For sharing
God’s grace
offering love
sharing their
love
in the temple,
the chapel,
standing before
God
For this shamed
judged guilty
for this alone
the stones at
the ready.
The same
challenge
others standing
accused
new martyrs, new
pilgrims
following the
word
a prayer, the
same prayer
for mercy,
discernment
that the breach
would not be widened
too many
innocents injured
in the name of
piety
A prayer for
mercy
for those in the
crowd
the thirteen judging
may they rest in
you
Hearing Christ
speaking
calling to them
to offer
compassion
to set down
their stones
to offer their
love
We too in the
crowd
calling for
mercy
seeking another
path
to stay in
communion
so many worried,
scared
unable to stand,
in this time
one by one
vulnerable
together a force
to change the
future
to turn from our
past
Edited
September 28, 2013
For
Offering Love – v4
Edited
September 25, 2013
For
Offering Love – v3
(editing original again)
Edited
September 7, 2013
For
Offering Love – v2
June
22, 2011
For Offering Love
&
new poem September 7, 2013
“Making the secular Holy”
This poem is about my wife and me when we got married
civilly 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
&
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
&
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 25,780+ of my poems at
www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry
Where You Live.
