first thursday in lent

“Though the fig tree does not blossom,

    and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
    and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
    and there is no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will exult in the God of my salvation.” Habakkuk 3:17-18

when the only bouquets

in the stores are those

of bitterness,

when the shelves

are no longer stocked

with justice,

when the finest whines

come from the tended

grapes of anger and fear,

may we see you

out in the fields,

plowing furrows behind

Hope and Peace yoked together,

scattering seeds of grace

side to side, behind you and before,

as Spirit runs along after you

turning on the irrigation system

spraying living water

© 2020 Thom M. Shuman