Pilgrimage III

After Isaiah 9:6 and Psalm 121

The journey goes on,

often interminably,

as we toil upward

to the hills.

And as we walk

this road together,

we sing the sing

that’s always new.  

 

My help is from the Lord,

he who does not sleep,

he who holds us in his hand,

he who prevents our slips and falls,

he who protects against 

the dangers of night,

the dangers of day,

he who shields us from evil,

he who protects our lives,

and he did it then,

he does it now, and

he does it forever.

 

Photograph by Iva Rajović via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Pilgrimage II

After Isaiah 9:6 and Psalm 121

A pilgrim’s question:

on my journey up

to the hills, my journey on

this dusty road with its twists

and turns, potholes,

roadblocks, obstructions,

eroding roadbed, cracks

and gaps,

I ask, I am asked,

by myself, 

by my fellow travelers,

what is the source,

the fount, the origin 

of my help? What is 

its birth, its start,

its creation?

My first response,

to myself,

to my fellow travelers,

is to look to the hills,

the hills where

the answer resides,

where the answer

always resides.

 

Photograph by Raimond Klavins via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Pilgrimage I

After Isaiah 9:6 and Psalm 121

When I say I lift

my eyes up

to the hills,

I speak on the road

to the city,

the city on a hill,

the city in these hills,

the home of where

we worship.

I am on the road,

on the pilgrimage,

because the sound 

in my heart requests,

in my heart requires, 

this journey

to the hills. 

When I lift 

my eyes up

to the hills,

I see the source

of what sustains,

of what sustains me.

 

Photograph by Damien DUFOUR Photographie via Unsplash. Used with permission. 

The telegram

After Isaiah 9:6 

The telegram comes

seven hundred years

or so early, a herald

and the promise

of the promise

of a child to be born / stop /

a son to be given / stop /

and more to come / stop /

carrying the government

upon his shoulder / stop /

and given four names / stop /

Wonderful Counselor / stop /

Mighty God / stop /

Everlasting Father / stop /

Prince of Peace / stop /.

He will be 

the promised one,

he will be

the promise.

 

Photograph by Sandra Tan via Unsplash. Used with permission.