allowance
I think God should be allowed
more so
frankly
than through wind and trees
to appear
or to be evidenced
by
faith and any form of love beheld
the good word
the good message
said
by some of us
to more of us
to convey the meaning of the unseen
evidence
and to convict on lack of
concrete grounds
except
to hear a story and then if a stirring
should come before
or
after
and should Scrooge way a bit of gravy of
some
mustard
but
then Marley should scream and then
Scrooge react
overwhelmed with belief
and should God scream
at us
and so concrete belief
or
leave it up to us
a question
that could go unasked
though there is that stirring
mustard notwithstanding
(I like
mustard)
something of truth
inside
to indicate
if
not at first beyond a feeling that
there’s something to believe in
more than
ourselves that
nonetheless should make
ourselves complete
even
an abundance
the promise that is perfectly kept if
the world should prevaricate
well
deceive
for an agenda
and
we must wait a while for
our own perfection
assigned
later
and all of us
unevidenced
do all
our best
even imperfectly
for now
rising
falling
leaving
then
the coming back
c l couch
image by Achim Scholty from Pixabay
easy company
what shall I say
this
sabbath day
but believe in God
and so
be saved
while none get credit or commission
and can’t tabulate
but
that any should be saved
and so in absentia
hope
when all are there
to celebrate
c l couch
photograph by Liana S on Unsplash
Then Doubt
Doubt is
Smart
It has an edge
There is reason
There
And care for the shape
And flow
Of things on every
Side
Doubt considers
Aspects
What is good
And what needs changing
What
To say halt
To
While there are considerations
And respect
At least a dive into awareness
Of all players
Doubt
Needs affirmation
Maybe
Though first it should get it
Of itself
Which is to say the paradox might be
That
Doubt
Should be awarded its own
Certainty
To say the head
And all corners of the heart
Deserve
Consideration
And then
There are the questions
The committed should ask questions
Too
Practicality
At least
Though when
Doubt and commitment might
There might be fixing
What
Things need fixing
And leaving go
What might be brought
To bear
With virtue
Next
Occasion
Say
When the parent says
I believe
Help my unbelief
The doubt
Affirmed to heal
Embodying the risk
That faith must
Take
For the stronger
Lasting
Miracle
Of holding
On
Sometimes
Or when certain
In the morning of belief and
And in
Life
That also needs
It seems
The evening of doubt
(Mark 9:24 is cited, the entire passage recommended)
The Pain of Doubt
Doubt does
Hurt
It is disturbing
Even when
We try to keep it only
In the realm of thought
There’s
Likely
To be pain
Goodness is more fun
And we like think
More lasting
As
Promises
And prophecies
Foretell
Yet goodness unchained
Directionless
After
The pleasure might need
Something more
As well
And shall doubt
Provide that
The sureness of having
Worked
Through it all
And shall come out on
The other side
A conviction
Certainly
For enough
Of faith
And peace and
Joy
C L Couch
Photo by BenMoses M on Unsplash
Let It Go
I should write early
Then release it
Each piece a journey
If a stroll
And like a tapestry
There’s thread
And there’s a loom
Something
On which something else
Is framed
The work
The weave
Go out in directions
And make patterns
And there are
The damaged parts
But it’s a
Piece at last
For all our senses
And
Overall
The sense in things
[here’s an example, first thing out most recent session, not revised to death—or life if it can’t reach]
Consideration of the Afterlife and Through-Life
So what happens next
The short answer is that we don’t know
The long answer is
We hear things
Saint Paul tells
There shall be no pain
And our bodies shall be perfect
Perfected
That is
Through some sort of transformation
Some new alignment of
The spirit and the flesh
We have stories from
Those who have
Gone
And then come back
And I don’t know
These stories
Seem
To go along with ancient texts
Of many traditions
Many followings
And
Do we translate somehow
Right away
And where might judgment be
How might it
Happen
Christians say there shall be
Advocacy
In what transpires
And that we could
Be secure of heaven
Not for being
Good
In an unerring way
But for belief
Solely by belief
Sola Dei
Sola Christus
Other groups have other ways
To understand and have
The same
To be respectful and to say
Sola-something else
Sola-someone else
We don’t know what we don’t know
But it seems
We do know things
Though it’s all
So abstract
And invisible
What happens
And criteria
Could be clearer
And frankly sensible
As in
Assuring to the senses
That we have
It all would be
Frankly
Less frightening
As well
But then our will would have no place
It seems
And for the loss of Eden
It also seems
That what we choose
Does matter
And there might be no higher stakes
In fact
Sigh
I wish it were all easier
Though even angels
Without will
We say
Manage to rebel
So all things choose
Perhaps
Nature chooses
In the changing seasons
In responding to
New
And ongoing circumstances
So try to believe
Appears to be the way
Do well
Do good
Because it’s better
More uplifting
More constructive
Evidencing of itself
The better way
Thinking
And feeling better
Too
Children
Believe
For we are all the children
And belief is our
Incumbency
Our legacy
Our lore
The words of God to tell
And evidence in
Nature
Clear enough for being made
By God
C L Couch
Photo by Sandy Millar on Unsplash
“And in death they were not divided. 2 Sam.1.23” (for translation programs)
Apology of the Annoyed
Immortal
Invisible
And sometimes
That’s annoying
And at other
Times
It hurts so much
Not to see anything
Hear anything
By what is pressed upon us
That we can see
And hear
Even emotions
And our thoughts
Seem more real
More touchable
More holdable
Sometimes
Ghosts
You know
In stories
Seem more palpable
Than your presence
As we say
Everywhere
Why must you be unseen
Why must we count
On evidence
In nature
So that our faith is challenged
By a storm
Or flood
Or quake that kills
Why we might have to guess
At your approbation
The source of an eruption
While we must flee
The valleys
Where we live
Below
You are inside
Somehow
We say
And how really
Does that work
Unless we invent them
Or turn out
To be
One of the few
Who hear them
Say
Joan Dark
There are no voices
Inside
But our own
And we fill up the inside
With organs
Thoughts
And feelings
So where is
The space for you
We say
Your word is in a book
In many books
Though books are still
Unrevealing
‘Til we open
And read from them
On our own
Or in the forum
Hear
Someone officially
Say
This is the word of God
And truly
Is it so
The glass is dark
Which might be the metaphor
That helps
You’re there
You’re on one side
We might see movement
Guess at mystery
Find faith
Ill-shaped
By what we see
And cannot see
Or hear
Should there be sound
As well
And could we guess
That you might be
On our side
Of the glass as well
And by your presence
(guessed at)
Might believe
You favor us
Not our side
As politics
But simply being here
And you are here
Was there love
In your making
Things
And making us
With apparatus
For induction
Deduction
To figure out
That is
Through impulse
Too
And instinct
Gained
Conditioned from each day
We encounter
We experience
Make wisdom
Or simply know
Without knowing
How bits
Of the world are
Through what we have
And what we use
And what is used
Of us
So much a kind of
Instrumentation
And what for
To know there’s something more
Than us
We know
By simply
Living life
As its own evidence
And proof
Within
What there is
In all forms
And shapes
And differences
And energies
It might seem
Life proves
That you exist
And because
We are more
Than what’s inside the shell
(the blood and such)
In faith
There is more than us
And this more
Might be you
C L Couch
“Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise” is a hymn.
In addition to I’m sorry, apology also means explanation and defense.
Photo by Denny Müller on Unsplash
Ancient of Days
God
As God
Requires
That we love God
With our minds
With our hearts
With our souls
And that
We love our neighbors
As ourselves
Which does mean
Self-love
Must be in there
Too
It isn’t a request
It is a command
From God
First command
Second command
At least as Deuteronomy
And Jesus
Has arranged
What we are told
To do
I know we see all this
As optional
As if God required less
Than the military
Or our bosses
Or out contracts
Though these came first
And do not change
With rank
Or a new job
It is a
God who commands
For whom blood was required
And a nation follow
Or be brought down
Be outcast
By the power of
Worldly forces
That won the day
Because the people had
Abandoned
God
And faith
And certainly
Obedience
It all seems ancient
Irrelevant
And at best
Relative
Doesn’t it
We moderns do not live
This way
We don’t fret over altars
Or unblemished offerings
Not of animals
And certainly not
Ourselves
We take the dross of doctrine
Leave the rest
Inside the book
Inside the church or temple
That we enter and exit
Now and then
Even weekly
Without doubt for holidays
Yes
Without doubt
This year
God loves
God waits
God invites
God doesn’t require
Fancy dress
Or best behavior
God love us as we are
Wants no change
Might wait for deathbeds
For confessions
And an
Affirmation
Guaranteeing heaven
Or God’s our pal
And pals don’t leave other pals
Out in the dark
The rain
By the gate
That we’re sure will open for us
God’s our pal
The dross of doctrine
Looks
Behavior
What we give
Whom we serve
Tangential faith
Appreciation for the invitation
Please stand by
The modern spiritual life
Lukewarm at best
And it seems
God doesn’t cotton to
Lukewarm
Or bits of this or that
That might be good
If only by
Our arguments
Or statements
To the press
Or whoever might be listening
In the mirror
We’ll get around to God
Perhaps
The way God is
And what God wants
After work
And after home
And after neighborhood
Relations
Maybe during vacation
Or really
After
Maybe when we’re there
And hear a sermon
We could instead
Think about what God wants
Think in our own way
Decide
In our own way
Maybe after entertainment
And by the way
For a show I pay with some money
In the plate
This should all be more
Impressive
Than it is
On my own
I might do better
Find better
Maybe I don’t have to come back
So much
A touch of religion
Less of faith
Nothing like
The mind
The heart
The spirit
After all
Faith is not that smart
It’s not material
Enough
It doesn’t admire
What I do
And what I have
Enough
And I don’t see faith
Changing wars
Or floods
Or earthquakes
After all
And how did people
Used to believe
With dead animals on altars
No
Thank you
I’ll take life as it is
As it’s progressed
As it’s civilized
With all the medicines
And the technology
With the better weapons on our side
How relevant
Is a faith in God
How necessary
Children know what to do
They have Mister Rogers
Sesame Street
And everything else
Approved
For their good growth
They are healthy
I’m sure
And if not all of them
Well
They were slipped through
The loop
Somehow
And that’s too bad
But most of them are fine
As most of us are fine
What more
Can we want
And God
Well
God
An invitation
Well
That’s nice
Maybe when I’m older
Have less to do
Fewer things
To worry over
Figure out
Make plans for
Yes
Then I’ll have time
Really to think about
Religion
And what a God
Might really want
That I could give
I’ll have less money then
But I’ll time
Yes
I’ll have time
To give you
That’s all right
Isn’t it
I mean
You’re a loving God
Which means your patient
Right
You’ll give me all the time
I need
C L Couch
Photo by WILLIAN REIS on Unsplash
gifted
I’d like to give you each
a present
though I’m poor
and not the kind of poverty
that saints admire
for I have little
mystic understanding
and what I have
is tied
to nothing like
how much
how little
I have
I’d like to say
go slowly
as the Buddhists
say
especially
when parting
I’d like to say
remember all your loves
made up of
reason
practicality
and balance
not that passion
doesn’t count
it does
but there should be a measure
in most things
of what is right
and what is easy
(like
Jack’s pieces
well
maybe not so much)
which is
(really)
to say
let all good things
have their place
and do not rearrange
from the heaven
of creation
and the philosophy
inside all things made
for there is
certainty
as well as confusion
the way this world works
and don’t deny
the sure things
that you
and others
who are smart
and might be trusted
might ally
I’d like to say
think God
(like another movie)
though I know
that’s not enough
or I could say
love
and let love
not frilly silly
(‘til the day)
but steady
and trustworthy
have its say
and guide
however trite it sounds
each day
I guess
some things are cliché
like the way we use
iconic
meaning not a symbol
but celebrity
believe
and love
so common
(a cliché)
and yet maybe
we can still ourselves
and our sophistications
to accept
that some things
important things
the most important things
are commonplace
no secrets
no requirements
but to accept
what is instilled
(installed
as it were)
within internal palaces
or offices
or bungalows
(I’ll take a wooded cabin)
in the mind
in what we call the heart
in what really is
the spirit
might be
an alliance of the spirits
one by one
within
between
our groups
our nations
for an errant world
on its quest
our quest
to grow
to acquire
and to save
good things
and we could have rituals
and easiness
(not mindlessness)
in what passes
from the Earth of now
into
the next
of now
c l couch
photo by Luca Pennacchioni on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Moment Clear
(to go with “The Moment,” “Moment Passed”)
x
Hello
You must be God
I don’t know what I’m saying
I could read from a book
I suppose
You’d know the words
And I guess
That you know mine
x
Why are you invisible
Why are you only known
Through agencies
Through angel words
And actions
Fighting
Providing
Or announcing
Such a scary thing to Mary
Words in the sky
To frighten shepherds
Though getting them
To Bethlehem
As well
x
And may I know you
Unseen and surrogates
The promise
In the making
Of the cosmos
Promising perfection
With you later
x
Well
Maybe it’s simple
Believe in you
Or not
You remain the same
And for some reason
Have a plaintive part
As if you long for us
Having made us
Then pushed us along
From making
Into life
Into choices
x
And we may choose you
On our own
Without good evidence
Through with impulsive knowing
That there’s good and bad
Somehow both
And good is better
Bad amounts to nothing
Even though it gets to dress
In temptation
That we find compelling
x
Oh God
How do we know
How do we choose
I guess we do
We do
And that is all
No more
No less
Through faith there is the grace
The gift to everyone
In shadowlands
Enough clarity
To know you
And to have you
Knowing
You have us
Through the next moment
Of posterity
Into eternity
x
That’s it
We believe
And you remain
Unrevealed
So that faith keeps to the road
As invisibly as ever
The way
Belief and grace
Shall take us
Knowing when we fall
From lack of evidence
Or from gilded devils
With their feet out
x
We can pick up ourselves
And even reach for you
To know that something’s
Someone’s
There
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Randy ORourke on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Everyone and Everything
x
Our God
Our God
Why do we forsake you?
x
Well,
We can’t see you
That doesn’t help
We have great stories
They’re not ours
We can imagine heaven
Get it wrong
We have you
Because we say so?
Not to invent you
But to have you
Nothing required
But a choice
No initiation
Though we have written rituals
And applied water
And
A party
(and why not)
x
Then there’s
Metanoia
The changed life
That could cost
Something of mortality
What we think we want
And really want
Again
To have for taking
Like the food
Upon the table
That is
For everyone
x
New life
That dresses like the old one
Sounds the same
Tastes different
Taste and see
The Lord is good
We do not eat the Lord
But consume
All the same
x
We may break
With ingestion
Live on our own
And what we think is food
Is good
(usually, we know)
Molecules to eat
In such a way
To threaten finite balance
In the universe
x
Yes, sometimes
We are that important
x
Back to God
Or forward
Mostly forward
Though repentance
Is kairotic
One day into another
Until the day is perfect
With
Perfect night
x
Questions are important
Doubt is part
Faith isn’t stupid
Isn’t tricky, either
Have it
Eat it
Live it
If you want
x
Then ready for the world
(as is)
With, as we say
Or someone says,
Truth and understanding
x
An amen
Without the end
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash
x
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