(x = space)
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my heart to give
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my heart to give
lord Jesus
my worn heart
broken, stitched
machined
hardly new
why should Jesus
want it
but he’ll take it
I think
not because
of its condition
or because
he can renew
but because
he is all love
and will not refuse
love given
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after reading “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Christina Rossetti
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C L Couch
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Photo by Marija Zaric on Unsplash x
(x = over)
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Dream Over
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I dreamed
About my brother
Last night
Then my sister
And my mother
Who was sick
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I tried to get ready
Asked my sibs to help
They would
(they did)
I tried to fix things up
As best I could
Then went to work
Where I was testy
With the people
There
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Dream over
I woke up
And feel tense
Old long since
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C L Couch
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Photo by thamara prada on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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A Sun, a Chariot, a Rocket
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Gee, the myths are done
For a while
New Year’s
Twelfth Night
Imbolc/
Brigid’s Day
Lunar year
The groundhog’s day
I’m going to miss them
Because they
Render truth more interesting
I mean, every day’s a
Saint’s day
Some stories so old they
Might fall apart
Under laser scrutiny
Christopher is one story of those
(and Brigid)
But myths aren’t false,
I mean
That’s conversation
They are stories
To explain
What we don’t know
What is beyond
Us
And our words
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Why does weather
Change?
What is at the center
Of the universe?
What is on the other side
Of life?
Maybe we know more of the
Answers
Now
Maybe we don’t need to give
Gods names
Except where we do give names
Or use the old ones
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The names
And reasons
Myths are still our seasons
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C L Couch
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Photo by Cristofer Maximilian on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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Mud-Healing
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Jesus didn’t need
Things
He didn’t need mud
To heal,
To draw in the dirt
To make a point
He didn’t need a drove
Of pigs
(poor pigs)
He didn’t need a feast
He didn’t need
The perfumed oil,
Though he adored
The one who gave it
I am sure
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He didn’t need Martha’s
Food
He didn’t need Mary
At his feet to learn
Though I imagine
He was happy for
Her devotion
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Jesus didn’t need
The Earth
Though he came
To save it
And to give
Too much
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This was
And is
A God of love
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When we love,
So many things
Don’t matter,
Anymore
And what does
We’re willing
If not ready
To give up the world for
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Sacrifice
For service
For devotion
Life for another life,
To dive or run into
Dangerous waters
For rescue
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C L Couch
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(the sermon started in John 9, mud-healing)
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Photo by Piotr Hamryszczak on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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Metaphors for Divinity
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God is love
God is a spirit
God is a lion
God is a rock
The rock of our salvation
And the Bible tells us so
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C L Couch
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Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash
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(x = space)
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Easy Errantry
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God grant
Peace for friends
And good days
Well-deserved
Because they are
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No pre-requirements
Beyond existing
Now
On Earth
Today, hopefully
Into tomorrow
All right, so an anti-disposition
Toward causing pain
In others
Wouldn’t hurt
x
But beyond that
Simply be today
And have good days
Without because
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C L Couch
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Photo by Alberto Zanetti on Unsplash
when I first saw the image, I thought it was upside-down; on second glance, I thought it was a painting
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(x = space)
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Pollock Shock
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What is honest,
Anymore?
(people might ask
they might)
Is it when we cry in pain
From suffering?
Is suffering so honest?
No great art
Without suffering
Speaking to the vision,
I suppose
Michelangelo before
The chapel ceiling
Pollock
Before the floor
Art that changes everyone
Born from the pain of one
Or more
And what about beholders?
Do I understand,
Bring it close to heart/
To home
Because I hurt before
I see above/
Below,
Hear the music,
Touch the statue,
Walk the garden,
Smell the cooking?
A world of pain, they say
No other way to
Know magnificence
But through agony
Small pain
Great pain
Small art
Great art
I want to fight the premises
Argue them for
Ordinary time
Sigh
Maybe we have to hurt
Before even plain beauty’s
(leaf’s magnificence,
soup in the pot)
Understood
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C L Couch
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Photo by Jené Stephaniuk on Unsplash
Part of the painting “Day Trip” from Jene Gallery.
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(x = space)
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Dona Nobis
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I believe
And so should appeal to God
And feel peace
Though maybe the situation is
I have peace
And sometimes do not feel it
To have it
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C L Couch
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By ZSM – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4239269
The tallest (16.5 m (54 ft)) peace pole in the world on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. It is made of a 105 years old Sapele tree. 5 languages (Twi—a local language in Ghana, Hindi, Chinese, Swahili, and Arabic) have been used to express the peace prayer on the pole: “May Peace Be on Earth”.
(x = space)
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Not Unusual Sunday
(which is to say, ordinary time)
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Lord, help me
To be ordinary today
To be faithful
In the usual way
To go to church
Think churchy thoughts after
For a while
To play a little
Finish my homework
Get ready for tomorrow
Monday,
You know
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C L Couch
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Photo by Osman Rana on Unsplash
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clcouch123 
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