No!

“No!” God cries.
“This is not what I meant for you,
not this ruin, not this erosion
of bad choices

and late night rendezvous  with the devil.
You were not mean to be a mere shell,
stripped of your honor and joy,
struggling, always struggling in the dark.

This is not what I wanted for you.
I want you to dance,
to sing in the sunlight
and reflect the sun.

For this I followed you
through the ages, and for this
I sacrificed, willingly bearing whatever burden
your faith would allow

just so your fate would not fade,
rust, rot and collapse,
but shine.”

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About this poem.

As someone who has had two old homes now, and loves the restoration and reclaiming of old things (my house is full of rebuilt lamps, restored furniture, and other ancient orphans), I have come to see them as a metaphor for our own internal restoration work, and God’s redemptive work. So I often write of this in my poetry and essays, because it has been a major theme in my life, and the life of people I love.

The picture was taken in Botetourt Country. When I lived in Va, my daughter and I used to ride around in the convertible with our camera, savoring the countryside and taking pictures of whatever caught our eye. It’s something we still occasionally get to do today, even though she’s pretty grown up and mostly off at college. This was taken on our very first “convertibling” day.

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.