Altar to an Unknown God
Easter 6; Acts 17:22-31
Perhaps an altar to an unknown god
would not be solid slabs of stone or wood
that brute force wrestled from the gaping sod
and carved with symbols little understood.
Perhaps some legs of driftwood, bare and white,
would hold a sheath of woven bark and grass,
or panel rescued from a ruined site,
with stubs of candles in discarded glass.
There one like Paul might find the linking word
to reach these devotees of all things new,
show them their truth, disguised in the absurd;
in the unknown, reveal what’s always true:
Creator who transcends each human shrine,
the Human One whose life is shared like wine.
Barbara Messner May 2017 (altered 2020)
Barb, poet priest 
This really moved me Barb. Thank you so much. Something to sit with.
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Beautiful. I think of us all hunting for the place where driftwood is all we need.
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I love the driftwood image. It’s so stark. Thank you.
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Sometimes I long to escape the limits of stone walls, stained glass, and marble altars, which try to control the mystery.
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