Cycle of Violence

indiscriminating
it sneaks up on its victims
bringing with it generations of sins, violence and memories
carrying sins of forefathers
inflicting wounds, wreaking havoc, perpetuating abuse
on innocent bystanders - children, mothers, mothers- and fathers-to-bes,
who will then pass on this cursed baton to another generation of unaware victims
until one courageous soul stands up to its unrelenting fire.

An Army of Lovers

i thought this was poignant and touching... "Lovers are hard to come by. And I think that's what our world is desperately in need of--lovers, people who are building deep, genuine relationships with fellow strugglers along the way, and who actually know the faces of the people behind the issues they are concerned about. We are trying to raise up an army not simply of street activists but of lovers--a community of people who have fallen desperately in love with God and with suffering people, and who allow those relationships to disturb and transform them." Source: The Irresistible Revolution

Merry Christmas!

i thought this was apropos for the holidays~

Magnificat

All that I am
sings of the God
who brings his life
to birth in me.
My spirit soars
on the wings of my Lord.
He has smiled on me
and the blaze of his smile
no woman or man
shall ever forget.

My God is a gentle strength
who has caught me up
and carried me to greatness.
His love
space cannot hold
nor time age
and all quicken to his touch.

My God is a torrent of justice.
He takes the straight paths
in the minds of the proud
and twists them to labyrinth.
The boot of the oppressor
he pushes aside
and raises the lowly,
whom he loves,
from the ground.
With his own hands
he sets a table for the hungry
but the unfeeling rich
suffer the cold eye
of his judgment.

Our mothers and our fathers
he has held in his arms
and the future grows
like this child within me
for the God of whom I sing
bears us his son.

~John Shea

Source: Unknown

If ours is a piety that does not know how to laugh, a fierce humility that excludes the uninitiated, or even a consuming fire that burns but does not purify, then we have lost our way. We cannot have room for God if we do not have room for our neighbor.... Find space for spontaneity and a generous response. Find a place to welcome the stranger and to throw back your head and laugh with God.

Source: Thomas Hoffman, A Child in Winter

the raindrops fall softly on her eyelids
drops that landed as she wearily awaited the serpentine train
they trickle down her creased, dirt-stained visage
slowing making their way down
erasing and caressing away years of hard labor, ups and downs, life

"I asked God if it was okay to be melodramatic
and she said yes
I asked her if it was okay to be short
and she said it sure is
I asked her if I could wear nail polish
or not wear nail polish
and she said honey
she calls me that sometimes
she said you can do just exactly
what you want to
Thanks God I said
And is it even okay if I don't paragraph
my letters
Sweetcakes God said
who knows where she picked that up
what I'm telling you is
Yes Yes Yes"

~by Kaylin Haught

Source: Poetry 180 (selected by Billy Collins)

On Prayer

tis a good reminder...

Prayer clarifies our hope and intentions. It helps us discover our true aspirations, the pangs we ignore, the longings we forget. It is an act of self-purification.... It teaches us what to aspire to, implants in us the ideals we ought to cherish. Prayer is an invitation to God to intervene in our lives, to let God's will prevail in our affairs; it is the opening of a window to God in our will, an effort to make God the Lord of our soul. We submit our interests to God's concern, and seek to be allied with what is ultimately right.

~Abraham Joshua Heschel