June 30th

"Therefore we will not fear,
   though the earth should change,

though the mountains shake
   in the heart of the sea;" Psalm 46:2

despite the politicians

who cannot speak truth

and those whose faltering words

raise concerns among many,

we will not be deterred 

by seeking justice for all.

even when storms are increasing

in both events and ferocity,

we will not stop partnering

with you in the healing of creation.

though the anger around us

makes us wary of stepping outside

and the bile spewed by others

discourages us from speaking,

we will not be afraid to remind

others of your compassion for the forgotten,

your hospitality for the immigrant,

your love for those rejected so casually.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 29th

"In God, whose word I praise,
     in God I trust; I am not afraid;

 what can flesh do to me?" Psalm 56:4

my once smooth skin

now is a patchwork 

of wrinkles and age spots

and under a doctor's care.

my muscles no longer

impress anyone but flap

loose under my arms.

my luxuriant hair is

fading, thinning, disappearing,

oops, completely gone.

my once sharp as a

tack mind seems to be

duller and duller at times.

yet

i continue to trust

that you love me more

today than yesterday

and will be in love

even more tomorrow.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 28th

"There were two blind men sitting by the roadside. When they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, 'Lord, have mercy on us, Son of David!'" Matthew 20:30

some days, okay most,
i am staring through those
lenses ground thick 

by my stubbornness.

on other days, 

i decide to put those drops of love

in my eyes and am stunned

because i can actually see

to the far shore of grace.

and then, there are simply

those days when, blinded

by my sheer narcissism, 

i can only cry out, 'have mercy'

hoping that you are able

to see me sitting by the side

of the that potholed road called

Loneliness.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 27th

"and hope does not disappoint us," Romans 5:5a

when the promises of
all those we trust
let us down in the end,

hope always keeps its

end of the bargain.

when the ones we believe

are the role models we

have been looking for

shatter our illusions by

the foolish choices they make,

hope continues to live the

sort of life which seems

so boring, yet faithful.

when the people we gave

our very hearts to take them

and dash them against

the rocks of cruelty, 

hope stays true to the vows

it made to us so long ago.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 26th

"Hoping against hope," Romans 4:18a

though the poll numbers
about being able to restore

creation to better days are poor,

we hope we will be wise enough

to keep working at it.

though the expectations as

to whether we are able 

to accept others for who

they are seem to be lowering,

we hope we will never stop

standing with those who are

bullied and shamed by the world.

though we know we cannot

bank on the wealthiest of the wealthy

to be willing to share from 

their abundance, still we

will not give up hoping that

everyone, one day, will never

have to go without the very

necessities of life.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 25th

"As the eyes of servants look

    to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
   to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
   until he has mercy upon us."  Psalm 123:2

when we do not 

see your hands placing

the food in front of us,

when we do not 

notice your eyes weeping

when people are abused

by those who should 

be loving them,

when we do not 

watch your feet marching

beside those who are going

down to government offices

to speak out for the ones

whose voices are so easily

discounted, simply because

they have no power,

have mercy on us,

have mercy on us.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 24th

"For I know that the LORD is great;" Psalm 135:5a

you are great, not
because you command

mighty armies, but

because you created

ants to show us how

to work together with others.

you are great, not

because you shaped 

towering mountains which

kiss the clouds in the sky, but

because of those tiny seeds

children can plant in paper cups

and watch the miracle of them

growing into gentle plants.

you are great, not

because you are the 

smartest in any room,

any group, any conversation

but because you were wise

enough to become one of us

so we might know you 

whenever we see another person.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 23rd

"'Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.’" Acts 15:10-11

we expect others to live

in ways that would 

bring us to our knees.

we want to impose

our beliefs on the kids

who just want someone

to believe they are worth

loving, feeding, housing,

protecting, mentoring.

we insist on putting those

millstones of prejudice,

hate, bitterness, suppression

around the necks of folks

who we just don't like

because, well, 

simply because they want

to be accepted for who

they know they are.

and all the while,

you keep asking,

why?

why?

why?

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 22nd

"Then the men who had gone up with him said, ‘We are not able to go up against this people, for they are stronger than we are.’  There we saw the Nephilim (the Anakites come from the Nephilim); and to ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.’"  Numbers 13:31, 33

there are the chefs

with multiple restaurants

and streaming shows,

the athletes whose shoe

deals earn them more 

than some small countries,

the politicians who become

idols simply by using words

which would get a 5-year-old

a very long time out.

and then there is

us

discounted

ordinary

insignificant

ignored

yet we are precisely

the ones you choose

to draw up into your lap

singing us the songs

of love and grace composed

in your heart for your

beloved.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 21

"'For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves.'" Matthew 18:23

your old abacus may be
gathering dust in the corner

and your once brand new

adding machine is now vintage,

but we remain convinced

that you are nothing more

than a glorified accountant

wearing a worn green visor,

bent over your thick ledgers

settling up the accounts 

for every one of us, 

and so,

we miss you using 

the ink stamp and marking

each of our names as

'forgiven.'

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 20th

"Cast your burden on the Lord, 

    and he will sustain you;
he will never permit
   the righteous to be moved." Psalm 55:22

when the kibitzers surround

you with their constant mocking,

listen for the whispers of affirmation

tickling the ears of your heart.

as the knuckleheads change

the rules so they always seem 

to be in control of everyone, 

keep clapping your hands and

encouraging others to keep caring

for one another and never

backing down from doing 

what are the right things.

if the world keeps placing

millstones around your neck

until you are about to topple

just link arms with the 

'hidden ones' who, by God's grace,

will keep the world 

from falling to pieces.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 19th

"Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?" Romans 2:4

sitting in the bar

at the No Regrets Inn

we sip at that well-aged

25-year-old bitterness

which we enjoy every day,

and thinking you are

of the same mind as us,

we send a bottle down

to you with our compliments

but

you wave it away, saying,

'thanks, but i think i will

stick with this,' holding

up a glass of crystal clear 

grace on the rocks.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 16th

"The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you, 

   and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you,

   and give you peace." Numbers 6:24-26

may we refuse 

to hoard peace, even

as we turn to face

the oppressors of our time.

may we always offer

grace to those around us

as we look at the ones

who need it most.

may we be as kind 

to the folk who trouble us

as those who know us

at our worst continue

to bless us.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 15th

"And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white. " Matthew 17:2

you take our anguish

and transfigure it 

into hope others need,

you gather up the pieces

of our shattered hearts

and transfigure them into

the healing for communities,

you mingle our tears with yours

and transfigure them into that

roaring river of justice which

can give new life to the forgotten,

you lift our grudges from

off our wearied bodies and

transfigure them into grace

which can shine a light 

in the shadows in which

we have chosen to live.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 14th

"Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another." Galatians 5:26

not us.
those pictures with the
famous in our field,

our tastefully placed

diplomas and awards

throughout our offices,

those impressive titles

before our names and

the letters after,

the bars, tabs, and 

academic regalia which

clothe us in our work,

these are simply the

incidentals that go 

with our jobs, not

a game of upmanship.

not us.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman 

June 13th

"He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?'" Matthew 16:15

the teacher who spends
the long break between terms
sending notes to the kids who
have moved on and the ones
they will have in a few months,

the teenager who uses

each day learning a new language

in order to reach out to 

the family next door,

the incarcerated folks taking

the time to foster dogs to become

service animals for those 

immured by their lives,

that's who you are

and more

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 12th

"The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools." Ecclesiastes 9:17

when

we choose to run off

and join the circus where

the funny haired clown 

is the master of ceremonies

rather than living in communities

where the gentle voices of children

sing songs of hope and grace,

and when

we listen to the voices of all

who are embittered by those

false narratives spun by liars  

instead of the stories of those

who were willing to give their all

so that those they would never meet

might have life to its fullest, we

should not wonder why life

seems to be unraveling before us.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 11th

"They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel." Matthew 15:30c-31

for those who make sure

kids have meals when

schools are on summer break

and pools are open 

to break the hot days,

for all who pick up 

friends and neighbors

who need rides to appointments

and those who train to be

court appointed guardians,

for kind souls who learn

the names of strangers and

who refuse to deadname

those who have transitioned,

we give you our praise.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 10th

"And his disciples came and urged him, saying, 'Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.'" Matthew 15:23b

we would keep the
forgotten at the other side

of the fence at the playground.

we keep telling the

outsiders that they have

to learn all the rules by heart

before they can join the game.

we make justice sit 

at the very end of the bench

waiting its turn to play (which

never seems to come).

and we tell the triplets

Grace, Peace, and Hope

they are too little to hang

out with all the big kids.

but you?

you hold wide your arms,

calling, 'red rover, red rover,

send everyone over, 

and gathering them up 

in your embrace of love.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 6th

"When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them . . . " Matthew 14:14a

Drawing near to the shore
- coming ever closer, yet

Daring to believe that 

Anything or anyone

You might encounter

Would be worth

All you might endure

So that those people,

Family members and strangers,

On farms and in towns

Rallying around radios,

Understood the great compassion

Shared for all generations to come.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 5th

"yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” Galatians 2:16

we have so much trouble
believing that we are made
right with God if it is not
we who are making all
the effort, doing all the
heavy lifting.
yet
it might be even simpler
than we think . . .
it might have more
to do with Jesus’ faith
in us that
we can change
we can be more loving,
we can seek justice
for the forgotten,
simply by trusting
in that faith.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 2nd

"So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, 'Do you understand what you are reading?'" Acts 8:30

of course, we know
how to love our neighbor

as much as we love ourselves

until, that is, the neighbor puts

a sign in their yard which sickens us.

and, yes, we assent to love

our enemies because you ask

until we discover the synonym 

for enemy is the political party

which we would never vote for

even if you headed the ticket.

why, we can even sign on the

dotted line to open our ears

and listen to your parables, until

they are re-enacted in ways

which makes us so uncomfortable.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 1st

"Be gracious to me, O God, for people trample on me; 

    all day long foes oppress me;
my enemies trample on me all day long, 

   for many fight against me. 

O Most High,
      when I am afraid, I put my trust in you." Psalm 56:1-3

as the detectives interview

neighbors about any folks

who had a grudge against me

and the forensics teams

takes pictures of the

boot marks all over me

and prepare to draw

the white outline around me,

you come in wearing your

deerstalker cap, pipe in mouth,

and magnifying glass in hand,

pointing out that they have

misread all the signs while

i have been turning the 

proverbial cheek to all, just

as you have asked of me.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman