praying about creations
God
are you out there
are you
in here
there is matter
there are spirits
there
is energy
and how many planes
through which
to live
we have this
self
we look through skin
with eyes and more than eyes
and less
we are alive
Earth is
alive
with even rock that moves
though let science determine
investiture
by measurement
and let us live
with
what we have
the wonders of exchange
cohabitation
of
matter and movement
oxygen
and carbon
a touch of supernal creation
to begin
and to carry into what is next
mystery
miracle
energy and matter
in
the exchange we know
and then a language with translation
only yours to speak
to generate
to sing into existence
afterward
maybe
first
a paradise to bear of explanation
and if you say
amen
c l couch
photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash
the good season that lasts
the week after
time of discipleship
like being free of Pharaoh
free
now
of similar devils
new obligations based
on old beliefs
and
now
regeneration
not an easy life
in the spirit
old and new temptations
to parry
disillusionment as
after
last Friday
until the vigil moment
Sunday
which is maybe how sometimes
faith
appears
fast like a bird
settling like
rain
a life re-breathed
a new season that in temperate climes
speaks to changing colors
and
thermometer degrees
and while these quarters will continue
the life
in the spirit
we know
now
shall not have an end
as long as we’re inclined
and others
all of us go on
face the choice
to belong
adhere
and have renewed breath
in the new time
in the gathering that is church
only people
by
its Greek definition
and goodness the soft
yoke
the easy
weighted burden
which faith allows
maybe
hopes near all traditions
c l couch
first full week of the Easter season
photo by Julia Elliot on Unsplash
devotion to try
(with the help of church to hope)
devotion is
thought
feeling
a decision
we follow God
we pray
and claim to God
in worship
we also learn of God
and faith
and love
agape
together so that
when apart
we might do well
we might do
better
and we take this with us
all of it
devotion overall
to inform and encourage
our response
and our initiative in
living
the six days
and how many hours
and with
a much longer view even of
years and
longer after years
c l couch
photo by Amy Tran on Unsplash
(x = space)
x
x
Sectarian or Secular
x
God
Be good to us
Today
x
Don’t give us mercy
Or distraction
Give us charges without directions
Save what we believe
x
And if without belief
Then with what good we know
Tempered by
Community
Check-and-balance ways
Human and humane
To get things done
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Rowan Simpson on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Good Books
x
You know,
It is a good book
x
The pastor also quoted
From The Quran
Today;
Maybe I missed
The intent
(there was some talk about it, after),
But for me
It was a good
Refreshing moment
x
And I imagine there are good (refreshing) things
In The Upanishads
x
How about The Mishnah?
Theogony by Hesiod who
Believed
And
(yes, it’s cheek)
The House at Pooh Corner,
Which is not religious
But is pleasant
And spiritual
x
C L Couch
x
x
Photo by Masjid Pogung Dalangan on Unsplash
x
Something Sacred This Way Comes
The tyranny of religion
Has called up wars, which we can do, anyway
On our own, thank you very much
Has forestalled advances in astronomy and
Hygiene (Christians took cold baths because
Muslim took hot ones)
Has decided what we read
And how to think,
Making translation and the Reformation
Dangerous
The problem is not Catholic
Any denomination
Or a group formed last night
Becomes an orthodoxy
And so finds a way to rust thought over
Given time, it always happens
The bigger problem should be keeping
God in a box
God might be in there
But I think we measure better when we witness
God everywhere
In the pit or in the sky
Or on our middle Earth between
God has created old
And re-creates in everything that’s new
We give God shelf life
We feared
The smells inside the tomb
From death and execution
So we, as they, thought
But God was fresh that day, because there’s
Nothing newer, once first made,
Than resurrection
This is for Christians, though the problem
Lay on each one’s lintel
God is ancient; God is new
We should know this when we breathe
To give ourselves green opportunities
Not to reinvent the world each day
Until the day it’s called for
But revel in the many cells that rise up in
Creation overnight
Morning has broken
Midnight, too
Ancient of days
Makes new,
Dropped on the horizon
Folded into hills
Pressed over the plains
And pushed into water
Orthodoxy isn’t bad
But don’t forget
That in a favorite story
The Tin Man needs anointing,
Which is ongoing
Join me for church today
(it’s happening somewhere)
Maybe we’ll remember that we’re old
And also facing something delightfully unknown
C L Couch
Rennett Stowe from USA – Saint Francis of Assisi, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26302833
A Dose of Paradox
They sit next to each other on the shelf
Salt and pepper
In the fridge, mustard and ketchup
Beer and wine
The opposites that don’t attract
But must live near each other
And often used together
Complementary colors on the wheel
Yellow and purple
Orange and blue
The colors of Christmas
And the Italian flag (add white)
Paradox is ecumenical
I guess I should say yin and yang
But it’s not a coin, you know
Two coins thrown into an ocean, more like
Love and death
Sex and abstinence
Not opposites, not really
Not two sides
Not life and death
But death and resurrection
They must be by each other
On the shelf
They must be used
Both and unevenly
There isn’t a good pattern that we see
Through our dark glasses
It’s ecumenical
It’s church
Folk who get together for no other reason
And often reason breaks it down
The Muslim and the Jew
The Christian and the Hindu
The Buddhist and the Taoist
Confucian and Shinto
All those who have a way
And have it rather exclusively
Thankfully, the broad shelf is there
The place for all things to dwell
In readiness
No one wins unless
All win
Respect is the spice
That will keep us at the table
Using everything we know
And not so much
Mister Marlow said restraint
And he was right
The horror was in letting go
Not knowing there are many directions in
Which to fall
Well, there it is
It’s Friday
For those who have one, the end of
The work week
It is finished
Let’s hope for restoration now
Before the work begins again
And those who work on weekends will
Have another day
See, the cycles do not hold
For all
And without doubt
Not in the same way
C L Couch
https://pixabay.com/en/salt-pepper-shaker-seasoning-food-993111/
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