January 2021 – Roasted Words

 
 
 Scoot
 
 If
 we are all going to fit at table
 we will have to scoot
 down...in...over.
 Everyone will be talking at once
 Holy bedlam
 is not just the grandchildren.
  
 We are going to have to sit—forward/back
 nestled in to fit the (ahem)
 extra-wide flanks of our attitudes.
 We will need to squirm
 but stay
 long enough to smell the perfume
 of our differences.
  
 We might pause
 say 'grace'
 lest we forget.
 Look for a moment neither at ourselves, nor one another
 but outward
 beyond our voracious want ;
 then dig deeply into each his own gratitude.
  
 Gratitude
 grace, please pass the...
 Extend one's hand.
 Pause our recitation—where another should find his
 and dig deeply into each his own.
 How can I know where another should find the grace of gratitude
 without first hearing his story?
  
 This 'Grace' could take a long time
 dribbling
 passed hand to hand
 messy.
 If something must spill,
 Lord, let it be grace.
 Something must spill...
  
 We are going to have to 
 scoot
 down...in...over
 if everyone is going to fit at table.
  
 jfig     1/2021

Permit me, Lord Permit me to love you, Lord in spite of weary, bedraggled form—my own. Permit me to love you, Lord in ways that stretch the narrow, fearful hardenings in my heart. Stenosis of dismay temporarily halts my pursuit of holiness. Help me to run—swift pursuit; your open arms stretched wide between twin pillars of Christ's Kingdom, righteousness and justice never failing. May incense arise, my known 'poor spirit,' bent now to pour oil and light the flame. Reverence and need entwine, curl heavenward their soot a cure for my unknowing. I exalt your holy name, my Lord and my Redeemer. Amen and amen.

Month: January 2021

Prayers for 2021: Scoot

Permit me, Lord: a prayer for 2021