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a course in homiletics

(x = space)

x

x

a course in homiletics

(to talkers from the hearers)

x

what preachers call

the inexorable return

of the sabbath

x

this is regarding preaching

that in the life

does not go away

until that part of life

is done

x

a homily

a holy guess

its own divining thing

at least once a week

with time off

not for behavior

but

well

time off

x

a chance

an opportunity

to say with some authority

of text and the community

that God exists

and God is love

and God through Jesus

saves the rest of us

while the Holy Spirit

guides us in an amazement of

an inward way

x

lectionary

maybe

a series to a theme

the season

and the calendar

of sacred time

and secular

x

an aim toward a generic kind of prophecy

an affirmation

but don’t unhook

a line of challenge

that shall run throughout the day

into the week

x

those six days

when most of us

are out here

and this is our chance

to take

something from here

x

greed systems

risking the right and wrong of things

in the world

and inside us

x

we’re only human

after all

which excuses us

maybe by degree

factoring age

existence of faith

with accountability

x

(now

don’t be sly

to think

if I don’t believe

then I’m off the hook

for right and wrong

and the discomfit

of the judgment

and the book

some book

maybe the one up front

and in the racks

corresponding)

x

our job

is to listen

and respond

and if we want

something more interactive

we may say so

x

even the magisterium

allows

for dialogue

in proclamation

x

the average size

non-Catholic

congregation

in the USA

is about two hundred

good for acoustics

and a range

of microphonic possibilities

x

a number to reach

and to reach back

while we’re all here

when we return

and in those six days

while all of us

are out there

x

a message

three points

twenty minutes

(what the Presbyterians provided)

really

though

allow for some elasticity

for as someone else has said

(might have been me)

you cannot program

the Holy Spirit

or what stirs inside

the tabernacle

and all consecrations

sabbath day

and time

x

your time

our time

God’s time

we might say kairos

though

yes

we know

some congregants

are bold to check their watches

for some (ersatz) sanctity

we believe

chronology

bears better

x

we’re all here

let’s have a time of it

let’s seek the Lord

who presence

is not hard to suss

or sing

or dance sometimes

or testify

each time

x

so that the talking

and the hearing go

and more importantly

the doing

before

during

and after

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Luiz Eduardo Alves da Silva on Unsplash

x

0

A Taste of Hallowe’en

(x = space)

x

x

A Taste of Hallowe’en

x

Cream cheese

And blood

Breakfast flavors

Thanks to Philadelphia

And blood-thinners

Sigh

A life with medications

(and bagels)

I’m still here

And I know that’s something

Trick-or-treat

More trick

For me

x

And is there a costume

For a bleeding breakfast-eater

Scary thing

(scarier)

Is there might be

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Skyler Sawyer on Unsplash

x

1

Slingshot without a Rock

(x = space)

x

x

Slingshot without a Rock

x

A sure defense

In time of trouble

xxxxxit comes to mind

xxxxxwhen thinking on the news

xxxxxquotation? lyric?

xxxxxI don’t know or can’t

xxxxxrecall

A bulwark

(big thing)

Never failing

xxxxxfrom the famous hymn

xxxxxthat many know

xxxxxalso good

xxxxxfor trouble

Both assurances of faith

When we need help

From inside out

x

We’re human

Outside makes a difference

We get hurt

We need something

We are afraid

x

God is there

Though we wouldn’t mind

If God appeared with money

Or another miracle

Sudden health

A bulldozer

Whatever’s needed

That is big

And not at hand

x

Such things can happen

There are miracles

There is the ministry of angels

And sometimes

Angels of ourselves

x

Aren’t jewels resting

For the taking

Underground

Are there not billions

Of people

With doubles of billions

Hands to help

x

Where are they

I need you

And so we add new levels

Of fear

And frustration

Doubt

And unbelief

x

And God is there through that

Maybe sorry

It doesn’t work the way

We want

But that there is a way

For everything that’s needful

To be cared for

We won’t have it

Now

And our patience won’t be grateful

To be excised

x

But there are miracles

Sometimes quantum

And there is timing

Like the kind of comedy

That heals

And nothing is a farce

For there is healing

And one by one

And altogether

We are made well

In fantastic

Ways

Unplanned by us

x

Keep asking

Someone is listening

Through hellish seem the circumstance

And absence the main value

Someone is there

Someones

And one by one

And altogether

It all works out

x

And do you believe

Sometimes I don’t

There’s too much pressing

On belief

Even hope is weighted on

To breathe

x

We suffer

And that’s honest

We go without

We go in need

And others with us

Maybe our grief

In fact

Is for someone else

We cannot reach

For barriers

Of space and time

Even only

Material means

x

I want to reach you

But I can’t

I can pray

It won’t seem enough

Confessing apostacy

Another time

x

Where are you

When I know you’re here

How shall I have you

With me

How may you be with

Loved ones

Other victims

Far away

x

Accept

I guess

Believe

It’s silly but

I believe

xxxxxI think she said that in

xxxxxMiracle on 34th Street

In a small voice

It’s true

And you are there

And I believe

x

It won’t work out my way

And I might scour

My soul

For fear

I might sour on love

And take away my prayers

For doubt

But they’re in

The other book of love

And angels are at work

With or without

Our direct anticipation

x

In fact

We are allowed

To be ourselves

Absence

And a fonder heart

Once help is realized

Once we return

x

C L Couch

x

x

consider Psalm 59

x

By art_inthecity from Montréal, CA – Melsa Montagne, Le slingshot de Montréal, 2014, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116883014

x

0

today on maui

(x = space)

x

x

today on maui

x

it is a land on fire

not with the good kind of fire

the kind that warms

and cooks our food

but the kind that is too wild

that knows no limits

to itself

and destroys

and lives are lost

all fauna

and flora

x

we can imagine one

it’s hard to imagine fifty-five

at a recent counting

and still counting

x

there is great effort

herculean as a namesake

effort

and deserving

and should diana help us

search

for what remains

and maybe bring to safety

though deliverance

is due

to another god

x

the first-responders

the Coast Guard

ships at sea and airplanes

from whomever

come to rescue

and to put out the fire

bound in once again

into our usefulness

x

yes

we know this is

one place

and there are other places

yet energy

and intervention

for each place

and people

each person

as we learn who matters

still

which is each one

of course

x

welcome those to heaven

breathe into those on Earth

everyone involved

in tragedy

to help

and to endure

x

and to endure

so easily

is enough for now

x

we can contain and count

it is an island

and it’s not enough

our attention there

or anywhere

x

we do what we can

as we are moved

and as we move ourselves

x

there is no ending

we go on

help us in our attentions

with grace when we come up short

for failing never is

the end

but to choose

to pray

to try again

x

it is an island

we are islands

too

on this island earth

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by charlie harutaka on unsplash

x

maui wildfires live updates: deaths rise to 93 with destroyed area only 3% searched

(bing, abc news)

x

1

Closest Encounter

(x = space)

x

x

Closest Encounter

x

I should speak

To other causes

Though I’d say

Enough of us

Is cause enough

So I should delegate

Myself for planet Earth

This way

x

Breath

Circulation

Stretching

Into life

And all this matters

x

Yes, George Floyd matters

And all Black people

And all the other colors,

Too

x

Partial or whole

We make a difference

Half of us in offices

It takes a moment to get used to

I have to say

While I push through

Suburban limitations

x

White bread

White meat

Tame salad

With acceptable spices

For dressing

Butter

Salt and pepper

I must change

And I have changed

x

The world is larger

And there are gems

Implanted and arising

From the hillsides

And the waters

The desert plains

And in the shapes of clouds

We guess the shapes

x

So much more

You should have it

You should have it

With me

And all of us together

See

(hear

oyez),

I think we used to think

In our old movies

That when they land from outer space

To plant their flying structures

(now landing)

On our greens

That we would united at last

In friendship

Or to meet a foe

Depending on the form of great power

We encounter

x

But these have been landing

For centuries

Our ancient art

And all our docs

(documents and documentaries)

Say so

And we have joined

No better

Than before

Than yesterday

x

So we’ll have to do this on our own

Come together

Right now

Over me

Over you

Over a past’s destruction

And future interest

In rebuilding

Everyone

Who has a chance

And everyone

Should have a chance

x

Then they change

On meeting us

Once they have

The official,

Planetwide encounter

x

Someone’s knockin’ at the door

Let’em in

Let us out

x

C L Couch

x

x

“Come Together,” John Lennon

“Let‘em In,” Paul McCartney

The Day the Earth Stood Still, movie from 1951 (remade in 2008), based on a 1940 science-fiction story

x

(image by) Jiuguang Wang from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States – Gort on display at the Robot Hall of Fame, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27507986

x

2

Measure Twice

(x = space)

x

x

Measure Twice

(or thrice)

x

Apologize twice

Once for God

Once for other people

And if you’re a polluter

Then

Once more for Earth

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Bozhin Karaivanov on Unsplash

x

0

The Advocate

(x = space)

x

x

The Advocate

x

What shall we say

But that God loves us

Anyway

We will be judged

And all the  rest

All we fear

x

But our doctrine

Represents reality

For there

Will be an advocate

Like a lawyer

Pro bono for love

To stand for us

With something better

Than our fear

Our guilt

Could understand

x

Something that works

To save us

Anyway

Through lack of evidence

Or character

Reports

But for love of us

That we reached out for

Just a smidgeon

x

Was enough

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

x

1

New Shapes

(x = space)

x

x

New Shapes

x

In the new century

When everything’s

An artifact

We’ll skew some things

Add our biases

That might be better

Might be inclined toward

An actual

Prosperity

x

In peace

We have declared some things

No more

Metal and blood war

Outside

We have enough

With

Environmental warfare

Chemical destruction

The legacies of hate

On all fronts

Which we’re trying to

Reform

And then re-form

Like plastics

Into spaceships

x

Welcome the new era

Should you

Time-travel

You might

Not recognize it

A universal language

Appreciation of unique

And favorable

A celebration of progress

In unity

While

Yes

We’re working on the hatred

And the other sins

We keep inside

x

It’s frightening

It’s new

We can’t be humanists

Not thoroughly

But must try

In alliance with God-parts

With the liminal

The numinous

We are spiritual in part

After all

x

Sigh

We have far to go and

We know that

Both open and oblique

Our novelists

Will tell us so

Our poets

Keep us honest

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

x

0

who hopes for good days

(haiku)

x

who hopes for good days

apple blossoms or small fruits

how transitions go

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by SIMON LEE on Unsplash

x

0

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