“How precious is your steadfast love, O God!” Psalm 36:7a
if
my stock portfolio
turned
to dust,
if
my bank accounts
were
suddenly hacked
and
totally depleted,
if
my pension was
taken
away tomorrow,
i
am still wealthy
beyond
imagination
if
your love
is
all i have
to
my name
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“For you have maintained my
just
cause;” Psalm 9:4a
we turn the page
to check the stock market,
and forget the story
about the folks being evicted.
we switch channels
to find the score from
last night’s late game,
never noticing the
lonely child kicking
the football around
in the schoolyard closed
because of the rising cases.
we read the latest
social media posts,
and as our blood pressure
rises,
we forget about mailing
the note to a friend.
but
you remember them all
each and everyone
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” 1 Corinthians 10:17
in these days
it is stale crackers
and cold milk for some,
a slice of toast
and sweet hot tea for others,
for a few lucky ones
it is the special loaf
made just for the occasion
as well as the wine
opened just for the feast,
but
whatever, wherever, however
we all share the same meal
because we are one
in you
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“He has told you, O mortal,
what
is good;
and
what does the LORD
require of you
but to do justice, and to love
kindness,
and to
walk humbly with
your God?” Micah 6:8
it is a struggle
at times but, yes,
we will march for justice,
and yes, we will learn
to play nice with others
no matter how they
treat us, but
can’t we at least
let everyone know
what wonderful people
we are . . .
not keeping it all
under our hearts?
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“‘For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.’” Luke 11:10
why is it we expect
you to give us
everything we want,
to come looking
for us every time
we wander off,
leave the door
wide open, no matter
how far past the curfew
we get home, but
we think we should
not do the same for
others?
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"And he said to him, ‘You have given the right answer; do this, and you will life.’” Luke 10:28
on every test,
had no red ink corrections
on our written essays,
finished our dissertation
before it was due,
we pack all our learning
away
and immediately forget
we are supposed
to live out everything
you have taught us
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem.” Luke 9:53
with the cross
trailing behind you
like some shadow
no one has ever seen,
you are so focused
on your destination, you
do not notice us
rushing off to the travel agent
to buy a ticket to Tarshish
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he wa] the Messiah.” Matthew 16:20
every time
we do not stand
up to those who
bully
the vulnerable,
we do not condemn
injustice with
more
than just a ‘tsk,
tsk,’
we refuse to see
the stranger in
our midst
as a sister or
brother,
we continue to
keep
you
a secret
(especially from
ourselves)
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“And all were astounded at the greatness of God.” Luke 9:43a
it is not the multimillionaire
athlete phoning in
his game,
but the Special Olympian
reaching the finish
line
long after everyone
else,
nor the politician
determined
to enrich
themselves by
the office they
hold, but
the little girl
emptying her
piggybank for the
cancer fund
for a classmate
she barely knows
who reveals your
greatness
to us, O God, for
they know you
better than we do
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“You are a hiding place for me;” Psalm 32:7a
while the Adversary
closes its eyes and
counts to 100, you
take me by the hand,
your finger on your lips
to shush my giggles,
and lead me into
the hollow of your heart,
where i will never be found
by all those eager
to capture me
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Once when Jesus was praying alone, with only the disciples near him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’” Luke 9:18
you
are
the
shelter always open
for
rough sleepers,
the
candle in the window
showing
prodigals you are
waiting
for us to come home,
the
family that welcomes
every
lonely stranger,
the
heart the breaks
every
time ours do
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’” Luke 9:13
our
pantries overflow
with
hoarded hope,
our
closets are crammed
with
garments of grace,
our
garages are full
of
boxes filled with love
to
get us through winter,
but
we
offer empty hands
and
emptier hearts
to
all who come asking
for
just a smidgen
of
what you share with us
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
"But as for you, return to your God,
hold fast to love and justice,
and wait continually for your God." Hosea 12:6
in our rush to follow
all the wrong words,
people, ideas, beliefs,
we look back, only
to notice we have left
justice and love,
grace and hope
in the dust behind us.
(c) 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.” Luke 8:37
like our faith
ancestors
in the wilderness,
we
grumble a lot
about life,
we bemoan all our
aches,
pains, and
miseries,
we complain about
our
burdens and
worries,
but when you offer
to remove them
from us
and send them off
into
forgetfulness,
we buy you a
ticket
for the first
plane out of town,
since
we prefer the
comfort
of our uncertain
lives
over the
discomfort
of the life you
long
for us to have
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“Yet it was I who taught
Ephraim to walk,
I took them up in my
arms,
but they did not
know that
I healed them.” Hosea 11:3
convinced
you are just a
mean and angry
so-and-so, we
never notice you
putting the
training wheels
on our faith, your
hand on our
shoulder
steadying us as we
totter down the sidewalk,
your bending down
to
clean our scraped
knees
and kiss all the
boo-boos
every time we fall
off
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“’Then pay attention to how you listen,’” Luke 8:18a
when
we listen with
our ears, we
hear but words
when
we listen with
our hearts, we
hear one’s soul
when
we listen with
our souls, we
hear your whispers
of grace
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“Wild animals and all cattle,
creeping things and flying
birds!
Praise the LORD!” Psalm 148:10, 14c
kittens kneading
our toes in the
middle of the
night
little birds’ shadows
darting across
sunbeams
on the kitchen
floor
tortoises racing
as slowly as they
can
across a yard
join all creation
in praising
God!
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“God is a refuge for us.” Psalm 62:8c
you are the
bed
ready to cradle us
when we collapse.
you are the
easy chair
where we can
curl up in to
read stories of hope.
you are the
tub
filled with hot
soapy water
to ease our achy
souls.
you are the heart
which
is always open
to us
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“’the Son Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”’” Luke 7:34
we think we will
find you at the
restaurant
where folks wait
months
to get a
reservation, dressed
in a tux and
hobnobbing with
the elite and
privileged, but
you are around
back,
sitting outside
the kitchen door,
sipping a cold one
and
passing around
platters
of fried fish,
hush puppies,
and coleslaw with
the
dishwashers,
servers, and
folks who will
clean up when
the front doors
are shut.
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
"And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, 'Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof;'" Luke 7:6
convinced you already
have too much on your plate,
we shuffle our feet, afraid
to talk about what is on our hearts,
and in the silence, you knock
and fling open the front door
of our soul, striding in to listen
to our hearts and offer what
we need
(c) 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"’Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?’” Luke 6:41
we are always so
quick to pull out
our ophthalmoscope
to find the least
little
imperfection in
the other’s
soul,
all the while bumping
them with the big,
gnarly branch
protruding
from
ours
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
”’Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;
his appearing is as sure as the dawn;
he will come to us like the
showers,
like the spring rains that water the
earth.’” Hosea 6:3
when it seems
we have been
riding
white-water rapids
that only get more
and more wild,
deep,
and filled with
boulders
ready to mash us,
let your grace
fall on us
like a gentle
shower,
which awakens us
to discover we are
held
in your comforting
arms
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“’Do to others as you would have them do to you.’” Luke 6:31
somehow,
i
do not think
you
meant
snark
for snark
grudge
for grudge
bitter
bile for bitter bile,
angry
retort for angry retort,
hate
for hate
but
a lot of folks
try
to prove me
wrong
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“My people consult a piece of wood, and their divining rod gives them oracles.” Hosea 4:12a
sadly,
we
rely more on
social
media memes,
listings
from
stock
exchanges,
and
flipping
a
coin than
we
do in the wisdom
of
your Spirit
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“I kept my faith, even when I said, ‘I am greatly afflicted’;” Psalm 116:10
in
these wearisome
times,
it would so easy
to
say the dog
ate
my faith,
that
i accidentally
through
it in the bin,
that
i just cannot
remember
where
i last saw it,
but
since you
keep
filling up my
pockets,
my heart,
my
soul with it
i
know i will always
have
more than
needed
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Praise the LORD!
How
good it is to sing praises to our God;” Psalm 147:1a
we
could continually
offer
our thanks
to
you for all
you
do for us, but
it
seems more delicious
to
be constantly
murmuring
to one
another
like
our grandparents
in
the wilderness
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Transgression speaks to the wicked deep in their hearts;” Psalm 36:1a
why
can
we listen
the
softest whisper
of
foolishness, but
can’t
seem to hear
you
shouting hope
into
our
hearts?
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
“When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him.” Luke 5:11
duh!
of
course, those
uneducated,
smelling-of-fish,
roughhewn
folks would
follow,
but do you really expect
those
of us with
degrees
after our names,
houses
with second mortgages,
kids
to put through college,
and
a retirement to plan
to
do the same?
duh!
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
"'Have you understood all this?' They answered, 'Yes.'" Matthew 13:51
of course, we do,
as we nod our heads
wisely
(with our fingers
crossed behind our backs)
hoping it won't all
be on the final exam.
(c) 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”
Psalm 122:1
and where is your
house?
it is where kids
are popping wheelies,
and where folks are
pushing along their
walkers,
it is where volunteers
are boxing up food
for their neighbors
and teachers are
doing virtual tutoring,
it is where delivery
folks are setting groceries
in front of doors
and teenagers are
carving pumpkins
for the little ones –
that is where
we find you
dwelling
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“The LORD answer you in the
day of trouble.” Psalm 20:1a
over the boisterous
boasting of braggarts,
over the angry
annoyances of adversaries,
over the ridiculous
rhetoric of rascals,
it is hard for us
to hear your still
small voice of grace,
O God, so
please keep speaking
until we pay attention
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the
poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the
blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the
Lord’s favor.’” Luke 418-19
yet
the
spirit of anger
is
upon us, as we
anoint
others with
the
bile of bitterness,
proclaiming
judgment
on
those we lock away
in
our prisons of prejudice,
remain
blind to the loneliness
of
the forgotten around us,
imposing
our self-righteousness
on
those who think in different ways,
as
we proclaim the year of
snarkiness
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
