Every Time I
(you, we)
Every time I
Feel the
Spirit
Moving in my heart
I will pray
But I like it
When it moves outside
The heart
Also
Not as proof or evidence
But as
Communion
That spirits are merging
Venning at least
For faith
And sometimes simply for
Delight
Then spirits
Move
We sing and dance
Among the trees
And you wonder from
Where those
Strange lights
Come
In the woods or
Over water
Or horizoning desert
Ridges
Where there might be
Air
Or other medium
For breath
Bursts that
Might be daunting
Maybe
Also invitation
Dance with us to
Say
We move as lights
Be moved
C L Couch
Photo by Nick de Partee on Unsplash
in her father’s and her mother’s house
(for Saint Patrick’s Day)
Brigid
told her father
about faith
and made a cross of straw
to make her point
that Christ
and faith in Christ
is made of
ordinary things
even life in the spirit
even faith
because the spirit
has been with us
since creation
and was
the cause
of creation
and he believed
and made a kingdom
of it
which might
not seem fair
since
everyone should make up
their own minds
so as
to understand the stakes
and that
the stakes are high
in choosing
one way
or another
which is why
conversion by
a literal sword
let alone doctrinal
isn’t the
best strategy
and
in fact
far from it
believe or not
one by one
and two
and then whatever
however
a family is defined
as in
as for me
and my house
because the house
believes
and then
a group
a temple community
or in said houses
where the faithful
used to meet
at first
you know
where people lived
wherever
sometimes while
persecuted generally
and so to meet
in a hiding
of some sort
with symbols on the outside
exchanged
in a kind
of code
and so Brigid
took her chances
even
with her father
since rule was absolute
back then
and it all could have gone
another way
but she was
and is
connected to the ages
and the land
and maybe she knew
how everything should
fit
and how a cross
of straw
might seem
to teach it all
like bread
and wine
and other things
(straw
a shamrock)
might have an added
use
for spiritual matters
worship
or evangelism
so Christ be with you
in every way
the breastplate indicates
and the faith
as Brigid knew
the cause of Christ
but only
one by one
and then two
and then the group
of however many
is defined
first as family
then a wider
(not political)
community
c l couch
photo by Boston Public Library on Unsplash
fish Friday
it’s a gray day
should it get darker
it will look more
than
a fish Friday
in Lent
we’ll hear the silence
the press
of what
will feel more
the smell of storm
for now
the taste
of dry moments
is it a desert
underneath the gray
a world
we will not recognize
has only
death to offer
after all rewards
of Earth
and us
a plane
that has no feature
(worse than deserts)
no signals
no direction
anything
to show a way
to make sense of
any steps
we might try to take
while on this
measureless
level
that might not be level
for
we could be upside-down
or inside-out
then wake up
to Friday
and it’s Lent
the season still
a still
season
have the fish
go to church
whatever
make it count
whatever
listen
watch
and learn
our faith
and our existence
might rely
on these
here
there are
symbols and signs
arrows
stones in a line
weights
to appreciate
and even try to carry
in a season
one walked this way
and every step
a burden
smoothed
wickedly
by sweat
and blood
we’re on our knees
we also
try to walk
that way
the steps now dried
through ages
wearing
ritual
the chance for meaning
or indifference
our choice
like the choice
for faith
Friday
Lent
and the other days
without fat or sugar
or without
tradition
make tradition
with the faith that is forever
that unchanges for
our ages
mutable
and
so very
needful
c l couch
photo by James Coleman on Unsplash
[photographer’s caption follows]
I took this on the 22nd of April 2019, on the day I heard of the bombing of 3 churches on Easter Day in Sri Lanka. Jesus weeps with you.
And in Conclusion
Believe or not
There’s God
It’s up to you
Wonderfully
Up to you
For faith
In what’s unseen
By unseen
But what’s evidenced
In
Nature
Even by extremes
More so
In love
And everything
Beyond ourselves
Affirming
What is in ourselves
That we know best
As flesh
Combined with
Spirit
My
We really are
Something
And should mean it
Fantastic-made
And beating certain odds
For now
To have been kept
And then
To keep ourselves
And we should know
The value
Beyond chemicals
The market fluctuates
Bur the worth
Of what’s internal
As eternal
Is forever
And the price
As might be reckoned
Also needed
By
The world
It seems
Paid
In faith
And love
And also paid
In full
Perfected in a life
Both human and
Divine
And in divinity
We pray
Our own spirit
And our flesh
Shall pray
Even with life
And life’s devotion to
What’s good
Resisting evil
And when giving in
To evil
Then returning
The question
Which is
Stronger
Which is more
At last
Answered
With wounded conviction
Scarred believing
And we may
Return
Or
Yes
Never having left
And maybe to eschew
When needed
Older
Siblings’
Attitudes
Toward prodigals
We have
We come back
And now
We all remain
In faith
Uneasy in the world
As uneasy
To the world
Which says
No evidence
No faith
According to our rules
Though evidence
Invisible
Like concepts
Be
Working all around
But
Speaking of invisible
To start
At least
Remember one’s
Great value
That is
Your own
And don’t forget it
Stay alive
Forgive
And be forgiven
Knowing that life and love
(unscalable
though scalable)
Keep us
And keep us going
In the valley
To the top
Depth
As well as height
And in the mind
Between
Then knowing well
Of one
Reach out
To one
And then another
And let groups
Of faith have strength
With courage
For each other
Goodness
Do I sound
Like an epistle
Well
Enough courage
In the one
To be
And more
To join
A model
Maybe
Understand of the one beyond
Or go the other way
Let the one
Be model
For you
And for us
Either way
Have faith
Remembering greater love
But keeping oneself
Precious
And unstained
Though knowing
That God loves
The stained
As well
And we should love
The stained
As with the wounded
All around
Such things
As shall be lifted
But for now
Need caring
As with the pristine parts
And also those
As practice now
For everything
All Earth
And heaven
Flesh
And spirit
Renewed
C L Couch
Photo by Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
gifted
I’d like to give you each
a present
though I’m poor
and not the kind of poverty
that saints admire
for I have little
mystic understanding
and what I have
is tied
to nothing like
how much
how little
I have
I’d like to say
go slowly
as the Buddhists
say
especially
when parting
I’d like to say
remember all your loves
made up of
reason
practicality
and balance
not that passion
doesn’t count
it does
but there should be a measure
in most things
of what is right
and what is easy
(like
Jack’s pieces
well
maybe not so much)
which is
(really)
to say
let all good things
have their place
and do not rearrange
from the heaven
of creation
and the philosophy
inside all things made
for there is
certainty
as well as confusion
the way this world works
and don’t deny
the sure things
that you
and others
who are smart
and might be trusted
might ally
I’d like to say
think God
(like another movie)
though I know
that’s not enough
or I could say
love
and let love
not frilly silly
(‘til the day)
but steady
and trustworthy
have its say
and guide
however trite it sounds
each day
I guess
some things are cliché
like the way we use
iconic
meaning not a symbol
but celebrity
believe
and love
so common
(a cliché)
and yet maybe
we can still ourselves
and our sophistications
to accept
that some things
important things
the most important things
are commonplace
no secrets
no requirements
but to accept
what is instilled
(installed
as it were)
within internal palaces
or offices
or bungalows
(I’ll take a wooded cabin)
in the mind
in what we call the heart
in what really is
the spirit
might be
an alliance of the spirits
one by one
within
between
our groups
our nations
for an errant world
on its quest
our quest
to grow
to acquire
and to save
good things
and we could have rituals
and easiness
(not mindlessness)
in what passes
from the Earth of now
into
the next
of now
c l couch
photo by Luca Pennacchioni on Unsplash
(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
(x = space)
x
x
Bilateral Stimulation
x
Two candles
What do they mean?
That it is Sunday
Sabbath day
A day in Advent
Second Sunday
The candles on the wreath
Have meaning
The wreath has meaning,
Too
The lights remind us
Of the spirit
Also of faith
And how one fortifies
The other
There is more prophecy
Remembering
The job skill
Of the prophets
In not only future-telling
But foretell the present
As well
x
What is happening now?
There are wars
Not for the first time
There drought
And the effects of drought
There have been
Flods as well
Ironically
We and nature
Have our moments
x
There is politics
To trouble a way through
All
While not addressing much
And proposing less
Unless we press
Where governments allow
Or where they don’t
And here the prophets
Help us,
Too
x
Two candles
Twice as strong
For support
Twice the light
For inspiration
Two times
The investment in the season
In our learning
Or reminding
Of an illuminated world
To come
Plus how each of us
May offer light
Into the world
All wintry to the north
Summery to the south
Though one
Season everywhere
Just now
x
Adore the story
In the advent
Of the Lord
Into the world
Light the way
Even with small lights
Even the light
Of one
Though look for lights to add
Look around
Let senses say
Shadowed
And unshadowed
We have each other
In all seasons
x
C L Couch
x
Advent 2
x
x
Photo by Rainer Gelhot on Unsplash
x
(x = space)
x
x
Invitationing
x
It is a gray day
Perfect for
The Spirit to come in
x
A visit by a fire
With the Fire
An easy day
Made glorious
Through interaction
With the presence
Of the Lord
x
Hosted by
The human heart
Watched over
By the human mind
x
The visit lasts forever
Or it may
It depends upon the labor
Of the Spirit
And our own
To relent
To the exchange
Timeless
Over time
x
C L Couch
x
x
x
(x = space)
x
x
Rhapsody in Bible
x
God
You are good
You love us
Always
And anyway
x
I’m sure it’s in there
Though I can make
Only pages with
Neat typing
Of blurred letters
As I try
x
And then the stream
The invitation
And a wall of rooms
That somehow
Turn into mansions
Promise of two verses
About paradise
About
You know
Dwelling in the house
Of the Lord
x
There are numbers on the pages
Small headlines
Aids from time
Which were not in
The original
Black pages
Into mod
(it was the sixties
into seventies
for us)
And now the church
All wood
And mullions
With a clock that I could see
When in the choir
Set in the center
So the pastor be reminded
(by the clock
committee)
Of the time
For preaching
And when
To wrap it up
x
I received my Bible there
I think
Or in the rooms
For Sunday School
Which had checked floors
Of tile
Room dividers
In the wing
That had been built
Before I got there
And a breezeway
Over the drive
x
But this is building stuff
And the pages
Pages stuff
What of the truth that’s in there
And it’s in there
I can recall without the images
Though they come
Anyway
The verses and the truth inside
x
Create in me
A clean heart
O God
And renew a right spirit
Within me
x
And that’s only to begin
The faith
And transformation
Needed
That we learn about
In there
x
C L Couch
x
x
from Psalm 51
(followed by
Cast me not away
from thy presence
and take not thy holy spirit
from me
x
which happened to Saul
by the way
at the nadir
of his life
as king
appointed by the prophet
who got directions
from the Lord
to look for someone tall
and
well
kingly
for a tragic irony
as things turned out)
x
sorry, I got into a kind of coda
(that a kind of song, could be a psalm, might have)
x
x
Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
x
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