Stranger than fiction

you set us free
from our addictions
to stress, to money,
to work, whatever -
strange
how quickly we forget
and move back into
those old neighborhoods.

you stock our lives
with the Bread
which never goes stale,
handing us that Cup
which always overflows -
strange
how we think
our shelves are always empty;

you polish the Table
tilll it gleams with your grace,
you are busy all night
preparing the feast -
strange
how often there
aren't enough chairs
for everyone;

we expect everyone
to know us by sight
and call us by name -
strange
how we haven't met
those who just moved in;

we assume you
are just like us -
strange, isn't it

how we don't see you
in the stranger?

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman

no doubt

i have no doubt
i would need to confess
(if i ever did such a thing!)
to murder,
or infidelity,
or robbery -
i wouldn't want to carry
around those boulders
on my back
the rest of my life.

but what about
these
pebbles in my shoes:
- calling in sick
when i'm sneaking off to the ballpark;
- using creation's gifts
wrecklessly;
- 'massaging' my taxes;
- using words against my family
i would speak to a stranger?

whatever
the size or shape
of my sins,
they are thrown at you,
and the people around me,
Redeemer and Deliverer,

and i must confess them
all.

(c) 2007 Thom M. Shuman