June 6th

“O God, you are my God, I seek you,
   my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
   as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1

before the sunbeam creeps
across my pillow
before the kettle whistles,
before fear places today’s
lesson before me,
my soul wanders toward you,
not because i am strong
but because i am thirsty.
those deserts i carry—
worries in my wallet,
grief lurking behind my smile,
hope rubbed raw by waiting
cannot satisfy themselves
so i come searching
as i wait for that mercy
falling like showers
onto a parched desert.
you are the water
for my prayer seeds,
that well deeper than emptiness,
the dawn rising while
i am still discovering
how to trust light
and so, before it reaches out
for anything else, my heart
stretches out for you.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 5th

“Never be rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be quick to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few.” Ecclesiastes 5:2

carrying baskets so full of words
their handles creak, we come with
paragraphs of piety, promises on
the verge of breaking, excuses,
and prayers we have redacted—
yet in the silence which greets us
our syllables flitter away like butterflies.
you have no need for our noise,
you won’t be turned by tumbling words,
for you live in those still places
between one heartbeat and the next.
so, show us how to release
our tight grasp of flowery words,
model for us the holy art of listening,
so that as words become fewer
wonder will become greater,
and prayers are not performances
but those small candles of trust
we set gently before you.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 4th

“Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.” Ecclesiastes 3:16

now, more than ever
justice goes to those
with the deepest pockets
which leaves out those
with holes in theirs.
now, more than ever
people seem willing to take
all the grace, hope, compassion
which belongs to them and melt
these gifts down to make
golden statues of the wicked
that they can worship.
so maybe
this should be the verse
held up at sporting events,
to remind us of where we are
and who we are called to be.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 3rd

“yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.” Galatians 2:16

we have so much trouble
believing that we are made
right with God if it is not
we who are making all
the effort, doing all the
heavy lifting.
yet
it might be even simpler
than we think . . .
it might have more
to do with Jesus’ faith
in us that
we can change
we can be more loving,
we can seek justice
for the forgotten,
simply by trusting
in that faith.

(c) Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 2nd

“So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me; for all is vanity and a chasing after wind.” Ecclesiastes 2:17

tired—
tired of counting
of achieving
of proving
of gathering life’s wind
into our closed hands.
and we carry all we
have chased here
beneath the sun and
these weary days feel like
sand slipping through our fingers.
and that Old Preacher reminds us
that striving will not save us
that success cannot hold us
that all our work leaves us hollow.
yet, here in this truth which aches
is where God meets us--
not in bronze or stone statues
but in the breath which enlivens us,
not in our portfolios and accounts,
but in the soft embrace of mercy.
and when it seems everything
we are told is of value dissipates
Love still abides—
constant as the rising sun
gentle as our loved ones’ breath,
waiting for us to relax
and simply welcome
such grace.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

June 1st

“Then I saw that wisdom excels folly as light excels darkness.” Ecclesiastes 2:13

as dusk gathers, we take the lamp
fueled by wisdom.
despite its wavering flame
casting soft light upon our path,
it cannot push back the night,
it cannot make a deal with time
or shut our hearts against grief.
still, it burns—
which might be enough
to show the way under us,
the companion in the shadows,
mercy there where the road bends.
if we are wise,
we know we cannot keep
night from catching us,
but we can learn to walk,
eyes open and hopeful,
hands unclenched in trust,
souls searching for wonder,
as we journey through the shadows.
and the One who named
both night and day,
waits for us in each—
in the shining awareness of knowing
as well as in that
tender mystery of all
we cannot understand

yet

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman

Trinity Sunday

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ,” Matthew 28:19

today
may we realize you
are not a puzzle to solve,
but that relationship always
reaching out to embrace us.
you shaped galaxies with a lullaby
and still kneel in the muck
of our lives, planting hope
you walked on dusty roads to death
and still sit with us at gravesides,
graduations, and diner booths.
you moved upon waters breathing life
and still dance through locked doors
three voices, harmonizing as one,
three personas, one grace to hold us.
and the mystery we never need to solve—
before we ever needed
to search for you,
you were already swaddling us
in love creating us,
in love redeeming us,
in love breathing through us
now and forever.

(c) 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman