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 andContinue reading “Altar to an Unknown God”
Author Archives: barbmessneroutlookcom
Resilience
Resilience When trees are wounded, torn by shearing wind or saw, their trunks bulge round the break, in time encompassing all but a rough dry scar. Trees pruned beneath the wires will sculpt themselves as signs of arbitrary loss, slow healing and regrowth, their new leaves reaching high. A flood might wash away a majorContinue reading “Resilience”
Many Dwelling Places
Many Dwelling Places Easter 5; John 14:1-14 Creator of diversity, you value all that’s odd and wild; at home in vast infinity, you house creation as your child. Your home has multitudes of rooms with space most generously to spare for different ways to be expressed, and guests to be unique yet share. Your homeContinue reading “Many Dwelling Places”
Two Shepherd Poems
He Calls by Name and Leads Easter 4; Psalm 23, John 10:1-10 Jesus used figures of speech: “I am the good shepherd; I am the gate.” Part of me resists those images. Sheep in this land are business; it was said Australia rode on their backs, a heavy weight for a small animal. The careContinue reading “Two Shepherd Poems”
The Road to Emmaus
The Road to Emmaus (sing to tune Christe Sanctorum, Christ is the world’s light TiS246) Easter 3; Luke 24:13-35 We know that weary way, burdened, walking, talking, thinking returning might relieve our grieving. Though Jesus does come near, eyes are kept from seeing Christ risen, God with us. When someone walks with us, asks toContinue reading “The Road to Emmaus”
Thomas and Jesus
Thomas and Jesus Easter 2; John 20:19-31 “Then let us go that we may die with him.” Brave words of love were these that Thomas spoke. Could such commitment suddenly grow dim, or hope destroyed make love a bitter joke? Why was he absent when Christ first appeared? Had grief and anger kept him fromContinue reading “Thomas and Jesus”
With Fear and Great Joy
With Fear and Great Joy Easter Day; Matthew 28:1-10; Colossians 3:1-4 Come in, stranger! Be welcome among us, though I fear you will shrink in discomfort from uncomfortable seats and page turning, and from songs about dying and rising in the old-fashioned words of our hymn book. I fear scorn as I try to imagineContinue reading “With Fear and Great Joy”
The Path from Palms to Cross
The Path from Palms to Cross Palm Sunday; Matthew 21:1-11; Matthew 26:14-27:66 Short is the path linking palms to cross: mockery waits for the fall of fame; hope of gain turns at the threat of loss; those who would idolize him now blame. God seems reluctant to do our will; we need a hero who’llContinue reading “The Path from Palms to Cross”
The Poet’s Call to Connect
The Poet’s Call to Connect Lent 5; Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11;1-45 To seek connection is the poet’s art. In metaphor the meaning is revealed to souls responding with a joyous start, with ardent breath and spring of tears that yield an opening into mystery’s large heart. Then stories stir like bones at prophet’s word, connecting,Continue reading “The Poet’s Call to Connect”
A Man Born Blind
A Man Born Blind Lent 4; John 9:1-41 A man born blind finds more to see than those who choose to set aside the gift of sight for fear of what may face them in the light: the chasms gaping in the path they chose, the pools of darkness that their shadow throws; for these,Continue reading “A Man Born Blind”
Barb, poet priest 