Poems for Sunday, October 26, 2025
Joel 2:23-32, 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18, & Luke 18:9-14
Wondrously Delt After Joel 2:23-32 So much is dried up and withering. I can number the harvest's fruit on one hand. eek. My negativity abounds— so much feels hopeless— do we live in an age of endless sorrow? Yet even here, in the ruin, the Spirit immerses us in overflowing abundance. The vats will be filled with wine and oil. The Spirit is abundance. The Spirit is hope. --- Drifters After 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 What do we do when those before us drift off to glowing myths and imposturous assurances? I wish there were a vaccine for this. I drift too. But—anything untrue isn't there to be lived. You might wonder, how do I lead these? Look with boldness, face reality—and tell the whole of it. For Christ is not wrapped in the empty promises and gimmicks but clothed in truth that unravels the thickest lies. --- The Tax Collector's Shame After Luke 18:9-14 My chest feels raw— my heart trembles, at what can only be anxiety flooding my veins. Where do I stand? What will Holy God do with someone like me? I've cheated, I've stolen, the neighbors avoid me in the grocery store. Would God even consider prescribing me mercy? A startling thing: God wipes the tears off my swollen eyes— and says "yes." "I will be mercy. I will always be mercy."
In the poem Drifters I quote the philosopher Eugene Gendlin, “Anything untrue isn’t there to be lived.” Which I found in Oliver Burkeman’s Meditation for Mortals, chapter 1.