January 4th

"I am writing to you . . . because . . ." 1 John 2:12

the word of hope

tweeted in the wee hours
to a lonely teen;

the email dashed off
to the across-the-ocean
friends just diagnosed
with cancer;

the heart emojied
to the one loved
in silence;

the lifetime shared
with children
in a classroom . . .

you don’t always
write in cursive.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 3rd

"And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it." Genesis 28:12

sometimes, faith is 

that two-step ladder which

makes it easy to reach 

the cookie jar.

sometimes, faith is 

that ladder which reaches 

the roof so we can clean out

the gutters of our lives of

all the debris which fills us.

sometimes, faith is that

scaffolding wrapped around us

so you can do a total renovation.

but best of all, faith is that

ladder which lets us climb to

the top bunk, while you sleep

on the bottom, there to catch us

if we should ever roll off.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 2nd

"So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother’s son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan." Genesis 12:4-5

went.

there's that small, meaningless word,

but perhaps the most important.

he went, she went, they went.

packed up their belongings 

in an RV, maybe towing a trailer,

and headed out to a place 

that could have easily been labeled

'here be dragons.'

but they went.

and all they had

was a challenge from a strange

(to put it mildly) God,

nothing in writing, just some 

odd words about being blessings,

as well as some vague directions

consisting of the word 'go.'

but they went.

and truth be told

if this strange God 

gave us the same challenge,

our response would probably be

to tell God to get lost.

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 1st

On the lips of children and of babes
you have found praise . . . Psalm 8:2a (The Grail)

in the soft breathing

of the newborn placed

in its mother's arms, 

we hear the Spirit 

moving on the first

morning of creation.

in the excited jabber

of the toddler whose eyes

grow bigger every time

a firefly floats across 

the night sky, 

we hear the Word

calling all life into being.

in the young ones

who begin to make up

their own stories, as we

carry the closed book 

out of the room at night,

we hear the Imagination

of the universes saying simply,

'that's so good!'

(c) 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman