Instauration

Today's word is "instauration" ... redemption, renewal, restoration

Mess
It's a mess all right.
Wars and rumors of war,
Inhumanity, injustice,
Unfairness and disease and sorrow.

The cynics sigh ...
"I told you so. There's no hope.
Nothing will ever change.
We are all doomed."

And yet disciples, filled
With fear and wonder,
Proclaim a new Word
Of hope and healing.

Wiping their feet of
The dust of unbelievers,
They call out demons and
bring the sick to instauration.

They are, after all, only
Doing what they were told,
"Go! Cast out! Restore! Announce!"

Even if you do not see it or
Believe it, Light is streaking
Through dusty windows and
the Kingdom that has come
Is coming. On to the next house!

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Contrail

Today's word is "contrail" ... A visible trail of condensation of water droplets or ice crystals, from the atmosphere, occurring in the wake of an aircraft, rocket or missle under certain conditions.

Streak
What is left in the contrail ... in the dusty trail of other things:
Assumptions: replaced by newly discovered facts
Beliefs: abandoned in favor of experience
Cultures: destroyed by another stronger, faster, smarter
Demands: left in the wake of grace
Elegant moments: forgotten by expediency
Flowers: choked by weeds
Gargoyles: snubbed by glass and concrete
Hats: laughed at by new fashion
Indigenous people: pushed out by newcomers
Jobs: made irrelevant by careers
Kids: assaulted by poverty
Listening: drowned out by noise
Mentors: outdone by protégés
Nobodies: unseen by the proud
Old cowpokes: buried by stories
Popes: made impotent by unbelief
Questions: silenced by answers
Relatives: estranged by distance
Senile old folks: forgotten by the competent
Traditions: lost in modernity
Ugly things: outshone by beauty
Victims: minimized by quantity
Weather forecasts: sneered at by reality
Xeroxes: replaced by pixels
Yahoos: obscured by the elite
Zip codes: ignored by e-mail

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Gangle

Today's word is "gangle" ... To move awkwardly

Change
They say the Adirondacks are peaking this weekend.
Oh my. Time has begun to run away with me.
When I was young it would meander, colt-like,
On spindly legs, gangling from here to there.

There were long moments for tennis or talking
Or collecting tent caterpillars for study.
For bike rides and swimming and picnics
and reading and firefly chases in the night.

Today I will watch a baby grow up,
A dog grow old; I'll lose another week
And a memory or two. I'll note the garden
As it too gives up its growing claim.

But, I can also see the Kingdom coming,
Wrestling its way from a winter deep,
Bursting with rays of light and truth,
Cracking open the most stubborn seed.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Indubitable

Today's word is "indubitable" ... That which cannot be doubted.

Why
I want to know. All the whys and wherefores,
All the purposes, all the motives, all the reasons
For all the events that don't go well and for those
That do. Not just that, but whether there are indubitable truths
Or just guesses and leaps of faith. Who knows these things?
No one I know or have ever known. But that doesn't
Stop the wondering and questioning and fearful
Doubts from welling up from wherever those things
Dwell. Deep inside all of us, I'm thinking. So I
Turn to the only hope I know. Reliable scripture.
Trusted experience, my own or others. Traditions
Long established and revered. Reason and reasonableness.
That's all I've got. It will have to be enough.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Sectile

Today's word is "sectile" ... capable of being cut smoothly with a knife

Release
Someday, life's silken cord,
as sectile as the one that bound us
at our beginning and then
released us to sojourn with those
who awaited our arrival, will
free us to fly into arms of God.

And we will see the whole Truth.
Nothing of this life will remain
mysterious. But, our purpose then
may be more than we suspect,
as angels sing unfamiliar hymns
and we learn the words
to all the songs we knew by heart.

Perhaps we will be privileged
to build together something that
appears to be a heaven on the earth,
begun at the world's inception,
now heralded by the reign of justice,
and inherited by selfless saints
alongside rogues redeemed.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Albedo

The word for the day is "albedo" ... the white inner rind of a citrus fruit.

Orange
In the spiritual economy of things,
It's God that light to darkness brings,
He bears it far with humans poor,
We joyfully carry and adore.

He holds our eternity in his love.
We long and pray and wait undone
By mercies undeserved and grace,
His presence seen in every face.

From our viewpoint all's not clear,
We know we're but a moment here ...
Of the world, but not quite in it,
Layered like albedo, fitted.

As in that natural progression,
We take our place in the procession,
Of saints who've lived and died before,
Grateful for our lives restored.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Fermata

Today's word is "fermata" the sustaining of a note, chord or rest for a duration longer than the indicated time value with the length of time determined by the performer.

Pause
Motion is the name of the game
Appointments and meetings
Phone calls and text messages
Facebook and FaceTime
Whiteboards and e-mails
Dinners and classes
Clocks and alarms
And on and on.

Where is the rest, the hold,
The fermata, the sabbath?
The time to return to silence.
To stop. And think. And be.
So that doing lies within the
parentheses of peace.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Pilose

Today's word is "pilose": covered with hair, especially soft hair. (And, yes, Flash is my dog ... the slow one.)

Flash
Coming over the crest of the hill,
With my dog, I see the spill
Of turkey's, wild, loudly calling
As leaves are all around us falling.

My dog is old and very slow,
But loves to go for walks and show
The power bred into his nose
To bring a rabbit hunt to close.

What is this? In our private place,
A creature zips by with furious pace,
Eyes on the birds, he makes them flee,
Scattered, now they sit in trees.

I marvel at this pilose mutt,
Whose crazy antics corners cut,
My dog can only stand and gaze,
But his self image is not fazed.

He knows his place in this sweet world,
Though others talents may unfurl,
Perhaps someday I'll be like him,
Content with my own life-long hymn.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Sobersided

Today's word is sobersided, solemn or grave in disposition; serious minded.

Caught
How do we keep our heads up,
Our wits about us when
It seems only evil wins?

When suffering lies upon us
And we're weighed down
By our own powerlessness.

When it seems that only
Sobersided answers make
Sense in the long run.

How do we stop the voices
That say we shouldn't try, that
Our small presence doesn't matter.

How do we hang on to
The hope of love and the
Promises we've been given.

Of arks and rainbows, lambs
And crosses and a world reborn ...
A wedding feast and reconciliation.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Lallygag

Today's word is "lallygag": to spend time idly; loaf. Do I sense some judgement in this definition? Is that even possible?

Almost
Sunshine streams through scudding clouds,
Voices brush against each other on the street,
And sculptures watch us as we pass,
Regarding us from within their mysterious forms.

The atmosphere is a happy flirtation ...
Water sparkles and covered boats bob restlessly ...
Dreaming, perhaps of departing summer days.
This afternoon was made for the lallygagging lovers of good things.

Macaroons, and pumpkin-flavored latte cheer as
A band of guitared boys passionately performs for quarters,
Grateful for an audience that shares their joy. A side-bound
Musician cannot keep his fingers from plucking strings of air.

If I could design a memory, it would look like this.
Happy children running from wonder to wonder
Pausing only long enough to tuck themselves into
Sweatshirts where hidden inside they turn to mushrooms.

Shuffling through this, last giddy Saturday of summer,
Stunned by its beauty and surprise, is to taste your life
as it parades before your eyes ... sighing, singing,
Saying all is well, though winter's woes follow close behind.

Anne aselleck
Copyright 2013

Parnassian

Today's word: "Parnassian" pertaining to poetry, also Mount Parnassus ... As in coming down from Parnassian heights. Or, a member of the Parnassian school of poetry ... Sounds high and mighty all right!

Aerial
Good news comes from lofty places
On beatific feet it joyfully races,
Parnassian mountain or angel wings,
Or towered bells bring offerings.

If we listen carefully we will hear,
A message for us given clear,
That love holds us always in its light,
And will bring us at last to our heart's delight.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Humdinger

The word of the day is "humdinger" ... A remarkable person, thing, or action of excellent effect.

Treasure
The man shuffled along the sidewalk,
Head down, looking for cans, hoping for a handout
To take back to the shelter
Where he lived ... since he lost his job.

One day looked like another,
But it wasn't so bad, having a place to stay,
For now. The stuttering made it hard
To stay at a any work for long.

And then he saw the bag ...
With no one around. Asking to be opened,
So he did. Peered inside. At piles of money
And travelers checks. A vast treasure.

What to do? The owner gone ...
Maybe he wouldn't miss it. Maybe
He would. There really was no question.
God always watched over him.

One humdinger of a shock it was ...
That plaque they gave him. For being
What he is. Honest. And some crazy people
Collected money for him. They were so impressed.

They collected a fortune. A treasure.
What should he do? He would never keep
What belonged to someone else. But this was
Just for him. The kindness of strangers.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Monad

Today's word is "monad" ... A single unit or entity, as a single note or organism.

Monad
One infinity
One universe
One solar system
One sun
One planet
One continent
One country
One city
One home
One person
One body
One heart
One beat
One breath
One life
One soul
One chance
One truth
One love
One

Fleer

Defiance

It seems there is no end to pain in this world,

No end to the things that man can dream or do

To hurt, overpower, or dismiss another.

Jesus wanted to tuck Jerusalem under his wing,

To protect and love it back to life,

But the city would not listen, not even to his sadness.

We are called to be a light, a lamp on a stand.

We are called to forgive and forgive and forgive.

We have been chosen to become better than we are,

To love when there’s no earthly reason and no loveliness,

To stand with those who cannot rise at all,

To give until our own pockets fall empty, inside out.

It’s such a wearying assignment …

It asks too much, too often, in far too many places.

Time after time, we respond with too little, too late or not at all.

Yet, as evil reveals its fleering face and rages,

We are beckoned on by good, and grace, and hope …

Emboldened to believe, that misery will not be our story’s end.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2013

Orrery

Today’s word: “orrery” an apparatus for representing the planets, satellites, etc., in the solar system.

Held

Our planets large and small,

Revolve like tethered balls,

But, no orrery’s required,

No gears or clocks or wires,

To keep their orbits right.

In our daily rounds,

We likewise are found,

Going here and there,

Centered on our cares,

By gravity, held tight.

Sometimes though we find,

In our times unkind,

Our worlds would spin apart,

Without the bit of heart,

Born of love’s requite.

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2013

Joggle

Today’s word: “joggle” to shake slightly
  
Shift

All things being equal, the days are fine, normal,

            hours moving in predictable procession,

Until the knock on the door, or the call

            from the doctor, or the argument.

Suddenly, or not, a little joggle or a violent push

            and everything changes. Lights go out.

Perceptions shift and shudder. The future falters …

            or maybe the silence becomes too much to bear.

In those times, the treasures hidden in our souls,

            prayers and sacred words, caress with comfort.

True friends appear with solace on their faces,

            hands gently holding cups of love.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Dissilient

Today’s word: “dissilient” bursting apart, bursting open

Changes

Hanging green and gem-like from its tether,

the chrysalis enshrouds the former caterpillar,

shielding its secrets from prying eyes.

The earth-bound worm has crawled inside

its own tomb, trusting against all nature’s instincts,

that once inside it will not die, but live.

It cannot know what form it will finally take,

or if, or when it may awaken, or that its dissilient

home will release it to an incomprehensible future.

Yet, blinking, stretching, emergence becomes reality.

And what is this new urge to move, to … fly?

How does a life-long, gravity-bound, creature understand?

Enlarging, drying wings at last begin to move,

reaching for they know not what, yet feeling

in every flutter, a lifting and rejoicing unexpected.

At last, air born, its world-wide view has

become a breath-taking whorl of petalled colors

and a nectared banquet of exquisite joy.  

Anne Selleck

Copyright 2013