“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
“You will not fear the terror of
the night,
or the arrow that flies by day,
or
the pestilence that stalks in
darkness,
or the destruction that wastes
at noon day.” Psalm 91:5-6
the
imaginary monsters
under
the bed,
the
barbs of bullies
aimed
in the workplace,
the
pandemic of bitterness
that
wants to blanket us,
the
anger that wants
to
draw us into its trap
can
only harm us,
if
we step away from
God’s
protective love
which
surrounds us.
©
2020 Thom M. Shuman
"John answered all of them by saying, 'I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming;'" Luke 3:16a
yet
not even John realized
that your power comes
in weakness,
your honor comes
in humility,
your place
is not at the side
of the privileged
(like us), but with
those we push aside
to try to grab hold
of your glory
(c) 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’” Luke 3:10
we could try
tearing down walls,
to build houses with
the bricks,
we could stop yelling
and try listening,
we might offer encouragement
and not justice,
but we are too busy
asking the same question
over and over, hoping
we are given something
grand to do, rather
than caring for the forgotten
where you are to be found
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” James 1:22
how easily do
those words
grace,
hope,
justice,
love
slip
out of our mouths,
but
how hard it is
to live them
day in and day out,
especially those
who bug us
day out and day in
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"’I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.’” John 12:47
to remember that
it is not our calling
to judge those around
us
but to simply serve
them
no matter how much
that may grate
against our
(mistaken) faith
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“for they loved human glory more the glory that comes from God.” John 12:43
and why?
because your glory
comes in a soft
rain,
because your glory
comes in the gently
whispered, ‘i love
you,’
because your glory
comes in the
little hand
gripping ours on an
adventure
down the sidewalk,
because your glory
comes in weakness
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
"'Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of
understanding?’” Job 28:20
it is there,
at the very bottom
of your endless
soul,
that the spring of
discernment begins
to trickle until
it becomes
a river to wash
away
our petty
preconceptions.
it is the cracks
of your heart,
where
we can peer
through
to that place
which knows
every ache, every
loss,
every tear, every
loneliness,
that we find the
way to true
discernment
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“I had heard of you by the
hearing of the ear,
but now I my eye sees you;” Job 42:5
and after all
the sermons,
the books,
the lectures,
the blah, blah, blah
i discover you in
the smiles of children
the wrinkled faces of grandparents,
the geese flying overhead
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"The Pharisees then said to one another, ‘You see, you can do nothing. Look, the world has gone after him!’” John 12:19
and
the world simply
waited
for us to go after
the power
the wealth
the politics
the fame
until
we can do
nothing
for justice, for grace,
for hope, for love
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"'Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?’” John 12:5
how many times
a day do you shake
your head, Lord,
at our insistence
that
everyone around us
give generously to
you,
while
we toss the change
from
our expensive coffee
in your cup on the
counter
marked
‘tips’
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“’Can you lift up your voice
to the clouds,
so that a flood of waters
may cover you?’” Job 38:34
probably not,
but at least
i can try
to shelter those
whose homes
have washed away,
i can speak up
out of my privilege
for those who are
ignored by power,
i can do my best
to transform the tears
of little children into
the sweet juice of
grace
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
"I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I
have being.” Psalm 104:33
when i inhale
a deep breath so
i can release it
as righteous fire
on
all who irritate
me,
or speak words
with
more bitterness
than
they offer to me,
touch the breath
and
transform it into the
cooling balm of
grace,
as a song of
gentleness
and peace for
everyone
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“Jesus began to weep.” John 11:35
lips dripping poison,
hate-filled hearts,
choosing division over oneness,
caring more for the powerful
than the most vulnerable,
justifying our anger
because of another’s,
and so much more –
we should be easing
your grief, our Brother,
but only give you more
to weep over
© 2020 Thom M. Shuman
"'If I have withheld anything that
the poor
desired,'" Job 31:16a
it is not that
i have withheld
anything from those
who need food, hope,
grace, love, shelter, justice
more than i do, but that
i have withheld
everything
(c) 2020 Thom M. Shuman
“Surely one does not turn against the needy,
when in disaster they cry for help.” Job 30:24
we talk a good
game,
we have good
intentions,
we are pretty sure
we know
what we are
supposed to do,
but
when you see us
putting the
compassion jar
up on the highest
shelf
so the vulnerable
cannot
begin to reach it,
you
see us for who
we really
are
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“’I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy,
and I championed the
cause of the stranger.’” Job 29:15-16
if we truly want
to go back to some
golden era of
life,
let it be to those
days
when compassion
was
chosen over
cruelty,
when love was
spoken
more often than
hate,
when generosity
was
not a dirty word,
when the lonely
and forsaken
knew they could
come
to us and find
wide open
hearts
and arms
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
"I must speak, so that I may find
relief;
I must open my lips and
answer.” Job 32:20
when i would
turn away, help me
to confront injustice.
when i would
walk away, make me
run full out into
despair
to rescue the
forgotten.
when i find
it so much easier
to remain silent,
loosen my lips so
i can sink the
ferries
of fear
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Matthew 5:15
now
more than ever
we need to let
the light of
justice
flood the world,
the lamp of truth
never to be
extinguished,
that solitary candle
of compassion
in our hearts
to burn through
the night,
no matter what
the Shadowmaster
thinks
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“‘Oh, that I knew where I
might find him,
that I might come even to
his dwelling!’” Job 23:3
we look for you in
the powerful, the
wealthy,
the athletic, the
celebrity,
and think you
dwell
in grand worship
spaces,
in mansions behind
gates,
in the most elite
neighborhoods,
but
you can be found
in
the homeless
person pushing a cart,
in the family
sleeping under a bridge,
in the forgotten
in nursing homes
and residential
centers
for folks with
mental health issues,
as you choose to
live
in precisely all
those places,
neighborhoods, countries,
we avoid at all
costs
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“My soul longs, indeed it
faints
for the courts of the LORD;” Psalm 84:2a
under the hoops
in the inner-city
where the retired
pro
teaches her
skills,
on the lawns where
the grandmother
volleys
back and forth
with
her grandson,
in the courtyards
of
schools, where
bullies
are taught classes
in kindness, we
faint
in your presence,
our God
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
“where then is my hope?
Who will see my hope?” Job 17:15
there you are,
at the very back
of the highest
shelf
in my soul, where
i
pushed you so long
ago
that i nearly
forgot about
you,
so may i get out
the stepladder
to support me, as
i pull you down,
and take you out
so everyone can
see
that
yes,
there is hope,
my hope
their hope
your hope
© 2020 Thom M.
Shuman
