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Jesus

having been incarnated

(x = space)

x

x

having been incarnated

x

oh

God

we say

you’re born

you’ve slipped inside

the pacing

of the world

flesh cells

adapting

to our measure

to our growth

and our decay

three score and ten

how does it

feel

x

I guess you knew

what this was

and is the human part

surprised

by mortal beats

the skipping

of the heart

outside

the rhythm

as we say

of the spheres

x

and are you well

will you

catch cold

or get mumps

have influenza

as our children must

from time to time

it seems

x

and you

will endure

(you must)

though it won’t be

so comfortable

with chicken pox

x

and then

grown-up

to feel

all that we feel

and think inside the vacuum

the shell

of thoughts

inhabiting the skull

and not much further on

nothing like

the mindset

you must know

inside eternity

and Godhead

x

and there are feelings

in the chest

desire

for the nation

yes

and only

for your own

because you are

humanly

entitled

x

yet what shall you have

when your body

it turns out

is for a cause

even

perhaps part of a plan

to cheat mortality

like the stratagems

of Pharisees

or statues of

self-styled kings

or emperors

x

Rome and Judea

and there is Parthia

and Britain

way-off China

and there’s India

and there are first people

everywhere

who belong

where they have moved

and stopped

and finally

no place to move

with what they have

for moving

x

all the people

of the Earth

post-Alexander

and never having known

Alexandrian expansion

or Roman roads

connecting

a known world

x

yet

are you here

for these

everywhere

which means

you might be here for us

here and now

x

I suppose

the other two

of you

will out

while you alone

are limited

while you must live here

with only us

for easy company

and reaching out

like us

often alone

sometimes in groups

though only through the shell

as we must beseech

mortally

unto the Lord

with questions

asking of a will

we do not understand

yet we believe

is there

x

how frustrating to be human

welcome here

we wish you well

we really do

because should we encounter you

there are stories

about something special

from you

something even

we don’t know

rescuing

about you

even in the flesh

x

c l couch

x

x

photo by BoliviaInteligente on Unsplash

x

0

Exiled

(x = space)

x

x

Exiled

x

Oh

God

Shall we have

A good season

Together

The year has started

And now

Another season

x

Intentions

Overlap

You come into the world

And you are here

The Earth tilts

And always

Has

Far as we know

x

Turns

Like a top

A toy to such as you

Though you

Are not a giant god

That way

x

You play

But not with us as

Playthings

Upon the Earth

An unrolled

Plastic battlefield

x

We toy each other

Which is

An eldritch lesson

We came up with

On our own

x

Objectify

‘Til someone doesn’t matter

Like Cain

Like everyone in western Asia

Like anyone who’s different

Over here

x

We need a season

Need the time

But shall we be reborn

With remembrance

Of a real birth

To save the nations

Ransom

Captive Israel

Then all the rest

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Jorge Fernández Salas on Unsplash

x

1

A Gift from Western Asia to the World

(x = space)

x

x

A Gift from Western Asia to the World

(on the day of Saint Nicholas)

x

God

It’s dark

The light is coming

Like Immanuel

Who’s here

And always coming

To the call of the season

Advent

After all

x

Like the advent of the airplane

Or hybrid roses

Bred intentionally

Everywhere

x

For good or ill

We co-invent new things

And yet in a dark street

Like my own

With one light for company

You came into

The world

Seemingly deserted

Certainly bereft

Of a savior

Who would match divinity

With barbarism

To save us

All barbarians

x

Who knew nothing

Of an inner life

With you

Except by accident

Of prophets

And some other heroes

So that we knew of virtue

And your name

Beyond your name

But in a real way

To have such things

Well

We were lost

x

And in that town

Razed and rebuilt

So many times

Under one light

You came

Nicene

Human and

Divine

To bridge the damnable gap

That we had built

Through consequence

Of sin for will

And simply keeping

Only

To our side

x

To bring us over

Come to us first

As at the first

There was creation

And now

Reconciliation

For the one-sided

Who remain

Lost that way

x

And shall you give by grace

To every generation

Hope in each one born

Offered many times

In each one’s

Life

To appreciate what’s on the other side

Of you

And us

To model the walking over

Four ourselves

And for our children

x

And shall we call this grace

Of something else

It is the same

The offer of salvation

Through bridge-building

In the flesh

Of your child

The child that’s you

And us

Somehow

x

The advent

And the miracle

On arrival

x

Such wonder

Such bliss

A reality

In the making

That the world needs

And typically doesn’t know

Until we meet you

And teach us

All about the bridge

Live on both sides

At last

And then offering

By will

To take us to the middle

And we both

Also with steps of our own

Pass to the other side

x

All of which to say

Merry Christmas

Maybe we’ll see you

In this room

At this place

On Earth

And everywhere

And at the bridge

The most

Extraordinary gift

You are

For us

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Darya Tryfanava on Unsplash

x

1

in a glorious church

(x = space)

x

x

in a glorious church

x

look at you

Jesus

on such an ornate cross

we don’t truck

with indignity

or even

execution

you’re still alive

up there

though as you die

you die for us

x

rude cross

more like it

wooden beams

thick branches

off the trees

of the Earth

we say the nails were iron

ongoing execution business

for a smith

with earthly metals

coal to burn

or pieces of wood

cut off

shaved off

something like the matter

of a cross

x

c l couch

x

x

Photo by Michael Newcomb on Unsplash

x

I don’t mean to be a spoilsport about faith and faith art; I do think spiritual simplicity might be important

x

Since we built the church, there were pewter candlesticks upon the altar; Francis Nurse made them, y’know, and a sweeter hand never touched the metal. But Parris came, and for twenty weeks he preached nothin’ but golden candlesticks until he had them. I labor the earth from dawn of day to blink of night, and I tell you true, when I look to heaven and see my money glaring at his elbows – it hurt my prayer, sir, it hurt my prayer. I think, sometimes, the man dreams cathedrals, not clapboard meetin’ houses.

John Proctor

The Crucible

Act 2

x

0

What It Means This Time

(x = space)

x

x

What It Means This Time

x

Pilate asked

We may infer

He didn’t mean it

That the Romans

Took the truth

As they found it

As they made it

x

The modern person

Secular

Asking on occasion

Not waiting for an answer

Except the answer

As we need it for

Moment by moment

Justification

x

Then to wash our hands

As if

That made a difference

For the truth

As we need it now

And pushed into a new form

As we need it

Later

x

Behold your person

Who is your monarch

I have tortured

Beyond the law

And now the law

Is done

With this one

x

Say this is enough

I want other things

To do

And now you thread

Insinuations

Through the crowd

They murmur

And then roar out for Barabbas

x

Do you even know

Who that is

x

Well

I will release them

To you

Wash my hands again

Let go Barabbas

And then Christ

To indicate

Your will with them

One to roam

One to execute

With others for

Barbaric companionship

On crosses

x

What is in it

Water

There is salt

For exorcism

My excuse

Or it might as well

Be tears

For bitter clarity

Of what is real power

When they have it

When you

Have it

x

C L Couch

x

x

John 19:5

x

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

x

1

Te Deum

(x = space)

x

x

Te Deum

x

I pray to God

And Jesus

Rarely directly to

The Holy Spirit

Sorry, Spirit

Though it seems

I’m talking with you

All the time

As an indication

A reality

Of indwelling

x

You are the nearest

The closest part

Of God

In fact, in me

While I know

It’s three in one

But for all I know

It might be

That you are the part of God

Who is the most patient

Part

(indwelling)

And who somehow

Loves me best

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Savvas Kalimeris on Unsplash

x

0

Halfway Home

(x = space)

x

x

Halfway Home

x

The sacrifice

Of your shed blood

He said

On our behalf

In prayer

His words the surrogates

A shadow

Of the death itself

x

Horribly

A bleeding body

Shed of its spirit

At the last

A life too pure

A sacrifice

For us

x

Yet there it was

In expiation

Half redemption

For our sins

x

The weight of everything

That hates

Crushing his body down

Pushing out his spirit

On to Hades

Or Valhalla

To Gehenna

Or to Sheol

As it’s understood

To name it

x

Half the promise

The brutal

Ugly

Barbarous part

Complete

And it is over

He said it was finished

Maybe it is

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Didssph on Unsplash

x

0

a course in homiletics

(x = space)

x

x

a course in homiletics

(to talkers from the hearers)

x

what preachers call

the inexorable return

of the sabbath

x

this is regarding preaching

that in the life

does not go away

until that part of life

is done

x

a homily

a holy guess

its own divining thing

at least once a week

with time off

not for behavior

but

well

time off

x

a chance

an opportunity

to say with some authority

of text and the community

that God exists

and God is love

and God through Jesus

saves the rest of us

while the Holy Spirit

guides us in an amazement of

an inward way

x

lectionary

maybe

a series to a theme

the season

and the calendar

of sacred time

and secular

x

an aim toward a generic kind of prophecy

an affirmation

but don’t unhook

a line of challenge

that shall run throughout the day

into the week

x

those six days

when most of us

are out here

and this is our chance

to take

something from here

x

greed systems

risking the right and wrong of things

in the world

and inside us

x

we’re only human

after all

which excuses us

maybe by degree

factoring age

existence of faith

with accountability

x

(now

don’t be sly

to think

if I don’t believe

then I’m off the hook

for right and wrong

and the discomfit

of the judgment

and the book

some book

maybe the one up front

and in the racks

corresponding)

x

our job

is to listen

and respond

and if we want

something more interactive

we may say so

x

even the magisterium

allows

for dialogue

in proclamation

x

the average size

non-Catholic

congregation

in the USA

is about two hundred

good for acoustics

and a range

of microphonic possibilities

x

a number to reach

and to reach back

while we’re all here

when we return

and in those six days

while all of us

are out there

x

a message

three points

twenty minutes

(what the Presbyterians provided)

really

though

allow for some elasticity

for as someone else has said

(might have been me)

you cannot program

the Holy Spirit

or what stirs inside

the tabernacle

and all consecrations

sabbath day

and time

x

your time

our time

God’s time

we might say kairos

though

yes

we know

some congregants

are bold to check their watches

for some (ersatz) sanctity

we believe

chronology

bears better

x

we’re all here

let’s have a time of it

let’s seek the Lord

who presence

is not hard to suss

or sing

or dance sometimes

or testify

each time

x

so that the talking

and the hearing go

and more importantly

the doing

before

during

and after

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Luiz Eduardo Alves da Silva on Unsplash

x

0

Impoverished

(x = space)

x

x

Impoverished

x

I am a Christian

(and you’ll pardon me

if I don’t mind

that you are not)

And so I believe

That Jesus saves

And the Holy Spirit indwells

x

As God creates

And so we have

The three in one

And one always in three

x

And should I be offended

Or should you

And I think neither

x

God is

And if you don’t think so

Then

You don’t think so

Though statistically

Most on Earth

Believe

In something

Someone

Greater than oneself

Who is at work

In the world

Or for some

Is standing by

x

Jesus is offensive

He excoriates

Both Jew and Gentile

He also is all love

And empties himself of godhood

On a cross

To die

The first

Last

Great sacrifice

For sin

x

And that offended evil

I am sure

And the devil wailed

While certainty in hell

Was harrowed

By the Lord

And Lord

Who came alive again

And lives for us

Offended

Or easier about

Salvation

x

So we’ve time and chance

To care about

Our part in things

I’m thinking

Keeping promises

To families

To Earth

To what is true

What is giving

What is loving

x

Some find love offensive

In the cost

Of nothing worldly to have

Or to keep

Or it isn’t love

That like grace

There are no dispensers

With requirements

Except the Lord

Who says

Love God

And each other

Do both

x

And if that’s a requirement

Well

Take it up

With the one who made you

x

There

I have offended

But I empty myself to say

I love you

And when I do so

I have done it

And maybe say it

Well

x

Love God

And believe

Believe in Earth

Not quite so solid

Through truly

Given

Believe in us

That we have a chance

That we have a choice

That might please hell

Or make a heaven

In the middle

x

Believe well

And do better

Keep nothing that relinquishing

Would make love

Wholly stronger

And viable

In an occupied world

x

Until revelation

Make it real

And in the meantime

Learning

Living

What shadows

(taught by Plato

and what others more respectable)

Reveal

x

C L Couch

x

x

Speaking finally of Narnia and Earth, the professor said, It’s all in Plato.

Except it isn’t.

x

good thoughts courtesy of the ALC at Covenant Evangelical Presbyterian Church of West Lafayette, Indiana—anything that offends, maybe insults, is from me

x

Photo by Callum Hill on Unsplash

x

0

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