Injustice

Insidiously

The barbed wire wraps around us,

Leaving scarred tissue.

Injustice is this. 

All feel the stabbing cold steel

Drawing blood and pain.

No one is exempt, 

Including perpetrators.

This sin wounds us all.

(Photo: Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France, May 2016)

Heal

Under the band-aid

Cells are regenerating

Making my wound whole.

Into our sick world

God comes with greening power

Bringing sweet, new life.

Lent 2017

Haiku and a photo. That's my daily plan for Lent this year.

#RethinkChurch (Lent photo-a-day) has posted the following words through this year's season of Lent. I will be using these words for my poetry and photographs.

March 1  Heal                                                 March 25 Journey
March 2  Injustice                                          March 26 Celebrate
March 3  Sacrifice                                          March 27 Sign
March 4  Treasure                                          March 28 Grace
March 5  Celebrate                                         March 29 Open
March 6  Wise                                                 March 30 Will
March 7  Forgiven                                          March 31 With
March 8  Preserve                                           April 1     Darkness
March 9  Live                                                   April 2     Celebrate
March 10 Free                                                 April 3      Light
March 11 Led                                                   April 4      Breath
March 12 Celebrate                                         April 5     Hear
March 13 Kindred                                           April 6      Believe
March 14 Faith                                                April 7     Voice
March 15 See                                                   April 8     Blessed
March 16 Presence                                         April 9     Celebrate
March 17 Speak                                              April 10    Follow
March 18 Beloved                                          April 11     Above
March 19 Celebrate                                       April 12     Deny
March 20 Afraid                                            April 13     Spirit
March 21 Go                                                   April 14      Awake
March 22 Joyful                                            April 15     Hope
March 23 Rest                                               April 16     Wonder
March 24 Love

Love

Who would have thought
That these two, with ideologies at the opposite end of the spectrum
Could be
Friends.
Philia.

Loving someone
Is difficult enough when it is someone one actually likes
And whose beliefs are similar to one's own.

But, to love those with whom we disagree or
Love those whose practices hurt those we truly love?
How is it possible?

How is it possible to love someone
Who wants to build walls instead of bridges?
How is it possible to love those whose hate
Is practiced through unspeakable violence?

Yet, there is Jesus
Telling us to love our neighbors as ourselves,
And calls upon us to love our enemies.
Easier said than done, Jesus.

But, maybe by loving our enemies
We see them as human, as children of God
And, maybe by loving our enemies
We can start a conversation
That opens the door
To better understanding.

Look to Jesus
Who risked it all
To love those who hated him.

Refuge

"Be to me a rock of refuge

A strong fortress, to save me,

For your my rock and my fortress."

I am woman fleeing the abuse of my husband.

(Be to me a rock of refuge)

I am a child who is bullied by my classmates.

(Be to me a rock of refuge).

I am the African American man pulled over by the police fifty times simply because I was driving while black.

(Be to me a rock of refuge).

I am the one who is living on the streets because I have mental illness and no money to pay for treatment.

(Be to me a rock of refuge).

I am the Syrian fleeing my war torn country trying to find a safe place to raise my children.

(Be to me a rock of refuge).

I am your child, God, living in a world that I don't understand, full of violence and hate.

(Be to me a rock of refuge).

God, my refuge is in you.

Even as I ask for sanctuary, 

Let me be a little light in this world

Offering safe harbor for those who need it.

Do not let me turn my backs on them

Out of fear for my personal safety 

Because you 

Are

My refuge, my home.

I need not fear.

Mighty

Perhaps those who would claim to be mighty
(or come across that way)
are not, in truth.
Maybe it is just something they hide behind
To make them appear to be bigger 
Than what they really are:
The fake wizard hiding behind the wall,
Insecure bullies, small-minded big mouths.
They are not mighty unless we allow them to be.

What of the ant that can lift one hundred times its own weight,
the distant sun which can burn so brightly it forces one to remove one's coat,
the written word,
the majestic symphony which rises from a few quiet notes,
the dreamers visions that start as small as the tiniest seed?

What may seem insignificant, subtle, or humble may very well be the mightiest of all.
Give me eyes to see and ears to hear, Creator, the mighty in the unexpected places.

Go

This is my memory.

I am standing by the back door of our old farmhouse with my parents who are getting ready to go somewhere and one of them says, "Let's go!" My brothers get their coats on and bound out the back door while I'm still standing there, whining, "Do I have to go?"

This didn't happen just once. There were many times my parents invited me to go somewhere with them and I would grumble, "Do I have to go?" When I was made to go, I have to admit (but never admitted to them) that I was glad I went. But,there were occasions when my parents left me off the hook and I could stay behind. However, when everyone returned, I heard all about their adventures and many times regretted the fact that I didn't join them. 

"Do I have to go?"

What I need to remember today is that wherever I go God is with me. Sometimes God calls me to take risks or try something new and while my impulse may be to plead, "Do I have to go?" I know that God will be there ahead of me, with me. That is a great comfort and gives me courage to go places I might not otherwise go.