Ordinary

I visited the 12th street community

veni spiritus sanctus

on Monday, gathering with them for dinner and prayer for the first time in awhile. We ate and talked, enjoying the company of one another. We lit some candles and listened and began to pray. We prayed for one another, friends present and absent. And I thought

this is ordinary

Last night was our final Tuesday gathering for the semester. We read from the lectionary

with terrible recompense He will come and save you

and just talked. Told some inane stories and shared some frustrations, and looked to YHWH with hope,

redemption stares at you

in the mirror from behind

the glassy eyes and the

cold, barren face

becoming more and more aware that in our life together we reflect the glory of YHWH, that these moments are not fleeting, that they do not need to be protected or guarded jealously, that they are

ordinary

And I see that grace does not run out, that restoration is not a weekend project, and that some things really ought to hurt and pain is not always bad

this veritable power is not transitory

i tire of the old ones the hollow men and women who being blind try to describe light behind their glassy eyes stares nothing

::the - candle::

they say

::the - candle - you - lit::
::in - the - dark - place::
::is - not - so - bright - as - you - think::

what if you were dead and nobody told you
i would tell you if you would listen but you hate when we disturb your sleep
(i'm sorry; you see, no one else ever will)

blind ghosts hiding among their pretty tombs whose whispers echo and drown the whimpers of those of us who are getting up our of our graves

i won't fear truth
i won't shirk correction
i will not deny our life

these gods need to die
these gods who do not raise the dead

In God's new world, resurrection is ordinary.