Then Doubt
Doubt is
Smart
It has an edge
There is reason
There
And care for the shape
And flow
Of things on every
Side
Doubt considers
Aspects
What is good
And what needs changing
What
To say halt
To
While there are considerations
And respect
At least a dive into awareness
Of all players
Doubt
Needs affirmation
Maybe
Though first it should get it
Of itself
Which is to say the paradox might be
That
Doubt
Should be awarded its own
Certainty
To say the head
And all corners of the heart
Deserve
Consideration
And then
There are the questions
The committed should ask questions
Too
Practicality
At least
Though when
Doubt and commitment might
There might be fixing
What
Things need fixing
And leaving go
What might be brought
To bear
With virtue
Next
Occasion
Say
When the parent says
I believe
Help my unbelief
The doubt
Affirmed to heal
Embodying the risk
That faith must
Take
For the stronger
Lasting
Miracle
Of holding
On
Sometimes
Or when certain
In the morning of belief and
And in
Life
That also needs
It seems
The evening of doubt
(Mark 9:24 is cited, the entire passage recommended)
The Pain of Doubt
Doubt does
Hurt
It is disturbing
Even when
We try to keep it only
In the realm of thought
There’s
Likely
To be pain
Goodness is more fun
And we like think
More lasting
As
Promises
And prophecies
Foretell
Yet goodness unchained
Directionless
After
The pleasure might need
Something more
As well
And shall doubt
Provide that
The sureness of having
Worked
Through it all
And shall come out on
The other side
A conviction
Certainly
For enough
Of faith
And peace and
Joy
C L Couch
Photo by BenMoses M on Unsplash
merry
there was a creche
and a lamb
was
part
of that with other sheep
and it seemed the
lamb
had looked
at me
that was Christmas Eve
enough
for Christmas day
and for the world
each
in the world
a merry day
a happy
season
of
whatever kind
for you
and should nature nod at you
find the joy
live in
the joy
c l couch
photo by Phil Hearing on Unsplash
Faith for All
What is the process
Of
Living for the Lord
What does that mean
How does it appear
Inside
To think and feel
Outside
To have evidenced
Or outside
The evidence
The risk of faith
Even
In relationships
We have
And want
To keep
A life
A good one
Peace and joy
Promised
If
With
At best
A para-understanding
Sigh
So much to know
And also
To un-know
Since it must be easy
After all
Thoughtful
But
Accessible
To all
C L Couch
Photo by Omer Salom on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
so much to bear
(Advent 3)
x
white candle lit among the read
where I attended
pink candle among the blue
or purple
elsewhere
or four white
or five
or whatever combination
serves
three candles now
four for Sundays
then the fifth pillar for
the birth of Christ
x
we love
our small flames
they are romantic
they bring us close to
see
to feel
small heat
grand symbols
the joy being close
Christ is born
to save the world
remembering verse seventeen
after sixteen
protested in the games
x
incarnate
incarnadine in poetry
and in fleshly Bethlehem
that might or might not be
accessible
because of war
or
who knows
issues regarding
ownership
x
the birth is also
inside
the spark of faith
breathing
as at birth
born again
we say
x
Eve restored
Adam
wandering
may cease
knowing who he is
at last
for there is another
showing the way
for masculine
and feminine
for fully human
taught with the help
fully divine
x
prophecy says so
but we carry
prophecy inside
as well
let everything
burn three times
in remembrance
in faith
renewed
extinguish
and turn out
take them with you
x
Angels we have heard on high
we have heard the angels
they are in the sky
x
no wonder
for the wonder
we should be afraid
and the first thing that they tell us is
don’t be afraid
don’t worry
we are here with good news
our assignment
telling Mary
telling Joseph
telling you
that the child is born
at last
for all the prophecy
so that both might grow
and everything
into completion
x
c l couch
x
x
(the third Advent candle for the third Sunday is often associated with joy; this candle is lit also to recognize the shepherds who heard the news from angels and journeyed, then, to Bethlehem)
x
photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Hills
x
The hills roll on
Our wheels
Over them
While in the wagons ride
Our beating hearts
And hopeful
Heads
For visioning
x
It is a caravan
Perhaps
While we stop
Now and then
For swapping stories
How it’s going
Checking
Wheels and harnesses
How are our victuals
Holding out
Against a destination
Once the hills
Should cease
And we are on the plain
Then stopping
Standing
By a sea of judgment
And also
All our joy
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Randy Fath on Unsplash
“Joe on the way home…”
x
(x = space)
x
x
Consider It All Joy
x
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
x
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
x
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
x
Doing what God says
Because
The glass is clear and
We can hear
x
x
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)
x
Photo by Sam Mgrdichian on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Devilry
(the passing mischief)
x
I suppose the devil
Is after me
In a suburban way
After you, too,
I imagine
Maybe there’s a strategy
Maybe the strategy
Is chaos
Lack of plan
To ruin all the plans
x
Temptation, certainly
And also despair
A bright life
Too bright
To cover all the rest
The real pain
The real faith
To get us through
x
The real hope
That’s in the jar
After all the evils
Have escaped
That move around
Outside
And try to set up
House or shop
Church or
Place of work
Lanes of traffic
Bars
Or at the store
x
More so the aim
To find a place inside
To take our rest
And better
Resolutions
x
It’s not a grand
Or grandiose
Establishment,
A studio
With garish sets
Ringed
By biggish cameras
Managed
By phantoms
x
It might look like
The nicest place
We know
Only off in ways
We can identify
Should we be ready
And aware
If only of ourselves,
Our close-in loves
x
Deviation
Hell
The hell of it
Is that it is a trick
As all the stories say
The diabolical
Looks like everything
And is
Nothing
Maybe sound and fury
For a while
‘Til the ending
As the better stories
Say
x
Give in
Or not
It seems easy, I suppose
The wider path
The golden opportunities
The promise of
A winning ticket
While the other way
Purportedly
Is narrow
But certainly accessible
And it gets wider,
Wide enough
For two or more
x
Not to moralize
But moralize
One way is always easy
Joyless
But easy
The other way gets hard
But promises
The peace, we know,
That passes
Understanding
x
Though we always
Understand enough
For the
Irascibility
(and ability)
Of will
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Pawel Czerwinski on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Hebrews 12
x
it’s all right to run a race
it’s all right to win
it’s all right not to win,
which happens to most
in the experience
x
it’s all right to want a prize
running a race is hard
not to mention training
and practicing
your prize is in heaven
might not sound good enough
not satisfying
but it’s true
there is a prize for each of us
for all of us
by heaven
x
keep running
yes, with discipline
also with rest
and if possible
with joy,
Mister Liddell
x
C L Couch
x
x
(photo by) KarlGaff – own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=113379539
x
(x = space)
x
x
Everything Is Listening
x
It is a fallen world:
Fallen people,
Fallen nature,
Maybe primal good
As in
Genesis
Until the fruit is eaten
Then everything is
Changed
x
What kind of universe
Allows such a fall
From the marrow
To the skin
And in the air
The slough above the skin?
x
A universe that’s made
With allowance
From its maker
x
Everything made
Real
With real alternatives,
Real consequences
x
Real joy
x
Real loss
x
The chance for one thing
Or the other;
Chance matters
Choice matters more
x
What we choose
Moves the Earth,
Maybe heaven
A little
x
Heaven malleable enough
For a third
To fall away,
The Earth more so
Affected by our choices
Mortal
Inside mortality
x
Save the Earth,
Save each other:
This can be done
With faith
And better choices
After faith
x
We believe—help
Our unbelief
x
What shall we say?
What shall we do?
How shall we live?
x
We are fallen;
Our choices mingle
With the dust
Of ages;
We have an age,
This age
x
We have flaws
x
We have hope
x
We know a better way
x
The prophets and the angels
Tell us
Of repentance
And good news
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Mohsen Samimi on Unsplash
x
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