Fourth Monday of Advent

Please read John 10:7-16

you come,

removing that rusted

hanging-on-one-hinge

gate

which keeps any one

from stealing our heart,

and replace it with

you,

who opens

our way to God;

you come,

not for a fancy salary,

a gold watch or

a stock-portfolioed pension

but out of love,

your gentle goodness

stretched out on

roughened wood

so we might be

marked

as your beloved;

you come,

not for a precious few

but for all the

impoverished;

not just for those who know better

but for all the

forgotten;

not just for the insiders,

but for all the outcast,

the oppressed,

the searchers;

not just for those who never stray,

but for all who

have taken different

paths.

so come,

Tender Shepherd,

come.

(c) 2009 Thom M. Shuman