4.29.2013

Christian Zen


“All the way to heaven is heaven, 

because Jesus said, "I am the way.” 
 St. Catherine of Siena

4.28.2013

A Tough Crowd


Sometimes he thought,
I'm like an aging rock star,
where the fans don't want
to hear my latest songs.

"Just give us the hits,”
they scream.

As he approaches the assembly,
he decides
on what his Sabbath 
playlist is.

He begins,
striking a chord to
a faithful 
that learned by heart 
the Sunday School equation
of Easter
divided by Christmas
yields Life Eternal.

4.21.2013

Big Blind


I'm sure
there are
a lot of 
people
thinking:
"What were
those people
thinking?"

Placing 
schools,
old folks' homes,
houses
right next
to a plant.

Gambling 
with their lives.

Especially
when they
can't see the

This Week (Boston/Baghdad)


The Iraqi 
police sergeant
wished
he had the 
luck that
occurred
this week
in the Empire.

A brother
ran over
by his sibling
in a car theft.

The boy
later found 
in a boat
in a water town.

And as he looked
at his current 
he sighed
his request
“Bless those you
have received in 
Paradise.
And make me 
an instrument 
of your
Justice.”

4.14.2013

Bread of Life



The child asked,
"Why is the bread so dry?"

 I told her the ancient story
of a people who had 
to rush out of the
land of slavery.

They couldn't wait to 
for the baked bread
to rise.

So they prepared 
their bread
without yeast.

So when we 
eat the bread
we remember
the people
God rescued.

Then I told her
another story.
A tale of a lifetime ago.

When there was 
no SPF-50
no carcinomas
where the beach was
a place
where some got
the glow of a tan
and some suffered
the pain of sunburn.

And some of us
who endured the hurt
would strip the skin
and taste it.

Seasoned with
sand
and salted with 
the ocean
and sweat.

And when we
got home,
we bathe
and lie in our
beds  as still
as we could manage.

Every now and then
we would
spot a piece
of dead washed
flesh.

We placed it
our mouths
and  recall
the taste of
the wafer
on Sunday morning.

And the words
the priest said,
"This is My flesh.
Do this in remembrance of Me."

4.08.2013

Gasp


(When is the last time you said, "I love You."?)

Two pews behind me
I heard 
her gasp,
"My God, my God,
I love You!
My God,
I love You!"

And her prayer,
disturbed
the equilibrium of
my relationship
with the
Other.

A content,
comfortable 
bond
between us.

No passion.
Words not
spoken
but 
believed to be
understood.

O, 
unembarrassed
God 
with
arms wide open
on the cross
and
when we meet.

Embrace
my heart.
And may
my prayers always
begin:
"My God, my God,
I love You!
My God,
I love You!"

4.01.2013

Three Men on the Hill


(Good Friday)
(Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18)

Three men went up the hill
to receive what
the Law 
had dealt them.

When they reached
the top,
the Law
applied their
 pain bombs
upon them.
Then
 left them
hanging
on their trees
to die.

And the one
on the
left
was like
any of us.

And when
 he stared at
the cross
next to him
and saw 
Truth,
he 
(like any of us)
 screamed,
"GET ME THE FUCK 
OFF THIS CROSS!"

But the one
on the
right
was a 
con-man.

And when
 he stared at
the cross
next to him
and saw 
Truth,
he
knew 
exactly
what it was.

The pure
200-proof
incorruptible
substance
he could not
fool or deceive.

So,
for the first time
in his life,
he spoke 
from his 
heart
and not his lips,
and said,
"Take me with You."