Your Version

It was not supposed to happen this way.
You were destined
for happy ever after,
and in your version,

Love lasted forever
and was worth fighting for.
In your version

you never lost your job,
never struggled to survive
day to day. No, in your version

you never failed. grew weary.
You soul never eroded
and you were never alone.

In your version, there were no lies,
no betrayals, no one stealing
your heart. Faith was rewarded with faith.

You were never broken beyond recognition.
You never had to plunge to the depths
to find yourself, the best of yourself, again.

But it is not your version,
you are only an actor on the King’s stage,
fumbling with a script that is not your own,

with more twists and turns
than fiction would ever allow,
a tragedy, you are assured

that will end well,
with blessings unimagined
in your version.

About the Poem

It it typical, I think, for people of a certain age or time in their life to step back and ask “How did I get HERE?” The answer of course is that it was never our version, that our life mingles with thousands of others, with fate, with history, with God, where things mix into a stew that none of us have any imagining of.

And yet, if we allow, every twist and turn, every failure and tragedy has the seeds of a blessing. No less than a cruxifiction had the seed of a resurrection.

The picture was taken in Rome, and reminds me of the angels unseen, who watch over us.

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 the blog and read, or share your thoughts and prayers.