Laughingstock

After Hebrews 11:1-3, 7 

He was a laughingstock,

an object of ridicule

and derision, the butt

of jokes and snarky

sayings, insults, snide

remarks, called a fool

and an idiot, demented,

bullied, his family

ridiculed with him,

seeing his sons turn

red to hear their father

consistently insulted.

That is, until the clouds

appeared, until the clouds

turned dark, until the wind

rose and howled,

until the rains came.

 

Photograph by Dan Cook via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

But Now I See: John 9 – Doug Spurling at Spurling Silver.

 

What is the “Common Good?” – Andrew Walker at Crossway.

 

He Gives to His Beloved Sleep – Haylee Williams at For the Church.

 

Breathing Space, July – Tomas Tranströmer at Poetry Foundation (translated by Patty Crane).

A man of fear

After Hebrews 11:1-3, 7 

A man of faith, yes,

that’s familiar,

something we’ve seen

and known, but 

(always a but) 

what is a man of fear,

reverent fear? How

do you believe

in reverent fear? How

do you act? Do you

look slyly from side

to side, fearful of what

will happen next? It

doesn’t sound right. Not

like awe. Not like being

overwhelmed. Not like

being so struck by God

that you would brave 

criticism, ridicule,

persecution, derision,

and still build the ark

he told you to build. 

 

Photograph by Cade Roberts via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

New York City has evolved into a complex, tense ‘post-secular’ cultural chess board – Terry Mattingly ay Get Religion.

 

Thomas Gray’s Desperate Pastoral – Jeffrey Hart at The Imaginative Conservative. 

 

St. Thomas the Apostle – sonnet by Malcolm Guite.

 

Graves – poem by Jeffrey Essmann at Society of Classical Poets.

A soft rain

After Hebrews 11:7 and Genesis 6:5-22

A soft rain

tasted by dry ground

welcome for the life

it promises and brings

a little harder now

a good rain, solid

quenching the dryness of the land

more rain then

wary eyes glance toward skies

wondering, waiting

its passing

rain unstopping

creeks rising, rivers

shaking off their banks

soon the running

to the fool in the boat

finding doors shut

gangways pulled up

hearing the cacophony

of animal sounds within

clinging to the tops of trees

water still rising

violence answering

violence

the first creaks

as the boat shifts

from its platform

the groaning and cries

the drowning

outside

the calls, the shouts

the cries pleading upon

ears hurting

stop help open please

sodden voice begging

the boat shifts again

breaks loose, floats

as the rain hardens,

skies falling

Photograph by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.