May 18th

"If it had not been the LORD who was on our side" Psalm 124:1

when the waters of chaos
come swirling around us,
we could have just become
names carried away like debris,
but you climbed into your boat,
rowing out to gather us up.
for it is not always in the lightning
nor in the easy answers we devise,
but it is your steady hand
holding our trembling hearts
as we seek to live
in these rollercoaster moments—
your breath cradling our tears,
your heart refusing to learn
the vocabulary of giving up.
into the din of the world,
you gently tip toe—
in that silence after anger,
in the welcome of strangers,
in that courage which shows up
when we thought fear
was our only companion
which is why we whisper praise
to our Shelter in every storm,
our Pilot of our fragile lives,
the Teacher of our souls.

 2026 Thom M. Shuman

Venmo: @Thom-Shuman