Friday, November 2, 2018

Among Rocks & Thorns


I'm thinking about the Pittsburgh temple massacre, the Florida postal bomber...and Jesus' Parable of the Sower. 

Updating the Rabbi's analogy... 
If you could sample the soil of America's soul, I'm afraid you would find unhealthy levels of contamination. How do we "bear fruit" in these toxic conditions? 


Lord Christ, 
Where and how can I sew your Good News? 
On this rocky ground, beneath scorching sun, among thorns? 

A poisonous vine has taken root. 

A seed of resentment, in the soil of mental illness, 
Germinates in the manure of social media, 
Climbs a trellis of ordnance, forming buds of hate, 
And the spores spread, on tribal winds, 
Fanned by our contemporary Pontius Pilates. 

Father God, deliver us from evil! It's palpable. 

And use me as fertile soil, to sew your Good News, 
"and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold." 
Amen. 

Artwork credit (Sower at Sunset, Van Gogh)