October 12th

Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? Acts 26:8

why do we think defeating death
is an impossible challenge for God?
this is the One who
had no trouble putting
together the platypus
from leftover pieces of creation,
who tucked golden spirals
inside of sunflowers,
who, like an abstract artist
splashed ribbons of color
across the northern sky—
and we think death would
be too much to handle?
i mean, this is God—
constantly surprising us
with life in the unlikeliest places,
who can coax flowers to bloom
in the ruins of cathedrals,
who whispers spring
in the ear of old man winter,
and writes on the pages
of the lives we think are done

the real wonder is not that
God has trouble raising the dead,
but that we keep forgetting
how much God delights in
bringing life out of all those
impossibilities we create
death may indeed be
the worst word
in our vocabulary,
but has never been
the last word God
knows how to say.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman