let's get organized! (Matthew 21:33-46)

maybe we ought 
to form a tenants' rights 
      organization, 
   Owner of the Vineyard; 
 
after all, 
we seem to be doing 
        a pretty good 
     job 
   with what you have 
       given to us: 
 
so 
what do we need 
with all those 
         servants 
   you keep sending our way: 
      Mother Theresa, 
           Taize's Roger, 
        Martin Luther King, Jr., 
   and all the others 
   who don't seem to have a 
          clue 
     as to how to run 
       a vineyard? 
 
if you aren't careful, 
we might discover that 
   humility is preferred 
      over power; 
   service is more seductive 
      than success; 
   wisdom is to be more treasured 
      than wealth. 
 
and then what will 
      happen 
   to what you have 
      created? 
 
(c) Thom M. Shuman 
 

mindless (Philippians 2:1-13)

you root around
the clutter of my mind:

   behind the cartons
   overflowing with conceit,
      you find the shredded
      remains of hope
         and wash them with your
            tears;

   in the shadowed corner,
      you discover some old
      scraps of compassion
         and weave them into my
            heart;

   you sweep up the
      dust bunnies of my
      selfish ambition,
         so i can see where
         to put my knees
            to worship you.

make my mind yours,
   my Beloved,
make it yours.

(c) 2011  Thom M. Shuman

at the ledger's edge (Exodus 14:19-31; Matthew 18:21-35

each morning,

   i make sure i have

      my wallet, hankie,

      glasses, car keys,

            and

   a fresh page in my

         notebook

       to list all the

         hurts and slights

      which will come my

           way;

at night,

         before evening prayers,

   i power up the pc

      and my heart

           quickens

       as i pull up the

             spreadsheet,

     keeping careful accounts

                of

      what he said,

        what she didn't do,

   who hasn't apologized yet,

          who owes me a kind

               word

     but comes up short.

do you ever

        grow weary

   of stretching out your

            heart

     to part our seas

       roiling with grudges,

   so we might

     follow your gentle

          path*

      of

           forgiveness?

(c) 2011  Thom M. Shuman

* George Herbert begins his poem 'Discipline':

Throw away thy rod,

Throw away thy wrath:

          O my God,

Take the gentle path.