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grace

ring

(x = space)

x

x

ring

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God is here

thank goodness

God is there

in Ukraine

in war

and Morocco

split earth

many lives taken

x

in the hundred-plus

degree days

in Texas

for those

trying to live there

and before the hurricane

call one Lee

while we are in ships

on land

securing

waiting

knowing there will be destruction

during

and after

re-life-building

keening

grieving

for the loss of us

anywhere

x

we still wait for freedom

God approves

and works resistance

and diplomacy

risks offense

Jesus was offensive

and still turns

the heads of certain people

x

souls

and daily lives

devotion on a string

that breaks

that someone cuts

to ruin

or to barricade

x

God persists

in presence

in numbers

yes

God has the Earth

all given satellites

and other worlds

but take it one by one

even

with respect

and certainly with truth

the kind a Pilate

may not know

or want to know

x

debate

sure

work your fallacies

and jaw agendas

or shut up

shut down

look at the world

with any

and all senses

in all seasons

x

God is there

you won’t believe

and it’s a place to start

like rain

to put out our fires

snow to cool the deserts

or fire

parametered

to thaw the frozen

x

listen

talk

give up

what must be given up

yes

me

too

x

enough grammar to share

and all civility

that’s dignified

respectful

God will take us there

as in the wilderness

the chaos

we can no longer

count

because the crazy overwhelms

sometimes

x

God is here

sorry

we can go rounds on this

or leave it go

experience it

or not

we could step over this

to save in our ways

that are constructive

building up

that is

tearing down what only

tears down

x

love and live the rest

even God might say

that is enough

for now

stepping around

certain stanzas

that divide

unusefully

not for distinction

or thick conformity

x

rather the unique

formal

free

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Ben Wicks on Unsplash

x

1

Lean

(x = space)

x

x

Lean

(John 3:17)

x

Not to condemn

But to love

Because God would rather love

And does love

It is gravity

The universe is biased toward

That which keeps us together

And God is biased

In the same way

x

Everything is biased

Everything leans

The one who can be objective

Best

Who maybe sets objectivity

Aside for math

(maybe)

Has chosen to favor

The impulse of creation

And an agenda

Toward ourselves

x

God would rather save than condemn

Would rather love than judge

Who will judge

And do so with perfection

Also to pardon

With a possibility

Faith required

Faith in something freely offered

Grace

The sacrifice made by another

Who was God

Who is God

That in the mixture of flesh and the divine

Blood and spirit

Sin and innocence

Might conquer death

And offer conquered death

As proffered life

The chance to live in hope today with

As the song asserts

Bright hope for tomorrow

x

Perfection chooses

Love’s mitigation

Case dismissed

Open the gates

Or however admission

Might be managed

Into heaven

And for now

Into today

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Steven Van Elk on Unsplash

Foggy Beach Walk

x

1

Moment Clear

(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

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The Moment

(x = space)

x

x

The Moment

(the Christ encounter)

x

The new

Not new

x

They are letters

xxxxxof love

How often we forget that

Whose message is for many

x

Finally,

Everyone is mentioned

x

A gift to all

xxxxxthe words

The grace they represent

An invitation to the Lord

A life with heaven,

After

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Will Paterson on Unsplash

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Faith Alone

(x = space)

x

x

Faith Alone

x

The Bible

Through a friend

Took us to Ephesians

Yesterday

Where we are saved

By grace through faith

One thing required

Of us,

To believe

x

Faith alone

Ignites the spark

As if the kindling

For the fire of grace

Were waiting

On the inside

All this time

x

Let salvation blaze

In heaven and

In testimony

While

Here we need to know

Whose means for fire

Rests

And waits

For the one thing

That matters

For a spark

A start

To save

x

Ephesians 2:8

(thank you, David)

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Andrew Seaman on Unsplash

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Crusoe

(x = space)

x

x

Crusoe

x

It took me years

And years to come

To understand

The need

The requirement

To have a life

To have a life to offer

x

Then there is a story

Pages

Chapters

With an ending

That might satisfy

A larger world of woe

And grace

Even rescue,

Notwithstanding

x

What is left

Is little time

The gift grows smaller

Like some things

In other tales

But we have time

As is

On this side

And choices

That are not invisible

In fact,

Are rife with potency

x

The grace of God

Love and understanding

Growing up at last

The tragedy

The humor

The finality

Of wisdom

On this side

Then to another shore

An irony for Crusoe

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jordan Steranka on Unsplash

x

2

weight of glory

(x = space)

x

x

weight of glory

x

what do we say

sometimes the weight is too much

it presses down like gravity

on a wide planet far away

x

is there grace in the stars

the kind that made them,

I suppose

the love that means covalence

molecular intimacy

and from there through our bodies

back to the stars

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by Radu Chelariu on Unsplash

when I saw this at first, I thought it was a field of stars

x

4

Grace Is Free

(x = space)

x

x

Grace Is Free

x

You tell me the process

That lets out grace

Into the world

I can’t begin to say

Because it is not up to me

While my knowledge says

It’s free and freely given

By one who could

Have charged a lot

Rather made it free

Who releases grace

No one but one

Who does not keep it in a jar

To be dispensed with tickets

Shining and uncornered

But ready through unnailed openings

To give it without reason

Save for an abiding, relentless

Always hoping interest

In love and salvation

Grace is free

It’s freedom

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Thomas Millot on Unsplash

Selonnet, France

x

2

Doctrine for Three

(x = space)

x

x

Doctrine for Three

x

In dim light,

Something was handed me

A gift

In the dark outside,

We talked about

His father

Who had died recently

Whom I liked

(whom he liked)

And of family, generally

x

His father’s legacy

Was to share outside

The family

I being one

I could argue worthiness

But then I’d miss the point:

Grace is free

It really is

Without conditions

And has to be

x

C L Couch

x

x

Anatomy of a dying stormcell. A stormcell dissolves over the San Francisco Peaks.

Photo by NOAA on Unsplash

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