Tag Archives: grace

October 25, 2011 · 11:03 pm

Treadmill’s eyes

Faithless
have I been, for longer
than I will acknowledge publicly;
but tonight, for at least this night,
the season of neglect,
the days of abandonment ended, and I
returned.

The gym
asked no questions,
expressed no words of reproach; simply
welcomed me with open arms
as though no time had passed:
grace abounded, unconditional love
expressed.

And yet,
at times, not always, but at times
it seemed that I could see,
the eyes of the third treadmill on the right
fighting back tears
that stirred from depths of
regret.

25 October 2011
Shire on the Hudson
with thanks to Laura VanDale

1 Comment

Filed under Poem

Tagged as , , , ,

October 9, 2011 · 8:18 pm

Dependence

The still of early morning breaks
when, in the effort to digest
the evening’s overconsumption,
spasms clench my gut and stir me
to the cusp of sleep. There unsought
shadows of my failures greet me:
come again to shame, to haunt me.
Bitterly they rise and lurch from
memory into awareness,
one by one, then all together
they cascade into a torrent
pricking remorse with reminder
how deeply I depend on grace.

October 9, 2011
Shire on the Hudson

Leave a comment

Filed under Poem

Tagged as , , , ,

October 5, 2011 · 11:35 pm

Appropriate honor

Thanks be to God for the life, the love, the faith, the courage, the grace, the hope, the witness of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth! Well done, good and faithful servant! Rest in peace.

Fred Shuttlesworth, Civil Rights Leader, Dies at 89

Birmingham Mayor William Bell orders city flags lowered in honor of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

The honors are deserved.

I wonder if the Rev. Shuttlesworth might suggest that appropriate ways to honor him are to love (truly love both in actions and in how we structure our lives) one another, to seek justice for all, and to work to build, nurture, and strengthen community among the diverse peoples of our country and the world. The struggle continues.

What will you do? What will I do?

See you along the Trail.

Leave a comment

Filed under Current Events

Tagged as , , , , , , ,

August 21, 2011 · 8:08 pm

Rainbow over Oahu

Unexpected vistas appear,
unforeseen opportunities arise,
surprises occur,
grace abounds.
For a number of minutes,
I chased this rainbow 
along the H1 on Oahu.
“Dad, there is a reason
the University of Hawai’i 
calls their teams 
the Rainbow Warriors,”
Eric patiently explained.
30 October 2006
Honolulu, Hawai’i  

Leave a comment

Filed under Photo

Tagged as , , , ,

April 18, 2011 · 1:08 am

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

Leave a comment

Filed under Poem

Tagged as , , ,