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The Danger of Pretense

The wind ruffles a blue windsock,
slowly—it gathers the courage

to kill.  I do not know
the nameless man, loved by God,
whose wife will die in the storm.

Where is the mercy? The stars
do not console the wounded,
nor the sandman the young.

The hills?
The rocks?

Why, even the storm invites our trust.

Are we a people
apart from the fury?

Today I walked around a patch of violets,
planted together in the yard,
tranquil, beside the rocky path
where their purple belongs.  Perhaps
the flowers felt the peace.

I do not know.

Perhaps there was one, off to the side,
that I did not see.

first published in Domicile

Standing Under the Cross by Henri Nouwen

Standing erect, holding our heads high, is the attitude of spiritually mature people in face of the calamities of our world. The facts of everyday life are a rich source for doomsday thinking and feeling. But it is possible for us to resist this temptation and to stand with self-confidence in this world, never losing our spiritual ground, always aware that “sky and earth will pass away” but the words of Jesus will never pass away (see Luke 21:33).

Let us be like Mary, the mother of Jesus, who stood under the cross, trusting in God’s faithfulness notwithstanding the death of his beloved Child.