Sunday, September 08, 2013

Making the secular Holy – v3


We were once like them
different races, religions
unable to marry, to join
to profess our union out loud

We were married in the cold
a ceremony under a snowy sky;
Yes, we professed our love
our faith out loud before our God

But the ceremony incomplete
needing more, our church wedding
the moment when we stood
before our congregation in Your temple

Making the secular Holy
the imprimatur of faith, in love,
standing in that community
feeling the gift of grace

I weep for my brothers, for sisters
who cannot know this joy
making the secular Holy
standing before the Lord


Edited September 8, 2013
“Making the secular Holy – v3”
Edited September 7, 2013
“Making the secular Holy – v2”
new poem September 7, 2013
“Making the secular Holy”
----
This poem is about my wife and me when we got married
in a civil service on December 17, 2004 in Concord, NH in White Park
and then before our church family at
Wesley United Methodist Church in Concord, NH
on April 23, 2005.
----
We celebrate 2 anniversaries because they both mean a great
deal to us, in very different ways.
I grieve for those who are able to marry civilly in so many
states now, such as NH, but are unable to marry in their
United Methodists churches and for the clergy who are put on trial
for choosing to go against the Discipline to marry them.
&
trials of Rev. Frank Schaefer
and Rev. Thomas Ogletree
and  Rev. Steve Heiss
&
Edited September 7, 2013
For Offering Love – v2
June 22, 2011
For Offering Love
Love on Trial,
the case against the Reverend Amy DeLong,
which begins on June 20, 2011
&
John 8:1-11
&
Samuel Thompson’s
Inclusion Essay
shared at the New England United Methodist Church
Annual Conference
in response to call by Reconciling Ministries Network
for essays describing, “My vision for an inclusive church”,
June 10, 2011
&
in part inspired by conversations with
the Reverend John Makokha
Riruta UMC
Children of Africa Hope Mission Project in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. http://rirutaumc.homestead.com/children_of_africa.html
&
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
&
Matthew 28:18-20
Great Commission

All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 25,400+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

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