The Dust

It has been too long since you cleaned this room,
a month of neglect and business,
of passing through from habit,
or falling asleep on the sofa from exhaustion.

and the dust has settled on everything like a ghostly blanket,
robbing the room of color, depth and life,
and so today you begin again,
stained dust cloth in hand,

and as the dust is wiped away,
it all comes back, the memory of why
each table and chair sang to you –
this one from your grandmother,

this one restored from a pile of abandoned rubble,
this one with a warm glow that drew you like love.
and you realize sometimes the dust have to settle
for the magic to return.

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About the poem

Our faith is like that sometimes, a thing in constant rediscovery as we dust it off and return to it again and again, it’s magic renewed, it’s promise refreshed. It’s relevance is always there, but we have to rediscover it again and again.

And the picture? From my living room. I’d like to say I let it get that dusty for the poem, but that would be a lie

About these Lenten Poems

My friend Cathy Benson is on to something. Instead of doing without for Lent, she is doing MORE with a prayer project that is thoughtful and caring.

Giving up something for Lent is a church tradition, not a biblical command. It was designed to get our minds and hearts right as we approach the holy week and Easter. It’s a good spiritual discipline.

But I think a spiritual discipline of doing something more is also a powerful way to prepare our hearts for Easter. The Methodists, through their “Rethink Church” initiative have come up with a photographic way to do this (see below). I am going to add a poem with each image for the lent season to help prepare myself. Feel free to glom on to the idea, visit to blog and read, share your thoughts and your prayers.

If you want to read all the Lenten Poems, go to the “lent” category on the right, and it will list them for you.