high calling

blessed be the one

who sits on the floor,

children lumped together

around you,

as you open the book

tracing your finger

under the words,

guiding the kids into

that kingdom called

Wonder;

for you will be called

'the prophet of the Lord.'

blessed are you

who clamber up and down

the garbage piles

of our culture

where all the left-overs

(the disabled, the oppressed,

the ignored, the broken)

of the world

have been dumped,

gathering them up

and recycling them into

saints;

for you will be called

'the Lord is our righteousness.'

blessed are those

who loan their hearts

to the lonely

(no interest charged);

who relinquish their frears

and stride into the Skull

(the pub on the corner)

where sin tends bar;

who hand over the flashlight

to the kids who want

search for their lost dog

at midnight:

for you will be called

'God's Delight.'

(c) 2010 Thom M. Shuman