in sporting arenas
where normally cheers and taunts
are heard,
prayers
of thanksgiving,
of need,
of hope
will be lifted.

in schools
where silly songs
are sometimes sung,
psalms will be spoken,
lamented,
wept.

on a beachfront,
where only a floor
and a reconstructed altar
remain,
people will meet
with their brokenness
scattered around them
like the bones of the martyrs.

wherever God's people gather
on the Lord's Day,
they will not be alone:

the One who has promised
to always be in their midst
is
singing,
praying,
weeping,
communing with them.

the One whose Breath
calmed the waters of chaos
and comforts the broken-hearted,
gently moves upon them
with healing and hope;

the One who will not let
the orphan and widow
go uncared for,
who will not let
the stranger be turned away,
who will not let
suffering and death
have the last word,

runs toward them,
sweeping them up
into the arms of evelasting love,
and carries them
into the grace of the kingdom.

(c) 2005 Thom M. Shuman