James

the old anthem I can’t find
(but used to sing)

an old anthem
leads from Ecclesiastes
into James

a strange splicing
though it indicates progression

beginning with a celebration
and a caution
for youth to find joy
in being
youth
and also concern
since
one day there is judgment

James
then goes further
asking youth or anyone
really
to consider
the wrong aspects of desire

when we ask
we ask awry and even
kill
thinking to satisfy our wants

yet
there is the claim of the perfect law of liberty
that
whoever lives into this law
shall be blessed

and this law
what shall we say
what it
might be
if more context is required

the commandments
then

those
that Jesus cites
above all
and so a good place to begin
not only a life of faith
but that is satisfied
for through
these we know how to ask
aright and even get what we really
want

since
wanting is fine and it’s the twisting of want
that ruins it and
everything around it

I wish I could find that song

I used to sing it when a youth
and
as an anthem
it was loud
harmonious
and
true

c l couch

Ecclesiastes 11:9
James 1:25
James 2:4
(KJV)

Matthew 22:36-40

photo by Md Mahdi on Unsplash

A Quiet and Unquiet Day
(rest and restive?)

Have an especially good
Day
You need one
And you deserve one

You’ve been working hard
And putting up with
Things
You need some rest from everything

That presses
Lift those burdens
For a while

Recline your mind
Loosen the strings we say
We have
Inside our hearts
Or over them
As if the organ were a base
For a lute
A frame
For a harp

Drink something you know
You enjoy
As it courses through you
And then eat something
Pleasant
Slightly indulging
Though without doubt
For nourishment
As an objective

And now companionships
Do you want any
Or is it quiet
In the day
That you prefer
That
Maybe you’ve been craving
Without knowing
‘Til you have it
For some hours

If so
Then treat yourself after
The surprise
Reading something
Writing something
Or have a day
With nothing
For a stimulus
Beyond
Mere ingestion
While you ruminate
Or not
On what’s at hand

It could be taking stock
Only if you wish
Or must
Have a need
As in counting inventory
Gauging quality
Of what is stored
By its effect
On mind or heart
Or overall condition of
Everything internal
And to an extent
External
As in
Image and perception

Whom we cast
To the world
And who we want
To play for
Real

What is real
Take a day to figure out
Think on good things
On what among them you might have
On what you need
You might already have
For another surprise
Or what you need
That’s calling
Through its absence

So maybe take the day
And let it have its
Serious parts as well
And sorry

Wake up a little after resting
Think of something
Think on good things
What you have
As well as what is good
You need
And should have
And can get

Keeping in spirit
And in mind
That love does not exist in isolation
That there is good love to keep close
And problematic love
You might need
Well
Frankly
To cut off
To free yourself
Free someone else
Liberty
At last
Which is the truth
As well as
The law of liberty
And love

And so have the day
Both
Restful
And momentous
If you will
And if God listens
When you say
Hear me
I send my words with
Thoughts
The kind that
Heaven-go

C L Couch

(3.3.98)

Photo by Sneha Chandrashekar on Unsplash

(x = space)

Consider It All Joy

Let the outside

Be awful

If it must

For princes of the world

Might have their own way

There

(not letting

princesses rise

by the way)

If only

There

Be good on the inside

Your own realm

Where you have willed

Let in

Avowed

God to rule

While you serve God

Servant

Steward before monarch

Even when pressed

Persecuted

Outside

Sigh

Sometimes devilishly

On the inside, too

Consider it all joy

The paradox of life and death

And resurrection

Final joy

Complete

And unrelenting

Even

In new tasks

Assignments from

A celestial magisterium

Or shall we say

The will beneath the crown

Of the Lord

Doing what God says

Because

The glass is clear and

We can hear

Consider it all joy when we must have trials, knowing that this testing of our faith makes endurance. And let endurance be complete even by trials so that we are whole, lacking nothing that we really need especially inside.

James 1:2-4 (paraphrased a little)

Photo by Sam Mgrdichian on Unsplash

(x = space)

dispersed

(from the beginning of the book of James)

we were together, Mom and Dad

(physical or meaningful)

now we are spread far

we can always say

the Romans did this

but there is our own

polemics

stranding us

separated

in a world driven by

its own prince

that drove Jesus

in the wilderness

from one arid part to another

I’m sorry we are no longer

together

though we have letters

we are the legacy of David, still

we are a people

and, as always,

we are family

I hope you are well where you are

I hope that work and food

come easily

I fear, because I know

such things are never certain

we came away with what we had

some maybe had accounts

and interests along the Mediterranean,

generally

we live today

and in the Messianic time

and must take hope in that

God will return

God also waits for us

like the shepherd by the

clear stream,

both to beckon

and God is with us, now

with love

with love,

this note from your child

we all are children now

again

c l couch

James is a brief letter in the Christian New Testament; the pastor preached on James this morning at Covenant Evangelical Presbyterian Church in West Lafayette, Indiana (USA)

photo by Jr Korpa on Unsplash