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Too Much and Too Awful

(x = space)

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Too Much and Too Awful

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In Morocco

There’s an earthquake

That kills

A millennial

Of people

x

And homes of people

Health among the wounded

And repair

x

So exotic

That’s where

Casablanca is

And Fez

And on the way

To Timbuktu

x

I’m sorry

For the images

I should think for real

Of all you need

Just now

x

For all the rushing there

To help you

With my dollars

And my prayers

Hardly worthwhile

Not like MSF

Or Red Crescent

(who are)

But a little bit

In the right way

Of things

x

And is there air enough

Water

Food

Other things

You need

Everyone needs

x

A restoration

And improvement

And prevention

x

The moments now should be for

Wrapping wounds

For lifting beams

And rocks askew

And everything

To find you

And to help you

x

God is there

We are there

Too

As best we may

And may it be good enough

In act

And thought

Enough for now

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And of course

You’ll heal your own

With what you have

And given time

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God hears your cries

Has heard destruction

Happening

Toward what wisdom

Cosmic meaning

We don’t know

x

Provision

As with war

This is a war for time

And bandages

And presence

And money

Building supplies

And more intimate sustenance

For people

x

And mourning

And faith

And keep going

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C L Couch

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Photo by Tobias Tullius on Unsplash

Essaouira, Morocco

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We Need You and Sometimes We Can’t

(x = space)

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We Need You and Sometimes We Can’t

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Help us to love you,

O Lord,

Though

You may live without us

x

Still, we can exist

Together

In a bond that is

Extraordinary:

Of energy, of will,

Of love without agenda,

All around

x

It’s hard to love invisibly

With thoughts and feelings

We can’t see

And then

Your presence, Lord

x

With things unseen

And unevidenced

In other ways,

Our senses confounded

For lack of usefulness

The kind employed in what we do

In anything—and

How may we

Sense you?

x

There is stigmata for a few

And apparitions;

There are those

Who hear your words

In air

Or those emblazoned

Understood

Upon the heart

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We want to know;

We get frustrated

Then we worry

For offense

(offending God does not seem smart)

Or we give up

Ignore

And in internal ways

We walk away

x

But you are there

We should believe

And within parameters

Of material and abstract

Hope for more

x

That on this side

We may have in measures

That will have to do

For life

And faith

And all the things we have to do

To make things better

One by one

And altogether

x

Tolerance

And patience

Peace

And feeding

Giving water

Giving hope for more

In all the needs of life

(material and abstract)

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Help us, Lord,

Or let us help ourselves

And the others;

Be with us

And invisibly

Leave us to choose

In respect

Of how we’re made

And otherwise arranged

Our will

That we often apply well

Even without

Preternatural accoutrements

Composing a few rituals

For service

Pledging how to live

On our own

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Milad Fakurian on Unsplash

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Tent Revival

(x = space)

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Tent Revival

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God of my thoughts,

You guide me

As I’m open

You fill the vessel

Pour it right

Not that there aren’t miracles

There are

You guide me

When I refuse to guide myself

It is the other side of faith

The pledge we made

A while ago

You can guide the pain that’s there,

Which is good when I am

Overwhelmed

Help me, Lord

I’m tired

I don’t know what I am doing

What a good time

For an angel to intrude

There is pain

You can use it

With the rest of me

All yours

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C L Couch

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Photo by Should Wang on Unsplash

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Inside Armageddon

(x = space)

x

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Inside Armageddon

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Forget the prophecy for now:

Sometimes

Most of the time

We have other things to do

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There are the newly or ongoing

Wounded

Disenfranchised

So many who need

Our domestic help

And we can think the larger thoughts

As well

To offer courage

Without indictment

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Things are awful

We need help

That is enough

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C L Couch

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Image by vikucka from Pixabay 

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Dire Invocation

(x = space)

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Dire Invocation

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God

Help us

We need you

Because

And when

The world is too much

And we can’t get away

For love

Of being here

Unreadiness for heaven

‘Til you say so

And we can’t live

‘Til you say so

We have to do

Other

We think you made us

This way

x

C L Couch

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Photo by Jack van der Spoel on Unsplash

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They Seek Him There

(x = space)

x

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They Seek Him There

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O God, our help

In ages past

Our hope for years to come

x

And what do we need today

But to know you are near

Some miracles would not go

Amiss, I must confess

(unless they do)

For a week of flood and fire

End or start to war

A sickness that has taken many lives

Corruption from the fruit of Eden

For the way we ate

For the way we live

For the way we want to live

On this side or that

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C L Couch

x

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title borrowed respectfully from The Scarlet Pimpernel

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by Lawn Weeds – Scarlet Pimpernel, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85377914

Scarlet Pimpernel (Anagallis arvensis) is a summer annual plant and a member of the primrose family. As its name suggest[s,] it has bright red/orange flowers, which only open when the sun shines.

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After I Believe

(x = space)

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After I Believe

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I don’t know how

     to live for you

I wish I did

I know

     the Spirit is supposed

To guide me,

Though what are

     the steps to take

And practices

     to follow

I don’t know or am

     out of practice

     (hah)

Or never knew and need

Companions

     also in the flesh

To help me

x

C L Couch

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Photo taken from The Nue Co. marketing campaign.

Photo by Finn on Unsplash

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Unbroken Surprise

(x = space)

x

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Unbroken Surprise

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I’d like to offer prayer

Of thanksgiving

For I have received

Good help

I can question how deserving

But I got it, anyway

x

In the moment,

Certain things let go:

Doubt, worth,

Particularity

People give, and I receive

Not that I haven’t helped before

x

But here is the receiving side:

Thankful, relieved

Not burden-free

But bearing less

Than before

x

All this to say thank you

To both sides of prayer

The givers

And this time

The one who has so gladly taken

x

C L Couch

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National Day Fireworks

Photo by Erwan Hesry on Unsplash

Perros-Guirec, France

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This Is Not a Test

This Is Not a Test

(Psalm 121:1-2)

 

It isn’t that the help

Comes from the hills

But that it comes

From God

It might come from the

Hills, or it might come

From the valley

Or the desert or the

Outskirts of the city or

Fallow farmland

 

It might come from Rahab

Or from Zipporah

Or from Ruth

It might come from

All expected places

Or from surprises,

Say,

Balaam’s donkey

 

Don’t box in the help

From God

There’s no container,

Anyway

Let it flow like Micah

And all salient prophecy

 

Trust, now that’s the

Hard part

When there is no formula

Beyond a prayer

Or looking up in hope

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by David Monje on Unsplash

Girona, Spain

 

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