August 18th

“And Saul approved of their killing him.” Acts 8:1

let us be clear—
our hands are clean
for we have not picked
up any weapon and actually
caused the death of another.
but in our apathetic complicity
in the face of senseless wars
in which lives are lost
without any apparent remorse,
in our silence
when transgender kids
are mocked and bullied,
in giving up
reaching out to
elected officials because
they never respond,
in simply getting angry
at all the posts/memes/reels
showing all the cruelty,
hate, isms in the world
rather than challenging
the systemic causes—
in truth,
we approve slowly 

killing our souls.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 17th

"Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord;
   give praise, O servants of the Lord,
you that stand in the house of the Lord,
   in the courts of the house of our God." Psalm 135:1-2

you nervous parents as
leg jiggling kids get on the bus,
you teachers lining the walks
to cheer them a welcome,
join hands in a circle of joy.
you lifelong farmers and
weekend gardeners, you
lawn care workers and
farmers markets shoppers,
dance jigs in the rain after
weeks of drought conditions.
you who sit by the beds of
strangers in hospital rooms
who don't know who you
are but are in your care,
you first responders and
street pastors who rush
to gather up the fallen,
the forgotten, the damaged,
and the delusional,
sing soft dirges of hope
in the small hours of night.
everyone, everywhere,
wherever God is and
however God is found,
sing from your hearts!

© Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 16th

Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test! 2 Corinthians 13:5

we think we
need to show how
rigid we can be,
but the final
answer is compassion;
we memorize the
formula which conclusively
proves the errors of everybody,
but forgiveness is
like pi—
it goes on and on,
beyond what we can measure;
we can write a
lengthy essay on judgment,
but the only word
on the spelling test?
love.

perhaps it is not about
whether we know
all the right answers,
but whether Christ
is alive in us.
so look within.
test your heart.
check the margins
for mercy,
the footnotes
for grace,
the places where
compassion has been
written into the ordinary.
and if you discover
you haven't passed—

remember:
the teacher
is still sitting
beside you,
patiently
writing
love
at the top
of the page.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 15th

“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’" John 5:6

we wait, don’t we,
beside those still waters
that never seem to move—
the hatred which has
no foundation in reality,
the cruelty we so easily excuse,
the polarization we put on
each day as if battle armor,
those mean-spirited words
we hurl into the world
under the guise of truth-telling.
we wait, don’t we—
because healing frightens us
far more than those grievances
which are part of our personality.
we wait, don’t we—
because answering the
simple question means
taking up our mat,
walking away from all
those places we hurt others.
well?
do we really want to?
Jesus is still waiting
for our answer.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 14th

“O Lord, open my lips,
   and my mouth will declare your praise.” Psalm 51:15

when we declaim
against the poverty
inflicted upon children,
when we refuse to let hunger
become an ordinary thing,
when we name the injustice
that steals tomorrow
from the youngest among us—
we praise you.

when we sing
songs of protest
against violence and death,
when our voices rise
above the noise of hatred,
when we dare to say
that every life is precious
and every person belongs—
we praise you.

when we cry out
that we will stand
beside the oppressed,
walk with the forgotten,
listen to those
whose voices have been silenced—
we praise you.

for praise is not only
what we whisper in worship,
it is what we do
when you open our lips
and we use our voices
to speak your love
into a world
still waiting to hear it.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 13th

“You show me the path of life.
   In your presence there is fullness of joy;
   in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psalm 16:11

we might not find it
on our device or in the voice
we choose for our GPS—
it may be just beneath our feet:
those ordinary places love shows up.
we find it around tables, where
people scooch together to make
room for new folks.
we discover it on sidewalks,
in the chalk drawings by kids
and chats with lonely neighbors.
we hear it in the tough conversations
as truth speaks with gentleness.
we walk it wherever
mercy interrupts safe lives,
hope digs in its heels,
newcomers throw block parties,
and God is walking right beside us
especially when we don’t notice.
for the path we are looking for
becomes plain every time
we choose life for the other.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

August 12th

“But he had to go through Samaria.” John 4:4

there are
those streets with suspect names,
the wrong side of the tracks
even where there are no trains,
the neighborhoods full of the wrong kind.
then there are
those borders set by fear,
the lines in prejudice’s sands,
the old wounds we rename wisdom—
all those places we know
not to go through.
but too often,
grace refuses to take the safe way,
love persists in walking with
the people we step to the
other side to avoid.
so today, may we dare to step
into the Samarias we dread,
and, if we are lucky,
find that watering hole
where Jesus has been waiting
to meet us all along.

© 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman