SUNDAY MORNING, GETTING READY [Su, 2-14-21]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter

SUNDAY MORNING, GETTING READY   [Su, 2-14-21]

 

drenched with summer heat

or brittle with the icy shape of winter

the weather makes no difference

in the air or in my joints

Sunday morn is always this

pulling me from out the comfort

of soft-weave blankets

 and the form beside me

calling me to get ready

 

for the others are in preparation

prepare, ye, the way of the Lord

 

hymns are shouting out their numbers

ready at any point, regardless of the season

to proclaim that Jesus loves the little children

to ask if you were there

 

prayers are rounding up stray forgotten words

calling them in from fallow fields

lining them up in their proper places

sneaking a peek to see if heads are bowed

 

bible verses shrug their shoulders

knowing they will soon be strained

beyond their limits, glazing eyes

and waxing ears with layers thin

of meanings, points, and morals

sad, for they only want to be a friend

 

dusty sins scurry out the door

and through the cracks

around stained glass

clumping up as delinquents juvenile

around the edges of the parking lot

waiting for the postlude’s final note

 

then I stand up and see the faces

wrinkled or smooth

eyes bright or dull

smiling with joy and hope

or hopeless with fear and pain

 

and I say, good news, chariot’s comin’

alleluia, amen

 

John Robert McFarland