She stops laughing

After Hebrews 11:1-3, 11-12 

She laughed at how

ridiculous it was,

to become pregnant

at her age. She

laughed, and kept

laughing, until she

knew, she sensed

the changes, the first

flutters and movements

of the child growing

within her. And then,

only then, did the words

of the promise strike her

senseless. From her

would be born a child,

and more than that,

a multitude, one flowing

from that child, her child, 

a multitude as numerous

as the stars, as plentiful

as the grains of sand

on the shore. And she

stops laughing.

 

Photograph by Aiony Haust via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Sunday Readings

 

Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne: A Reader’s Guide to a Christian Classic – Jordan Stone at Desiring God.

 

Stand – poem by Mark Lukey at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Is Sound of Freedom the Next Uncle Tom’s Cabin? – Cap Stewart at The Gospel Coalition.

 

Forget about Hollywood for a moment: Where is the biblical Mount Sinai located? – Richard Ostling at Get Religion.

She laughs

After Hebrews 11:1-3, 11-12 

She laughs when 

she hears the promise:

What? Pregnant 

at my age? Who are

you kidding? I’m old,

I’m barren, I’m dried

up and dried out. 

My time to bear

children is long past.

Don’t ridicule me

like that. It’s cruel

to say such things,

to even suggest I

might bear a child.

It’s outrageous to say

that. You don’t know

how long I prayed,

how long I begged and

pleaded. And now, 

the possibility long

gone, you sit there,

and you wonder why

I laugh.

 

Photograph by Ivana Cajina via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray M’Cheyne: A Reader’s Guide to a Christian Classic – Jordan Stone at Desiring God.

 

The Language of the Birds – poem by Amy Nemecek at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

Paradise Dimmed: Are we losing the greatest poem in the English language? – Jaspreet Singh Boparai at The Spectator.

 

Better with Love – poem by Russel Winnick at Society of Classical Poets.

Poets and Poems: Mohja Kahf and “Hagar Poems”

The Biblical story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar is well known. God promises Abraham he will be a great nation, but his wife Sarah, because of her advanced age, is doubtful. She gives Hagar, one of her servants, to Abraham, thinking that’s where the great nation will come from. Hagar promptly gets pregnant and later gives birth to Ishmael. Then Sarah gets pregnant, and has Isaac. Abraham eventually faces rivalry in the camp, until Sarah convinces him to expel Hagar and her son, forcing them into the desert to (presumably) die.

But they don’t. God hears her cries as they’re dying, and sends an angel to rescue them and point to water. The Jewish people will descend through Isaac, and the Arab people through Ishmael. The rivalry in the camp becomes the rivalry lasting to the present day.

This is the story from the Book of Genesis in the Bible, but the Quran contains a similar account. Poet and writer Mohja Kahf uses both accounts to weave Hagar Poems, her new collection published this year.   

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

A promise met by laughter

After Romans 4:16-25

A promise met by laughter,

disbelief becomes scoffing;

a fool to make such a promise,

a fool to believe it

a promise in spite of

a promise despite

a promise in the face of

I walk with Abraham

and know his heart

and know his doubt

and know his faith

he is too old to be

too old for anything

too old except to sit

and sleep and tell

stories to strangers

I walk with Abraham

and listen as he succumbs

to the laugh, overcomes

the laugh

eventually

I walk with Abraham

I create what is not

I create what cannot be

Photograph by Peter Griffin via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.