I understand full well
the desire for the church
wedding
to solemnize the moment
within the sanctuary
I weep for my brothers, for
sisters
who cannot know this joy
making the secular Holy
standing before the Lord
We married outside
under a snowy sky;
Yes, we professed our love
out loud before our God
But the ceremony incomplete
needing the church wedding
the moment when we stood
before our congregation in your
temple
Making the secular Holy
the imprimatur of faith
standing in that community
feeling your gift of grace
-----
edited November 4, 2014
Making the secular Holy – v5
(editing original again)
edited October
16, 2014
Making the
secular Holy – v4
(editing
original again)
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
Other Sheep
Afrika-Kenya http://www.othersheep.org/OSEA_CL_Other_Sheep_Kenya.html
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
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, 2014. All rights reserved.
Contact me at Ray
Foss for usage. See all 33,310+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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