Mark 9:23

It takes nearly all your strength
to wake, to pull the wrinkled white sheets
off your body, and
to walk, dress, eat.

It rains outside,
no matter the weather,
and you struggle to begin
a day as empty as the last.

There is no magic pill,
no abracadabra
to transport you to joy.
It is an act of faith, no more

that empowers you,
a remembrance
of past and promises,
of paths once taken that led you home, and

will lead you there once again.

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Mark 9:23 reads  – “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”.  Too often, I think, we leave out the first part of the verse in favor of the second. But we have all been in places where believing is hard, and acting in belief, even when there is no evidence, or worse, when the evidence seems to be against you, is a supreme act of faith., and the first part acknowledges the real struggle of our humanity.

The photograph was taken at Burr and Burton Academy in Manchester, Vermont. Burr and Burton began as a seminary, and it’s now an extraordinary high school that serves Manchester and many of the outlying towns. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom