Skip to main content

The Uninvited Guest - July 28, 2010



Illness is the other;
The uninvited guest
To welcome in this stranger,
Radiates protest

I remain the host,
At a party I didn’t plan;
I remain the host,
Until the fatal end

But at the party there is laughter
Sweet love and precious life
There is trueness
There is wholeness
And the uninvited guest 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poems, Prayers, Names and Connections

It has long been joked and understood that I am the glorious, difficult to describe, anomaly that happens when hippies have children and raise them on hearty diet of Jesus Christ, Joan Baez and Dr. Seuss. I was sung to sleep with James Taylor tunes and taught to recite the Apostles Creed. My musical intake consisted of John Rutter on Sunday mornings and Jimi Hendrix on the drive home. Grandpa schooled us in Pete Seeger's expansive catalogue. Mom steeped us in words and melody of John Denver tunes.  She was a dedicated and devoted fan. Denver's words, perspective and bond to nature served as her poetic  anchors. She valued his insight and articulation of the human spirit tremendously and looked to his eloquence for my name. The second stanza to "Zachary and Jennifer" poetically dreams of the naming of children :  And we want to call her Jennifer And she'll dance in fields of flowers And she'll sing in summer showers Lending music to the time Oh we want to l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saying Yes to The Work of Christmas

"Will you go?" "Yes." After spending a day helping to lead three Christmas services, the students in my young adult program were asked if they would take an extra hour, make a fourth stop and visit a family from out of state who is receiving cancer treatment in Tulsa and is unable to go home for Christmas.  "Will you go?" I asked.  "Yes", they responded.  We arrived and asked, "May we sing for you?"  "Yes", they said.  A clergy person read scripture from the Book of John - the story and promise of light overcoming darkness Then we sang.  Each note invited the presence of light, love and peace into the corner room of the ICU.  "May we pray with you?"  "Yes", the family said.  Gathered in the room of strangers, friends that had known each other for a lifetime grasped hands with  new friends who we had come to know through the sharing of song.  The mood was brighter upon our leaving. Hearts were just a tad bit...
Post a Comment
Read more

January 8th. One Year ago.

January 8 th . One year ago. It has been one year since my mom finally let go and left the earth. This past year has been one of the hardest of my life. Her death was the catalyst for unimaginable change. Two weeks before she passed away, the words Pancreatic Cancer were first uttered. There are few other words that will suck the breath and hope out of a room. It seemed so cruel, unfair, and unbelievable. She had emerged from years lived with chronic illnesses, genetic mysteries, freak medical accidents victorious. Yet, this was a diagnosis no one could defeat. Her body knew it. She knew it. And she started shutting down. This side of the journey was traumatic. ·       - For a family that had always had hope (and sometimes only hope) our hope was stolen. ·       - The flippancy of some of the doctors and medical staff still stings. ·       - The assumptions of the staff because of my mother’s appearance still ...
Post a Comment
Read more