
      I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
      My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
      Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
      Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
      How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
      I am the captain of my soul.

12.01.2013

“Christmas traffic”

Three, two, one, liftoff
Signals Mission Control. And off they go.
To the dark parts of the planets
In their pressurized spacesuits,
Cocooned in technology, the astronauts.

Mission control whispers in someone’s ear.
Yes, she says, I will. And in due time
A different traveler makes a quieter journey,
Arriving hungry, naked, but true to instructions,
Docking on Earth, taking the one small step.

U. A. Fanthorpe

"And forgive us our trespasses"

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

As we cleanse
our temples
and rid 
ourselves of 
all the souvenirs
from the places
where we thought
we could find
unconditional love,

Lord,
please take them
away
along with our
desires for them.

And afterwards, 
 lead us
your rebellious children
in a service
of rededication.

11.17.2013

"Give us this day! "

(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)

Lord,
Give us this day
to live and share our love.

Lord,
Give us this day
to take delight in You.

Lord, 
Give us this day
to be peacemakers in this hostile world. 

Lord,
Give us this day
to be patient in this "me-first" world.

Lord,
Give us this day
to show kindness to strangers.

Lord, 
Give us this day
to value our friendships.

Lord,
At the end of this day
may we surrender all back to You
and petition You, 
our heavenly Father
to grant us one more day.

"Give us this day"

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

The Hand You’re Dealt

Every day
God deals us
our hand
for the day.

Some of us
fold
in resignation.

Some of us
bluff
our way 
through the day.

And the rest
play the game
the way the Master 
taught them.

"...our daily bread"


(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

The people of the Empire
wonder why 
the God of abundance
parcels out
His Providence
in daily packages,
while 
the rest of the world
utters a 
grateful
alleluia. 

The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist


Something has happened
to the bread
and the wine.
They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward
to receive the gift
from the priest’s hand,
then the chalice.

They are something else now
from what they were
before this began.

I want
to see Jesus,
maybe in the clouds
or on the shore,
just walking,
beautiful man
and clearly
someone else
besides.

On the hard days
I ask myself
if I ever will.

Also there are times
my body whispers to me
that I have.

Mary Oliver

11.10.2013

Happiness by Carl Sandburg

I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
     me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
     thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
     I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
     the Desplaines river
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
     their women and children and a keg of beer and an
     accordion.

“On earth as it is in heaven”

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

Christian Nation

How will the
people of the Empire
who value
freedom
and 
individual rights
be able to
comprehend
an eternal life 
under
the singular rule 
of a 
King
and 
a world
based on
serving
community
rather than 
self-interests?

"Be done"

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)


Why can't 
Your will
be done 
like mine?

Just
cross off
another
task from
the to do list.

Instead
Your will
is accomplished
by the faithful
doing its best
to follow 
Your path
with their crosses
in an 
eternal march
You lead.

"Thy will"

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

I hate clichés.

But 
where 
there
is a
will,
there
is a
way.

And
we don't need
to search for direction.

For 
You 
declared:
I AM
the 
Way.

Teaching us Your will 
by
 following You.

Lord,
may we 
fulfill Your will
by 
moving closer
to You
each day
in Word,
Work,
and Worship.

Amen.

11.06.2013

I'll Be Your Mirror

Songwriters: Reed, Lou / Lang, David

I'll be your mirror 
Reflect what you are, in case you don't know 
I'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset 
The light on your door to show that you're home 

When you think the night has seen your mind 
That inside you're twisted and unkind 
Let me stand to show that you are blind 
Please put down your hands 
'Cause I see you 

I find it hard to believe you don't know 
The beauty that you are 
But if you don't let me be your eyes 
A hand in your darkness, so you won't be afraid 

When you think the night has seen your mind 
That inside you're twisted and unkind 
Let me stand to show that you are blind 
Please put down your hands 
'Cause I see you 

I'll be your mirror
I'll be your mirror
I'll be your mirror


"Come"

(A meditation on each word(s)
 of the Lord's prayer)

On the second Christmas,
When He comes.

Not as a baby
But as the King.

No star directing those to see Him
But He who is the Light in the darkness

Not escaping to Egypt
But reclaiming those who kept the faith.

No gifts from the wise men
But reviewing what the faithful and unfaithful
did with theirs.

On the second Christmas,
When He comes.

“Thy Kingdom”

(A meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

I agree.
This is Your kingdom.

Where Your Presence
permeates the
place like
a mustard tree
annihilates a
garden
or the 
yeast that goes
throughout the 
loaf.

A kingdom that
has a declaration
that every ruler
has dreamed of -
A kingdom that will
never end.

A kingdom
whose citizens are
the ones 
who found the pearl
and knew its
true value.

The ones who 
kept their hand
on the plow
without looking back

Where
good thieves
tax collectors
prostitutes
the childlike
are allowed in.

While the rich 
desperately hope 
for their
advocates
to show up.

10.30.2013

My entry for the Worst Christian Book Cover 2013 contest

Genesis (Japan)


To see the other entries go here.

10.27.2013

"Thy name"

(a meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

Your Name
which signifies omnipresence
in a land that
stares into 
its self-absorbed screens.

Your Name
which signifies omnipotence
in a land that 
fights over 
scraps of power.

Your Name
which signifies omniscience
in a land that
hung Truth
on a cross.

The Bird With the Human Head

~ Anne Sexton

I went to the bird
with the human head,
and asked,
"Please Sir,
where is God?"

"God is too busy
to be here on earth,
His angels are like one thousand geese assembled
and always flapping.
But I can tell you where the well of God is."

"Is it on earth?"
I asked.
He replied,
"Yes. It was dragged down
from paradise by one of the geese."

I walked many days,
past witches that eat grandmothers knitting booties
as if they were collecting a debt.

Then, in the middle of the desert
I found the well,
it bubbled up and down like a litter of cats
and there was water,
and I drank,
and there was water,
and I drank.

Then the well spoke to me.

It said:  "Abundance is scooped from abundance,
yet abundance remains."

Then I knew.

Irish Folk Tale

Once there was a poor and generous old man from Ballaghaderreen who has a dream.  In it he is told to make a journey at the end of which he will find a pot of gold.  In this case the old man has to leave Balla and travel a good way to Dublin and there, when he crosses one of the bridges over the River Liffy, he will find a pub, and there he will find his treasure.  

The old man follows the dream map and when he sees the pub that was in his dream he looks around but there's no place he can dig for a hidden treasure, so he stands beside the door and waits.  He waits all day and at nightfall the publican comes out and asks,
"What are you standing here for all day long?"

"I had a dream that told me to come here."

"A dream?  I think you must be a daft old man to follow dreams.  I, myself, had a dream a month ago and it told me to go to some poor old sod's cottage on the crossroads from French Park to Ballaghaderreen and if I did, I would find a pot of gold in his front yard.  Do you think I would go traipsing all over the countryside because of a dream?  It's cold.  You should go home."

"Indeed I should and will," said the old man.

And when he got home he dug in his front yard and found the treasure and wasn't he himself and all the others the better for it.  

And if he hasn't given it all away we might share a bit with them.

10.21.2013

The Radical Priest on Luke 18:1-8

(Parable of the Persistent Widow)

Now most of 
my brethren
will preach
that the lesson of
the text is
to be persistent in prayer.
To pray unceasingly 
as St. Paul puts it.

However,
the problem I
have with this
message is
by extension
the unjust judge
is God.

Whom we
can badger
anything out of
Him 
if we are  
relentless in
our petitions.

Allow me
to turn the tables
on this parable.

God is the
widow.

Constantly 
pleading 
to the point of 
being pushy
to get us
to see His way
is the best way.

And I can see
by the look in
some of your eyes
you sense
the implications
of this.

WE ARE THE UNJUST JUDGE!

Do we
don't care
what God thinks?

Do we 
ignore
what God is pleading with
us about?

Do we worry
about 
God upsetting 
our apple cart
or worse?

(Aside: I never before noticed 
in the  text
that judge was afraid
of physical harm 
by his continual
rejecting of her claims.)

So the 
message I have for 
you this
Sabbath 
is this:
Yes,
be faithful in prayer.
Pray in the Spirit.
Pray in love and truth
and unceasingly.

But also
listen to
and contemplate
on the Father's
continual
prayers for you.

Buddha on Matthew 6:25-34

An old farmer went to the Buddha 
seeking help for his problems. 

First, he had professional problems. 
In his part of the world, 
farming was extremely difficult 
and his work completely vulnerable to weather. 

Even though he loved his wife, 
there were certain things 
about her he wanted to change. 

Similarly, he loved his children, 
but they weren’t evolving 
the way he had hoped and anticipated. 

Listening carefully
as the man explained his frustrations with life, 
the Buddha responded, 
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”

“What do you mean?” 
questioned the farmer. 
“You’re a highly regarded great teacher 
who has insight into all of life’s problems.”

“All human beings have eighty-three problems,” 
the Buddha explained. 
“A few problems may go away, 
but soon enough others will arise. 
So we’ll always have eighty-three problems.”

The farmer, both indignant and frustrated, asked, 
“So what good is all of your teaching?”

To which the Buddha replied, 
“My teaching can’t help with the eighty-three problems, 
but perhaps it can help with the eighty-fourth problem.”

“What’s that?” the farmer asked with great curiosity.

“The eighty-fourth problem is that 
we don’t want to have any problems.”

“Hallowed be”

(a meditation on each word(s) 
of the Lord's prayer)

I

Lord,
when I'm in a
church 
that is in 
more awe 
of the preacher
than You,
I believe 
I hear them
pray:
“...hollowed be thy Name”

II
The Beauty of His Holiness

You are 
holy.

Compassionate before a person sins,
Compassionate after a person has sinned,
and
mighty in compassion 
to give all creatures according to their need.

Merciful, that humankind may not be distressed;
Gracious if humankind is already in distress.

You are
slow to anger;
plenteous in mercy;
speaking in truth;
keeping mercy unto thousands;
forgiving
iniquity;
transgression;
and sin;
and pardoning
because
You are 
holy.


10.13.2013

"in Heaven"

(a meditation on each word(s) of the Lord's prayer)

Your eternal address.

You
once sublet
the place
to that
nice couple
You created.

Unfortunately,
 You had to 
evict them
because they
broke
the 
Lease.

And for 
a long time
you let 
the place go vacant.

Then
You decided
to 
advertise
Kingdom Properties.

First
the prophets.

Then
Your Son.

Telling
all who 
would listen
about
the new terms
of the Lease. 1

And revealing to people 
the new name of the estate --
Graceland.


Note 1  - John 1:17

"Who Art"

(a meditation on each word(s) of the Lord's prayer)

I
A Mystery.

All
of the modern 
versions of
the Book
have dropped 
this line,
so why
do we pray
as if 
Jesus
proclaimed
the Good News
in 
Old English? 

II
Jehovah-Shammah

"You are"
Jesus insists.

No ancestor 
worship
of
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob.

You 
are
the God
of the living.

You are 
Presence.