October 2021 – Page 2 – A Thread You Follow

Promises

To never blush in private while
raindrops fall off the leaves.

To constantly call G*d down 
from the heavenly throne.

To present things in my mind in ways 
that make sense to the circling vulture.

To bring people to faith in mornings
where angels rise with the sun.

“What kind of gospel will you preach?” – Edward L. Wheeler

The challenge 
is to bless 
and uplift 
to include
without 
pointing 
a finger 
at the flaws 
that divide.

Questions

Which color best describes the way
a mourning dove cries in the morning?

How many days walking in the rain
before the last leaf falls to the wet ground?

At what time of day is it best to alter
the God that appears at the Altar?

How many differences are there between
the oppressed and their oppressors?

Example of Own Lives

I asked, "How many more fingers
must be pointed at the divine?"

She replied, "We humans enjoy 
the convolutions of large numbers."

I said, "Perhaps furiously fidgeting 
with the letter of the law should be 
made a crime."

She said, "Then people would not
have anything to do on bright, 
sunny mornings as the summer
comes to a close."

I added, "Except to fill daily journals
writing words that appear to be
tolerant and accepting."

She said, "It is easier to embrace ourselves
when we remain examples in our own lives."

He was praying in a certain place. – Luke 11:1

Maker and Creator 
of all places and ways,
who wanders off to pray
in places certain and uncertain
depending upon the day;
make in us a hope
where we are present,
grounded in change
from the play of how things are
in the here and now of every day
to the ways of possibility,
for the many surround us
keeping us in one place.
Amen.

Eye Signs

There is a difference between the repetitive
signs of advertising rolling along outside
the car's window demanding attention
and the quiet hint that is shared today 
mirroring the whisper spoken yesterday.

To blink at the reflection of neon signs
flashing on the wet pavement and return
to teaching the faith that holds both 
the light and the road and our eyes
together all in one book on one shelf.

I have asked the sages that multiply
on those shelves to give me a new way
to feel better about not feeling better
but their silence and endless devotion
to thinking send me along strange paths.

Sitting in a beautiful sanctuary looking
at beams and stone and arches surround 
the colors of stories I can feel myself
hesitantly approaching the altar where
answers serve themselves to wonder.

Learning and Liking

Learning to like questions is different
from learning questions.

Learning to like others is different
from liking others.

And if you learn to like questions,
then you can learn to like others.

The Pit and Stones

Life is a lesson in loosening absolutes;
separate from a connection to any particulars;
like the pit inside a peach letting go of the fruit.

Take a walk around the block holding the hand
of your favorite belief and see how many steps 
it takes before collapsing on to the concrete.

Some people like to slice time up as if it were a pie,
hoping to eat a piece of the morning before the sun
rises above the straight roof line at the treetops.  

How many first stones not thrown lie one on top 
of another, creating a pile next to us which we
can then use to build a walkway to our next love?

Morning

Shadows 
of chairs 
lay 
on the ground.

A cool 
autumn breeze 
moves 
through the window.

Yesterday's
imperfections
sleep
only in memory.

Different From Yesterday

I said, "My fear is that organizational
formality will swallow all of us whole."

She asked, "Does that fear arise from 
the dangerous memories that haunt you
or from some gracious hint from the divine?"

I said, "A life's pilgrimage lives in the steps
taken closer to my heart than out beyond
the land that rises in the West."

She said, "Imagine big smiley faces written
lovingly across the pages of your notebook."

I said, "I am keenly aware of how, unburdened
from affliction, we reach a state of grace."

She said, "Then let us broaden our experience
of time's moments differently than yesterday."