Monday, January 19, 2009

A Miracle Happened Here

Yesterday in my church in North Carolina, the communion hymn was "We Shall Overcome,"
and atmosphere of gladness suffused the mostly white congregation.
Will it be like this at the end of time, when hell vanishes,
when all look upon him whom they pierced?
Will even God's detractors rejoice?
Whatever happens next, we are witness to a miracle in this moment, in Washington D.C.
on Martin Luther King Day
an outbreak of glory.

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Getting Through

If you ran a poll--or made one up--what percentage of time do people spend just getting through stuff.
Someone totalled the hours for waiting in line, commuting to work, searching for lost spectacles;
How many of you/us feel like Sisyphus, pushing tasks uphill
License the dog hang the curtain rods wash the kitchen floor
Write your Christmas cards in January and
Straighten out that insurance thing;
Not to mention your real job with deadlines and dread, this
Job that you love and are lucky to have.
Yes, we're so lucky lucky lucky.
Camus imagines Sisyphus happy
Happy to have just the one rock I suppose.
To have consciousness and muscle. Does he get to
Go home and have a beer, turn on the telly at the end of the day,
Say his prayers and love his friends,
These things get us through.