I went inside

After Psalm 73:17-28

I went inside the sanctuary,

embracing its darkness and cool,

its relief from the searing heat

outside, the failure I feel as

I watch others succeed, and 

here in this cool darkness

I begin to see, at first only

a single candle, it, but the light

grows, until I see where it all

ends, what the point is, that

my failure is not failure and

their success is not success.

There is a plan, there is a reward,

there is judgment, there is love,

and I see I was holding

the wrong end of the stick and

beating myself with it.

Their ways are not his ways,

my ways are not his ways,

but my ways will be.

Photograph by Pau Casals via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Evidence abounds

After Isaiah 28

The evidence of destruction

impending abounds, the bruised

and beaten refugees seeking

sanctuary inside our gates,

the cost of food exploding,

the mistrust with which we

observe each other

with averted eyes,

the ridicule with which we

greet each succeeding

proclamation and rule.

Evidence abounds of the terror

we know in our hearts, and we

speculate endlessly on whom

might save us, might rescue us,

might deliver us from what

surrounds us, the storm

whose clouds arch

the citadel, casting

their shadows and

darkness wherever

we seek light.

Photograph by Kai Stachowiak via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.