Wallow

That’s right. Wallow.
Go ahead.
Ignore history.

Ignore how Moses the murderer
became a pillar of faith.
Ignore Samson, shorn of hair and strength
who in one great act of faith
brought down his tormentors.

Close your eyes and pretend
Simon the flighty
never became Peter the rock, or

Saul the prosecutor and killer of Christians
became Paul the proselytizer,
infecting the known world with a new faith
of power and grace.

Ignore the broken bones of Christ,
as they walked with the disciples
weeks after his side and hands were pieced
and his last breath shattered the fabric
between heaven and earth.

Ignore it all, especially

ignore the miracles of newness
that continue. Lives transformed,
not by a church, liturgy or the masses
of terminally flawed Christians

that stumble, seek and get so much wrong,
yet still somehow, manage to grasp
the essence,

rising from their brokenness.
again and again,
sure as sunrise.

Go on. Believe the myth
that somehow your own sins,
your failures, your brokenness
is worse

than those of us who have fallen before you.
Go ahead.
Wallow.

Alone.

About this poem. 

Christianity is not about church. It is about reclamation and redemption. It is about rising beyond the brokenness that comes to all of our lives at times, and not having to do it alone because we have a God who loves us, wants more to us, and will help us rise.

If we let him.

The photograph is not one of mine. It is of the skull suspected to be that of Richard III, recently discovered under a parking lot in England. From it we are learning new things about the king. Literally, his history is becoming new, just as ours can.

Tom

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.