Lent 30

 

We could say

We’re three-quarters through

Here are problems with that:

We’ll make it into an accomplishment

We’ll worry we’re not as far along

As we should be

How much time is left

To get it right?

 

When days were years,

The Israelites in the main could not say,

We’ve covered seventy-five percent

Of this

Twenty-five to go

We should still pace ourselves

 

Markers aren’t so bad

Such as stations on the pilgrim trail

They note achievement and

Places to pause

Before we say, What’s next?

 

When they are spots in

Which to moan

Or to say, Look, what we have done

Better purposes are mollified

Maybe overwhelmed

In brittle ambition

Or vaunting pride

We’re left inside

A roof without an apex as

The sureness of shelter

 

Don’t be afraid

Be ye not anxious

Don’t be over-eager

The desert has an ending

And there is always more

(that will not have to be

a desert)

Mark the way, maybe

Take in the sight

Adjust for course correction

 

Who are we now,

What have we learned?

Refresh

Now move

 

C L Couch

 

 

Philippe Chavin – Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1134168

vaulted grottoes called Taq-e Bostan, located in Iran, Sassanian era

 

Philippians 4:6 in the Christian New Testament (cited)