Tuesday, November 05, 2024

November 5th

"These things I remember, 
     as I pour out my soul:" Psalm 42:4a

here is what i will cling to
this day, and i pray, in all
those days to come,
that
when the hurlers of hate
are the loudest, love's whispers
will be heard in our hearts.
that
when the demagogues of despair
think they have convinced the crowds,
hope will be marked on more ballots.
that when cruelty targets outsiders,
trying to sell us locks for our doors,
more folk will put out welcome mats.
that when gangs of grudges lurk
like frighteners in the shadows,
we will hold tight to one another
as grace walks us home.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman


Monday, November 04, 2024

November 4th

"On that day, says the Lord, 
    a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
   a loud crash from the hills." Zephaniah 1:10

on this day, 
may we turn off the ads
we have heard so many times
we could make the pitch,
so we can hear the cries
of those who have no one
approving their message of
longing for compassion and hope,
so we hear the weeping from
all the parents in rubble strewn
communities aka battlefields,
so we might listen to those
whose dreams for justice
have collided with the ever
increasing desires of the privileged
who, miraculously, always seem
not to be at fault and can walk away
with no responsibility at all, and then
tomorrow, when we can make a difference
we might hear those echoes 
deep in our hearts.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

Sunday, November 03, 2024

November 3rd

"If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." I Corinthians 13:1-3

if i join the angry crowds
echoing the bile of speakers
or make t-shirts which quote
the mocking words of another side,
my love is slipping away from my life.
if i speak as if i know exactly
how others should vote or respond
to my candidate or react to any, if
not every, issue which i support,
my love is drying up in my heart.
if i am willing to go into debt 
to support my vision of how things
should be or i refuse to have anything
whatsoever to do with those 
with whom i disagree,
my love is seeping out of my soul.
and if i lose all my love,
whatever will happen to me or,
indeed, the world who needs
every bit of love it can find.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

Saturday, November 02, 2024

November 2nd

"'Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;'" Luke 12:35

we look toward the horizon
and for many of us, there is
a looming shadow of fear and worry
which seems to be blocking 
all kindness, all grace, all love.
so, rather than turn and walk,
if not run in the other direction,
may we put on our jeans
stained with the paint from
fixing houses for rough sleepers,
our flannel shirts covered in buttons
which welcome the alien in our midst,
our work boots handcrafted by justice
and resoled many times with peace,
so we may continue to be beacons
of hope whatever may happen
in the coming days.

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

Friday, November 01, 2024

November 1st

"As they go through the
         valley of Baca
    they make a place of
         springs;
    the early rain also covers it
         with pools." Psalm 84:6

those faithful folks still caring
for the ones struggling to rebuild
after all the camera crews 
(and the world) has moved on.
the children who, rather than
filling buckets with candy, asked
their neighbors for spare change
to help their homeless classmate.
the clean-up crews who worked
long, hard, extra hours to sweep
up the litter of jubilant celebrations
after the superstars absorbed all the cheers.
there are still saints in our midst,
walking through our neighborhoods
as unnoticed, as ridiculed, as forgotten
as all the others throughout the ages. 

(c) 2024 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman