the poem i didn't plan to write

but crazier things have happened on Ash Wednesday

It’s Ash Wednesday, so we’re taking a break from “midweek jollies” this week to make space for considering how God is present to you and in you, right now, whatever the state of your life. I rather unexpectedly wrote a poem this morning from my own time of reflection, so I thought I’d share it with you. Paid subscribers have access to the audio reading and a variety of downloadable wallpaper background for your phone. I thought it might be nice to have before you during the 40 days of Lent, if you observe.

Sending love today and always,

Shannon

wednesday

strange fingers smear ash on foreheads,
a violation of boundaries not accepted but
for ritual

and transcendence and a crumb of hope,
we are willing to bend and bend
the rules

of institution smother, 
but the spirit slips on by, determined
to survive

we must,
for who else will tell our children the secret of
God's being

not in the words of men,
nor the stone walls they erect, but in
the ashes

are what's left
when we are alone in the dark.