Praying for forgiveness and healing

Two giant hands in Tulsa
folded quietly in prayer
call to mind our need for God as we recall
the massacre in Greenwood
back in 1921
when racist bigots cast a bloody pall.

These giant hands beseech the Lord
confessing corporate sin
and asking for forgiveness of our wrong.
These hands that tremble somberly
acknowledge needed grace
admitting all lives to the Lord belong.

These giant hands now call us to
unclench our fists and pray
that love will win and justice will prevail.
These praying hands in Tulsa
tower over unmarked tombs
where those who grieve can still be heard to wail.

Memorial Day ponderings

To a field of dreams
where heroes sleep
I’m drawn.

To a park punctuated by
marble markers
(too often taken for granite)
I drive.

To a garden of freedom
irrigated by the blood of the brave,
I go.

Memorial Day is more than a day
to display our flag
while barbecuing burgers and brats.
It’s a time for decorating graves
while freeing gratitude
that has been enslaved too long.

Memorial Day is more than a day off.
It is a day on which we pin our hopes
for ongoing freedoms
(we mindlessly enjoy)
that could be taken from us
if we fail to recall
the price tag
others were willing to pay.

On this Memorial Day 
may the dreams of those who sleep
(awaiting Gabriel’s reveille)
become our dreams as well.

It’s about time for about face

Don’t mask.
Don’t tell.
It is allowed.
Unless of course you’re in a crowd.

Don’t fear.
Don’t fret.
There is no cause.
The CDC has changed its laws.

Don’t gripe.
Don’t grouse.
But give God praise.
God helped us through the COVID maze.

Why recent events on Capitol Hill resemble a horror show

Liz Cheney is Lon Chaney
to the Tumpsters on the right.
To them she is a monster to be shunned.
Ridiculous! Dick’s daughter
isn’t scary or insane.
Watch her contemplate a future White House run.

I respect her for her candor.
She has guts to speak her mind.
Perhaps The Donald’s met his match in her.
Refusing to be silenced,
Liz has paid a hefty toll.
But there is a price if truth is to endure.

Republicans, be cautious.
Ask yourself what Abe would do
to preserve a party built on Lincoln logs.
The spirit of division
will not multiply for good.
Those who fight like cats in time go to the dogs.

Remembering our moms with gratitude to our Heavenly Father

For our dear moms, we thank You God.
And for their patience we applaud
these ones who persevered with grace
and modeled love with their embrace.

Though far from perfect they were used
to help us heal when we were bruised
from trips and falls and life’s cruel blows
and painful debts from what we chose.

We thank You God for Mother’s touch.
Those gentle hands (we miss so much)
were calloused by all they would do
until their daily tasks were through.

And on this day we reminisce
remembering the moms we miss.
We sing their praise with grateful hearts
for all to us they did impart.

We call You Father and You are
but truth be told You’re greater far
than simply Dad. You’re Mother, too,
with tender mercies ever new.

tune: O Waly, Waly