Christ is risen.
Risen indeed.
Give thanks.
Live thanks.
This day.
Every day.
The day of resurrection
Filed under Worship
The Timing of Forgiveness
Forgiveness can come too soon.
Forgiveness can come too late.
May I have wisdom to time forgiveness well.
With thanks to Donald Shriver for this observation made in the film Forgiveness: A Time to Love and a Time to Hate
See you along the Trail.
After
Mary,
did you sleep . . .
could you eat?
After.
After
betrayal
arrest
desertion
denial.
Did you wander in a daze,
heart and spirit aching,
events a blurry haze?
After
trial
humiliation
torture
crucifixion.
Did you shed hot tears,
rage in despair,
struggle with deep fears?
After
he thirsted
he forgave
he commended his spirit to God
it was finished.
Did you sleep . . .
could you eat?
After.
Filed under Poem
For campus ministers, thanks be to God
I did a gig on Maundy Thursday evening with Agape House – a Protestant campus ministry at the University of Illinois in Chicago.
Interestingly enough, I had once done a field education placement that was based at Agape House. I worked with the Rev. Gene Powell at what was then called Loop Community College – now Harold Washington Community College.
Memories flooded back. As they roil in my heart and soul, I give thanks for those campus ministers who helped to shape me:
The Rev. Judson McConnell
The Rev. Dave McGown
The Rev. Gene Powell
And I give thanks for those who presently engage in campus ministry – Kurt, Catherine, Jan, John, Jon – and those I forget – and those I do not know.
Thank you for your important work.
Filed under Uncategorized
Get home safe
It happens almost every night.
I shut off the computer,
turn out the light,
and leave the office.
I walk down the hall to the elevator
and push the call button.
When the cab arrives, I push “1” and head downstairs.
Hector is there to see me out.
Sometimes we talk about weather or family.
Often we talk sports.
[Conversations got interesting when
my Steelers beat his Jets.]
Then I head for the door,
and I hear Hector’s final words:
always the same
always in the same, kind voice:
“Good night, Marko.
Get home safe.”
Get home safe.
We live in a world where so many have not a home
a tent in a refugee camp
a blanket in the back of a car
a cot in a shelter
a mattress in a brothel
a root of a tree
a spot on a subway grate;
a world where unsafe situations fill so many homes:
domestic violence
sex trafficking
war
exploitation
persecution
occupation
a world where the journey home
is unsafe
perils, dangers
known and unknown
lurk and strike
with regularity and ferocity.
In such a world, Hector’s words come as
a blessing
a benediction
a prayer that the day may soon dawn . . .
and a challenge that we work for that day . . .
when
every one has a home
every home is safe
and we all travel there safely.
Get home safe.
May it be so.
See you along the Trali.
Did Micah know?
Micah, did you know –
in order to
love kindness,
do justice,
walk humbly with God,
we have to
face evil unspeakable,
confront horror unfathomable,
carry pain unbearable?
Filed under Poem
Only
Only by confronting the evil,
however monstrous,
however banal;
only by facing the horror,
however terrifying,
however agonizing;
only by feeling the pain,
however shallow,
however deep;
only by remembering the act,
however shocking,
however shameful;
only by acknowledging the loss,
however great,
however small;
only then
can grace
break through.
18 April 2011
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
Toy Story 3
As rain drenches the Shire on the Hudson,
Memories of Sean and Eric
wash my spirit
flood my mind
fill my heart.
Sorrow, joy, and pride mix together.
Filed under Movie
Egret
On slender legs,
too slender it almost seems
to support her weight,
she walks.
As sunlight shafts
fail to pierce morning greyness,
she walks.
Through water
among reeds
she walks.
She pauses,
dips to catch a fish.
Breakfast finished,
she walks.
Gracefully striding,
carefully picking her way
among slime-covered tires
that choke the bank,
she walks.
April 16, 2010
Train 7221
New Jersey Transit
North Jersey Coast Line
Filed under Uncategorized
My heart aches
They pile up tonight:
Libya
New Zealand / Aoteara
Women of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Bahrain
Wisconsin
And more
My heart aches
Filed under Uncategorized
