Bible

on the altar

(x = space)

on the altar

lord

what shall we give

but everything

and what is everything?

if i offer myself upon an altar

then will you send an angel

to stay my hand?

if i offer up my part in relationships

will you have an angel

tell me

not so much

before i am alone?

if it’s my wardrobe or accounts

or the corporation or the army

(like saint francis)

or plans

earthly luxury

or earthly victory

will you send a hallelujah chorus

to tell me, no, not that much?

or will you tell me to keep

going:

my body to begin with

as a living sacrifice,

my mind turning only as you turn it,

the sadness of

living against the world

for the renewing of my mind

my body as a sacrifice

in worship

without sacrificing animals

or the worldly counterparts

but sacrificing me

the only thing to set apart,

holy for you

could you ask that much

or do you ask that much all the time

while i do not hear?

then i should listen with the

hearing that you gave me

c l couch

romans 12:1-2

photo by ricardo gomez angel on unsplash

July 3, 2022 6

Metaphors for Divinity

(x = space)

Metaphors for Divinity

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

C L Couch

Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash

January 27, 2022 2

The Topic Is Admonishment

(x = space)

The Topic Is Admonishment

(Sunday morning sermon and discussion)

Well, let’s see

God admonished Moses

And admonished worse the rest of

The Israelites

The donkey admonished Balaam

Elijah admonished Jezebel

Ananias and Sapphira were not given

Time to be admonished

But were killed for lack of generosity

And lying about it

Admonishment seems to be

A touchy theme

How are we to do it

Without getting killed?

Well, we are,

I guess,

To do it

Though I think it has to be

In an absolutely constructive

Fashion

In which we ask each other first

Who we are

And how we are

And why, in love, this is necessary

And then we go ahead

Knowing we might lose

The relationship

And lose in other ways

Stones on the path

That God does not remove

Before we strike them

And now

We must do something

Even though

But knowing

That the path continues

On the other side

C L Couch

This is my response and some (little) summation of the sermon and groups talking about admonishment at Covenant Evangelical Presbyterian Church, West Lafayette, Indiana, on 25 July 2021.

3 Colossians 16

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

(New International Version)

1 Colossians 28
We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.

(Berean Study Bible)

Blurry Yellow Taxi Cab

Photo by Scott Umstattd on Unsplash

New York, United States

July 25, 2021 0

Book War

(x = space)

Book War

(preventive)

It happens

When a group

Has a code

That is set down

For day-to-day

And legacy

It took place with

The Quran

The evening of

The morning

When there was

Certitude that

There would be

A new

Generation

The Christian Bible

Set off conflict

With each change,

Each schism

Set to fighting

Over what to do

For faith

And what the book

Of faith should say

Not to mention

All the agnostica

Falling ‘round

The faithful

How many books

In the book?

Sixty-six or seventy-two with

All that should be in

Sixty-six or seventy-two

My version’s better

My translation

My paraphrase

No, mine

No, OURS

Said with authority

No one outside commends

So we will need an army

Defending ink,

Scriptoria,

And brittle generations

A Bible war

Could be fun for trivia

On pub night

But not to justify

The raping of

Constantinople,

Christians thieving Christians

Or the books

That fuel internal fires

Burning up Jerusalem

For faith

Now, it seems

The Jewish book

For faith

Kept growing

While some groups

For their faith

Don’t keep a book at all

To say the least,

There’s fondness for a text

But to justify—well,

We’ve heard good things about

A declaration

And a constitution

And a touchstone

We should not fight about it

But leave room

As at the table

After dinner

Or the second half

Of sermons,

Engagement that most folk

Forget or remember

In leaving off

coda

If we write

And publish,

Pass around,

We should talk about it

Since pages are not

Altars

(altars are not altars)

And there’s always trouble

With our idols when

In idolatry

C L Couch

Photo by Drew Murphy on Unsplash

Johannesburg, South Africa

I was on a work shoot in a suburban church in Johannesburg. I took a walk around and noticed this soft light spilling onto the pews. Immediately I knew I should get a Bible and place it there. To me this image speaks of the gentle peace that can be found in the midst of a crazy world.

January 18, 2021 12

Foolish Wise

(x = space)

Foolish Wise

It’s been a while

Since a Bible study came my way

Or on occasion

When I’ve formed one

I miss the circle

The things we say while, frankly,

We are on our better behavior

After all, holding the book

That guides the way

Not that we are free from sin

Or won’t resume our earthbound

Lives when

We are done for the hour,

Sipping coffee, shaking hands

But for the time

We are good

The doorway to the spirit

Has been opened

And we are closer to the selves

We want to be

C L Couch

Photo by Alex Perez on Unsplash

Marco Island, United States

Make a splash.

October 15, 2020 1

First Story

(x = space)

First Story

The Bible is a book

Stories, sometimes

Told in poetry

The thinking of a people

And, certainly, their feelings

Faith based on

Invisibility

Not to be fanciful

But there’s a lack of evidence

That is the design

A collection of books,

We say

Sixty-six or seventy-two

There are reasons

For the difference, we’re told

But some of us

Are wondering if

Judith was left out

By the Protestants

Because she is so heroic

While also

Scolding

Cowering men

But take our pick, it’s still

An impressive collection

There is truth in it

In the one story, overall

Parts of the world

That point to it

Pages on leaves,

Waves telling it aloud

And other texts

And other storytellers

It’s a book of faith

Behind that, it’s a book of love

That was the first purpose

The pleasure in the making,

We can only guess

The peace,

We’re told, is passing understanding,

Too

But maybe we can take

A guess at love

We can think it

We can think it through

We can feel it

We can feel it through

The story is compelling

As it is pervasive

We can enjoy it

(try the creating)

We can be persuaded

We can be grossed out from

Time to time

We can be changed

We can be saved

C L Couch

Photo by Aleksei Ieshkin on Unsplash

October 13, 2020 1

Jesus Tells a Joke to Make a Point

Jesus Tells a Joke to Make a Point

(brief Bible study, Matthew 7:3)

It’s a joke

A pun

The sawdust in the other’s eye

The log in one’s own

All seeing devices marred

There is no clarity

In judgment

Not without remorse for one’s own,

First

The log, however

Maybe Jesus is laughing, who

Would know how to do that

The log is so difficult to see

Around

Much less through

To start

Might all these wood parts

I wonder

Come from

The tree of good and evil?

If so

Or if not

The stakes are high

The sanctity of sanctity

The holy qualities we have

But might surrender

So much easier to find

(without clear sight)

The problems with another

And I’m confessing, too,

Which does not make me readier

For judgment

That is, to do it

Not yet

(I laugh a little, sigh),

C L Couch

Photo by Tim Schramm on Unsplash

January 12, 2020 0

Bible Angels

Bible Angels

If I were in a market place

Four thousand years ago

And an angel came to me,

Would I laugh as Sarah laughed?

It would be understandable

We try it now

In comedies

Sometimes in melodrama

But it’s a tragedy of belief to have

The recognition come too late,

And so it never does

Tell Sodom and Gomorrah

And days before the rain

That meant the ark

Must be sealed

I’m sorry, but sometimes

There’s providence in this

But after rain

I have an angel on my shoulder

A miracle in my pocket

And King Jesus is my all

So that when I sing it

Sing it, too

There’s a

Choral host somewhere

Joining in

It was an angel, ordered

Painting red the lintels

Who lived inside the clouds

And pillars of fire by night

They bear news

It isn’t always good

Fear not

Have faith

We are nothing but the thing with feathers

Inside there is nothing but

The will of God

We warred in heaven

Tempered is the remnant

Choice assignments

Sometimes we act with tears

We all know why

There are lamentations

We will cry the end

We’ve been there

And cry once more for joy

In what is found afterward

For our keeping

C L Couch

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul . . .

Emily Dickinson

Photo by Allan Rolim on Unsplash

Paraná, Londrina, Brasil

December 11, 2019 3

After Reading, There Were Crafts

After Reading, There Were Crafts

This time and long ago

I was learning Bible stories

The story I remember best

Is the one in which the prophet

Was tested via

The priests of Ba’al

Elijah was a good one

So the contest went his way

We know where Jehovah sets

With the faithful,

Which is with the faithful

When I read on my own,

I learned much more about

The prophets who were not so good

The Bible told me so

Deborah and Gideon turn out

To be exceptions

Not to mention all the kings,

I think,

Who came into being against

Jehovah’s wishes, anyway

Against God?

Who would do such a thing

Who knew the Lord so closely?

Does it breed contempt,

After all?

Solomon was prosperous

David was loved

Though there was ruin in his

Realm and by his hand

War, deceit, rebellion, adultery,

And murder

Yet when Absalom was killed

Left hanging in a tree

(such an image),

I wonder if God did not weep

With David, waiting by the gate

For a better word

The lesson was extended into

Something with our hands

I remember best all the burdened-out matches

Glued to a cardboard shape

To make a cross

A cross requiring so much

Extinguishment of light to have

Now the finished product better lay

Against the wall

As a reading for Good Friday

C L Couch

Community Archives – HC02495, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76993143

Photograph by Robert McCormick of Belleville, Ontario, showing Mary Ritchie (lived 1842-1929, formerly Mary Holden) and her Sunday School class from the John Street Church, Belleville.

October 6, 2019 0