A Dried-up River Bed

I sought that perfect image to make truth sing,
my readers weep. Fire and water, maybe.
Am I asking too much of the rain?

A few drops had fallen, as we entered Kansas,
where in Phillipsburg,
we drove past the “Yesterday Shop”
and the houses that looked like yesterday.
And when crossing the Republican River,
we noticed it was dried up. A sign of prophecy, yes?

Art or history? At this juncture,
I concocted a fathomable symbolism,
based on true belief, concerning what light
even our darkest corner may yet hold.
A part of the tale went awry in November:*

A spark cannot thrive in a downpour, you know,
a burning bush in a waterfall.
Was I asking too much of the rain—
looking for some tidbit of comfort
in which to increase my small but burning hope?

* when George W. Bush stole won the election.

First Published in Right Hand Pointing

**

See Alice Parris concerning stolen elections.

Dr. Ralph Stanley Endorses Obama

A Place of Vulnerability and Trust by Henri Nouwen

When we gather around the table and eat from the same loaf and drink from the same cup, we are most vulnerable to one another. We cannot have a meal together in peace with guns hanging over our shoulders and pistols attached to our belts. When we break bread together we leave our arms – whether they are physical or mental – at the door and enter into a place of mutual vulnerability and trust.

The beauty of the Eucharist is precisely that it is the place where a vulnerable God invites vulnerable people to come together in a peaceful meal. When we break bread and give it to each other, fear vanishes and God becomes very close.