January 8th

“He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the LORD, saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’” Exodus 17:7

those ancestors were good role models.
our throats are a wilderness
named ‘Is God here?’
where we continue to toss
questions – rhetorical as well as trick –
at you every chance we get.
our tongues are dust, but
we will rail against the sky
with every breath.
our lives are like cracked jars,
which cannot hold the clear
waters of faith poured into us—
yet, you do not walk away.
wounded by our thirst for answers,
listening as doubt hones questions
against the whetstone of tomorrow,
you step into our arguments,
striking mercy, not sparks, from rock
and transforming gripes into cups.
may we learn to trust
the spring beneath our questions,
to hear grace flowing, even
as we ask,
‘are you with us, or not?’

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

+Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 7th

“The LORD is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm 27:1

those wise ones—
did they only see their shadows
beginning that journey home
by a different road, or
was there no need for a star
since love had opened their eyes?
that family—
still hard scrabbling with life,
trying to find someone who could
create new identities and papers,
did they wonder if they should stay
in the shadows of poverty, or
follow the breadcrumbs of grace
back to Egypt?
and we—
with sovereignty being tossed aside
with ice-cold fear stalking neighborhoods
with temptations nudging us to shred
those resolutions to be kinder and gentler,

dare we live and act and trust
that there is absolutely nothing
fear can do to destroy your
hope, justice, grace, love, peace?

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman


Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 6th

“Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there.” Revelation 21:25

as we follow the star
towards journey’s end,
we come, not to a castle keep
but to a welcome,
not to power only for the privileged
but to a child whose breath
swings open the hinge of heaven.
no password is needed, nor passports,
doors are not padlocked with fear,
hope has no curfew,
light streams from the doorways
to welcome strangers from everywhere—
politicians and the poor in spirit,
peacemakers and those who traffic in trouble,
knuckleheads and kids with skinned knees
all walk through wide open doors,
empty-handed, as surprised as anyone
to experience God’s imaginative grace.
for this is the final revelation
the last epiphany
the light at the end of the tunnel—
love’s light always on,
God refusing to lock any door,
throwing away the keys,
knowing what would happen
if we ever chanced upon them.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 5th

“As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.” Ephesians 6:15

God kneels down,
lacing up our shoes,
not with knots of dogmatism
but with threads of mercy,
not so we can run away
but for that long journey to faithfulness.
no matter what we think
peace is not the stilling of anger
but daring to walk barefoot
on shards of angry discourse,
to stroll grief’s sidewalks,
to risk stumbling over that
potholed ground of grace.
may every step we take
become prayers—
into hospices where death
lurks in every shadow,
into living rooms where
the silence of grief lives,
down those neighborhoods
where people are forgotten
the vulnerable are evicted.
and when we come home,
God smiles,
slipping off our shoes
to soak our aching feet
in the warm waters of love.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 4th

“And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

now,
before the world bangs the gavel
and wants your testimony,
take just a moment,
and place your ordinary hands,
callused or smoothed,
chapped by worry, nails chewed short,
into those hands of grace held out
in these moments.
your voice may be worn out,
you may feel the need to offer
stumbling apologies,
but borrow every word from God
so they can become blessings.
every little chore,
those unnoticed gifts of compassion,
bearing patience on your shoulders,
making the choice not to hurt—
is part of the economy of Jesus
where no act, so word, no life is wasted.
you don’t need to be holy,
just hopeful.
you don’t need to be privileged,
just be thankful, shown in
the way you walk,
the way you speak,
the way you serve,
the way love knows your name.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 3rd

“He said, "Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.” 1 Kings 19:11-12

surrounded by thousands
we will crane our necks to the sky
to watch fabulous fireworks, but
cannot look up from our devices
to catch the delight on Nana’s face
as she blows out the candles
on her 90th birthday cake.
we don the helmets and vests
and climb into the raft to hang on
for dear life in the whitewater river,
but sit on the porch with a book
while the kids beg us to run
through the sprinklers with them.
we turn up the volume
so we can hear every angry word,
every bitter syllable uttered
by our favorite podcaster,
politician, influencer, whoever—
but our legs start to bounce
and we begin to drum our fingers
on the nearest surface whenever
you invite us to listen to the
sheer silence of grace.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

January 2nd

“We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people's trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming.” Ephesians 4:14

once, we were so empty
we could be carried by anything—
every shouting voice of anger
every fear behind wisdom’s mask
every glittering promise,
but love is the solidity we need
and grace grounds our souls.
slowly
gently
cautiously
Jesus teaches us to stand,
our feet in mercy’s soil,
our hands open to justice,
ears attuned to the word of life,
and we no longer resemble
driftwood beached on the shore,
but are rooted like oaks
in the fields of hope,
anchored in that love
which does not turn
with every wind which comes along.
this is growth, full growth
into that adulthood of faith
as we realize where to shelter
even as the waters may rise.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

New Years Day prayer

Whisperer of light on that first morning,
as the old year slips behind us
and the new one opens like a book
filled with empty pages,
we offer our hands and hearts to you.
Gather up the broken pieces of our dreams,
our lives, our longings which we still carry
and craft them into a mosaic of hope
we can hang on our walls to see each morning.
As this new day, as this new year begins,
continue to shape us from the dust
of your grace and love.

You stepped out of eternity
into particular moments in time,
Word made flesh for us,
walking our lonely streets,
tasting our bitter tears,
calling us to follow when
we would rather stay stuck.
As this new day, as this new year begins,
give us the grace to love more deeply,
the freedom to forgive more hopefully,
the courage to seek justice more fiercely,
and the tenacity to follow you
into the open-ended days awaiting us.

Breath filled with peace and
Fire blazing for those forgotten,
move over us as we prepare
for the challenges, the questions,
the disappointments, the wonders
which lie before us in God’s future.
As this new day, as this new year begins,
dispel our fears with winds of courage,
kindle hope in our apathetic lives,
challenge us to be more just,
and soften our cruel nature.

As you hold our past in your mercy.
as you are faithful at this moment,
as you fill our tomorrows with promise,
God in Community, Holy in One,
may our lives be a prayer
which is heard by all
in our words of kindness,
written on the world in justice,
and sung in love to you. Amen.

© 2025 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman