Worth the Work

A simple chair against the wall.
Stained maple. Shaker made
to a sacred design. A thing
that took time to craft. Hands.
A careful eye.
A chair that deserves to be seen
and set apart.

Give me less.
Let me fight the clutter, the more.
A life, a few things well crafted.
A God who throws away the rule book
for love.
A love that is full of touch, kisses
and safety.

It is worth the time. Worth the effort.
Worth the suffering and battles
to get past the world,
to the one you know and understand, and
feeds your soul.

About this poem

A poem with a convoluted history. All from thoughts this morning.

I am something of a minimalist. Much of my life of things is a battle to create the peace that a space without clutter, and a life without clutter offers. I discovered this minimalist side of me after my divorce. I had a full life and a full house and moved to a simple life and a simple space. It was a good discovery. A true discovery. It’s funny how, at times the worst things in your life lead you to the best.

I am in the midst of re-inventing my non-pastoral work. After a long life of doing a lot of things, I have come to a place where many of those things hold little enchantment for me any longer. So some simplification is in order. It’s been a month or so of simplifying and confronting my life and deciding what I want to let go in order to have the peace that simplifying brings. You would not think so, but simplifying takes work,

I was reading some articles this morning about AI. I have been concerned about AI for years. If you understand how it works, it is a thief. It will, in the end, make us less smart, less creative. But for the ones who harness it without losing their soul, it offers amazing creative possibilities. Maybe, just maybe, even simplicity.

Poetry is never about one thing.

The picture is from the Hancock Shaker Village, in Mass. It is one of my favorite photographs.

Be well. Travel wisely,

Tom