Poet in Residence Posts
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Welcoming Baby Jesus
In the wooden stable of my nativity set nestleintricately carved tissue-wrapped figures:the stalwart ox, the donkey with his longpointed ears, two sheep with woolly coats,gentle Mary kneeling in humility and Josephstanding with his staff stolidly and protectively.One by one I take them out, unwrapping eachand placing it carefully in the stable, wherethey once again await […]
Prayer for Becoming New Wineskins
…no one puts new wine into old wineskins;if he does, the new wine will burst the skinsand it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.Luke 5:37-38 Lord, when You spoke in parables, You alwayssaid just what those with open ears neededto hear. So when You […]
Finding Our Summer Selves
By Peggy Eastman Come, let us slip out of theseold winter skins. They don’t fit anymore,do they? Shrug them off, wad them up,send them into the corner.Our Lord knew the restorative powerof rest; let us put on our summer selves.Come out, come out to breathe,let the screen door bang behind you.Isn’t this a clover-scented morning?Let’s […]
At the Foot of the Cross
By Peggy Eastman, Poet-in-Residence We lay them down at the foot of Your cross, Lord,all those burdens that slump our shouldersand slow our steps. How they weighed us down,like an unwanted backpack of bricks we couldnever shrug off. You know what they are,those brick burdens, Lord:Insults from the mouths of co-workers;Betrayals by friends;Hurtful actions by […]
A Lenten Plea for Peace
By Peggy Eastman, Poet-in-Residence Lord, You promised You wouldgrant us Your peace, not as the worldgives. We, Your restless creatures,need something more than grim acceptanceof earthly trials. We need something morethan gritty endurance to help usthrough loss, despair and catastrophe.We need Your peace, Lord.Please, Lord, grant us Your peaceso we may become channels of mercy,not […]
Ashes to Ashes
By Peggy Eastman, Poet-in-Residence Burdened by our mortality,we Your unworthy creatureskneel before You, Lord, offering upour unruly hearts. Far from constantare they in love of You, much aswe would wish them to be. But wehave nothing else to offer.Ashes to ashes.Mark us, Lord, and let this ashen crossbe a sign of all You would burn […]
Lord of All Seasons
This is the turning time, a time of changein colors, sounds and air.Chameleon-like, this leaf will shift its huein three days time.Cornstalks shrivel; sunflower heads droop,resigned to the raids of hovering birds.Insects grow more raucous, as if to usher outthis waning season’s days with asustained celebratory crescendo. Or istheir incessant chorus a dirge for what […]
Prayer for Acceptance of Change
Lord, we know well that all life isin flux. Will not this green springylawn we tread on today soon witherand turn to sparse, anemic blades? Will not the bright sunflowerswhose petal-haloed heads seek the skysoon droop like stricken sentinelson shriveled stalks? We knowthese lessons, and yet we resist.What of the faces we see no more,those […]
Easter’s Transforming Love
What must Barabbas have thought, Lord, that convicted criminal whose place You took on the hard wood of the cross? Did he ponder? Did he wonder? Did he feel unworthy? Was his life changed by Your sacrifice? Could it have been transformed? Did he rejoice? What an exorbitant price you paid for Barabbas, Lord; what […]
Call of the Risen Cross-Bearer
I have heard you calling on the spring winds, Come to me, come gently to me. I hear you talking in the timber, woodland of oak and ash and greenwood groves. They chose a grove tree to make your cross, and the cut wood wept when it felt your scourged flesh. I hear you […]