Suppletory

Today's word is "suppletory" ... Supplying a deficiency.

Warm
All gathered for a meal.
The family. A one-year old.
A ninety-five year old. Two were
eight and one was almost five. Many were
in-between. Much laughter. A game
or two and a craft. Football.
(There's always football.) A movie.
Hugs and conversation. A fire in
the fireplace. Hot cider and wine.
Tickles and giggles. Stuffed
animals and Minecraft videos.
Ideas for Christmas. Small talk.
A puppet show with monsters.
The baby happily undecorating the
Christmas tree. All this and then
the suppletory ham and trimmings.
(Plus pumpkin pie)
We would have been ok
with soup and crackers.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Wight

Today's word is "wight" ... Active, nimble.

Oh
What was that falcon hunting
in her backyard? Just sitting
in the tree, watching with his
large eyes for some small
movement. It was his first
time there, as far as she
knew. The wightly bird did
not claim this neighborhood
as his own; it said so on
the internet. He only stayed a moment ...
long enough to be seen, but
not known ... like some
sort of sign. Like an
announcement that if
you're patient, or just lucky,
you might discover
wonder in your own
backyard.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Borborygmus

Today's word is (really!!!) ... "Borborygmus ... rumbling or gurgling sound caused by the movement of gas in the intestines. (sometimes redeeming words is difficult!)

Pie
Soooo, Thanksgiving's over.
How are ya feeling? Is that the
sound of borborygmus that
I hear? Maybe that last piece of pie
or turkey leg really was the last
straw, so to speak. Our abundance might
be over abundance after all.

How do we know when too
much is too much, aside from
the annoyance and pain we
cause ourselves? How do we
learn to look before we leap,
or eat for that matter? How do we
learn to share?

We teach 4-year olds to eat
their turkey before they
can have dessert. When all they
want, is dessert. Our own
eyes are bigger than our stomachs.
(And that's saying something). Maybe this
uncomfortable state can remind us
to take more care. To be grateful,
without becoming too full ... of our food,
of our things, of ourselves.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Gelt

Today's word is "gelt" ... Slang; money.

Thanksgiving
This is the night for grateful thoughts,
     (And dreams of turkey dinner!)
To think of things that can't be bought,
     to make one rich or thinner.

To pause in the mad search for fame,
     for fortune or for gelt,
And remember all the moments sweet,
     that made your heart just melt.

To think of gifts like freedom's ring,
      bought with a patriot's blood,
And food and drink abundant, and
     shelter from storm and flood.

For love of family and friends,
     together gathered round,
For strength of ties no force can rend,
     that is in each other found.

For faith and wonders of this world
     too dear to comprehend,
All this and more we see unfurled,
     As to this bounty we attend.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

   


   

Wroth

The word of the day is "wroth" ... stormy; violent; turbulent.

Choice
When in the fury of the past,
     earth and being were created,
Was it planned that all would last,
     or are we to our own sight fated?

It might matter, as we're living,
     to figure out this weighty matter,
To see if we thrive by the spirit's giving,
     or will be by biology, finally shattered.

If we have spirit immaterial,
     and can decide which gifts to use,
And can depend on God, ethereal,
     we'll interpret rightly, his mysterious cues,

On the other hand, if we profess,
     that nothing in the end has meaning,
And this wrothful world is all there is,
     then what is here that's worth the gleaning?

While all the colors of the sun,
     burn constant in their glory,
We realize that we've become,
     the authors of our stories.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Decant

Today's word is "decant" ... to pour (wine or other liquid) from one container into another. 2. gently pour so as not to disturb the sediment.

Church
We sit together, listening ...
to music, to spoken word.
Under stained glass and
reflected candlelight,
we pray, and drink the wine
and eat the bread which
reminds us of the one
whose steps we follow.
Later, after coffee and
conversation, we will
decant back into
the world. And through
word or deed, we will
pour out a little of
the mysterious grace
which we have
experienced. It is
nearly impossible,
but we will try.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Za-zen

Today's word is "Za-Zen" ... meditation in a prescribed, cross-legged position.

Pause
Flitting, fluttering,
Going here and there,
Getting things done,
Important things,
Working on stuff,
Making money,
Making the world go 'round
No time for Za-zen,
Barely time to breathe,
Barely time to think,
Suddenly, a lifetime,
goes by ...

A little more breathing,
A little more noticing,
A little more sitting,
Hands open,
Heart open,
Eyes open.
Grateful,
Time folds
It's wings.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Tenuity

Today's word is "tenuity" ... The state of being tenuous.

Wait
It's all shaky, this existence.
One day its all butterflies,
the next an unending pit of despair.

You would think that hanging in
on the dark days would be the
challenge. But sometimes
it's the light that blinds.

When you're in the dark,
friends come by with
casseroles and sympathy.

But in the light, when you
can't see for the blinding,
no one seems to notice.
All appears well.

You should be filled
with gratefulness, not
overwhelmed with the
senselessness of life.

In the tenuity of this state,
waiting for the other shoe
to drop, we still, for sanity,
hang onto hope.

(Otherwise, why put one
shoeless foot in front of the other?
Why keep up the pretense of
normality?)

And this hope, that God
is real, that salvation
is a true event, that our
purpose is, and waits to be
revealed, becomes enough.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Protoplast

Today's word is "protoplast" ... A person or thing that is formed first.

Reach
It is said that in the beginning,
There was a man, made in the image of God.
And a woman too; and both were
Meant to be prototypes for a holy people.

This happened a very long time ago,
Which is why we can't remember,
And have to pass the story along
As we've heard it spoken and seen it
Written in the holy book.

Without the book, I suppose we
Might think, as we look about,
That our particular race of people
Is just an accident or an unusual
Product of time's imaginings.

But it is written that this story
Has a beginning and an end and
A plot that involves us. That takes
Us from where we are, through
Sin to redemption and on toward an
Impossibly wondrous end.

And this preposterous
Tale is made possible because of
A second prototype, one
Who was, and is a perfect model.
So that we would have an example
And a guide ... not to show us how far
We've strayed from truth, but how close
We are to living its reality here and now.

Anne  Selleck
Copyright 2013

Snarky

Today's word is "snarky" ... Testy, irritable; short.

Testy
It's just malarkey, all that is snarky,
And it's everywhere I look, I swear.
People making mean remarks and faking,
As behind backs, true facts are laid bare.

Where is the ability to act with civility,
And to find resolution with kindness?
Why the need, to dispatch with speed,
One who's frought with thoughts you must bind?

Wouldn't a little more time in the middle,
Let one another get heard?
Then maybe some, would finally have fun,
And we'd all fall down at the Word.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Irredentist

Today's word is "irredentist" ... a member of a party in any country advocating the acquisition of some region included in another country by reason of cultural, historical, ethnic, racial, or other ties ... from dictionary.com.

Union
I don't know if you've noticed,
That this whole world's of one piece,
Though our irredentist leanings,
Lead us to wars without surcease.

But this sphere's not ours to conquer,
Though we may think it's so,
But belongs to the kingdom of the heavens ...
God's magnificent tableau.

We are only here, to cultivate,
To tend the creatures, soil and plants,
To care for one another,
Not to war and rant.

When we fulfill this purpose,
Leaves will surely green,
Lions with lambs will quietly lay,
And glory will be seen.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Omnium-gatherum

Today's word is "omnium-gatherum" ... A miscellaneous collection.

Mist
I've read about the end of all earthly things,
Revelation from a saint's own eyes,
The omnium-gatherum of creatures winged,
Who 'round a thundering throne do fly.

An ending within which may actually be,
The beginning of something new,
Something beyond what we can imagine or see,
Shown only to a privileged few.

As we struggle along on this earthly plane,
Keeping our gaze on that ephemeral prize,
We trust that neither struggle or pain,
Will cloud precious hope from our eyes.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Commix

Today's word is "commix" ... to mix together; blend. (Kuh-MIKS)

Mosaic
In this brave new world, made of equality and co-existence,
it seems that doing one's own theology has become
a fine art.

A belief in the power of the sun to heal, might well
be blended with Buddist tranquility, spiced over ever
so slightly by visits from persons long since gone.

Perhaps some native lore involving animal spirits
is sprinkled into a strange feeling of well being
when warmed by the presence of candles.

Or a burning fire evokes a primitive pleasure,
especially when encircled by the rhythm
of drums.

Maybe a belief in saints lurks under a facade
of agnosticism, making its existence known
awkwardly at the accidental intersection.

Belief that Jesus saves me, might engage in
a strange tangle as it commixes with the thought
that you will never earn his favor.

Round and round this labyrinth we
go, mixing and matching, looking
for a truth that may well be looking for us.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Antitype

Today's word is "anti type" ... Something that is foreshadowed by a type or symbol, as a New Testament event prefigured in the Old Testament.


Foreshadowed

A wondering soul on a boat in a gale
Thrown into the sea, swallowed by a whale.
He sat in the fish, to save the unlucky crew.
For three days he sat, in the dark and the goo.

Then the beast spit him out, onto the sand,
And Jonah was sure it was by God's hand,
He didn't know then, that when his story was told,
He'd be labeled the "type" of a Messiah most bold.

When Jesus was born, so small and so sweet,
No one knew of the fate that later he'd meet.
Or that he was the antitype to Jonah's perfection,
Who would save the whole world, through his resurrection.

Three days in a fish; three days in a tomb,
Coming to new life from a new kind of womb,
To reach us and teach us that God's love never ends,
And that he wants to embrace us as holiest friends.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Con Amore

Today's word is "Con Amore" ... With love tender enthusiasm or zeal.

Warm
They sat on the couch, con amore,
remembering ...with the borrowed dog
between them, his head resting on their legs,
His warm breath coming slowly
As he slept, content.

The boxers had been more agile
Than this dog; and the circus dog
Had been trickier. But all had been
Loyal and their personalities were
Fine, tuned and predictable.

Their hands rambled, stroking
The soft fur of days gone by,
Wondering of all the hours
Spent together with the dogs.
All the hours together, spent
With love and wonder and
Greatfullness for a world
Filled with such gifts
As dogs and each other.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Maugre

Today's word: Maugre In spite of; notwithstanding

Requited
Come high water or the threat of fire,
Come violence or shame,
Poverty, riches, abandonment
Or valleys full of fear,
We gather as the people who have
Been saved by grace.

Hiding underground in
House church or in catacomb,
Preaching in the village square,
Or merely taking the next breath
In a torturous prison cell,
Maugre all, the God who is greater than
Any circumstance is near.

In the midst of faith and furor,
All things are held within
A promise given. It's fruition
Will be the final coming
Of a kingdom bright with
The light of all hopes
Fulfilled.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Commissure

Today's word is "commissure" ... A joint; seam; suture.

It's said there are thin spaces,
Where heaven and earth meet,
A commissure of graces,
Which holiness completes.

God's hand there incarnates,
Into his earthly realm,
Blessings for those who wait,
With feelings, overwhelmed.

If we could see the outlines,
Of those places difficult to breach,
We'd notice tracings that define
The infinities of their reach.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Subjoin

Today's word is "subjoin" ... To add at the end, usually something said or written.

Questions
So if we came from nothing's mind
And lived first as cells and slime
And somehow reproduced our kind,
And from the soup did climb,

Then where did our moral spark arise?
How does rock become a flame?
What makes sense of love or sighs,
How do memories remain?

Why thoughts of immortality,
Of the good, better, or best?
Or hope subjoined to God's centrality ...
Why are we ever blessed?

All these questions swirl around,
In reason and in fear,
When answers finally are found,
There will be no need of tears.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Diathesis

Today's word is "diathesis" ... A constitutional predisposition or tendency, as to a particular disease or affection.

Surrounded
Libraries of books created,
Cause something in me to be sated.
The mere feel of paper-backed,
Fills in me a certain lack ...
I can almost feel the sound,
That within these tomes abound.
And all the pictured covers pure,
Hold promise of a curious cure.

My need to know is very strong,
And I don't want to be proved wrong,
So I consult the rows of words,
Because through them I've often heard,
The ring of truth that's wrapped inside,
Syllables and thoughts that guide.
Besides, diathesis to those printed pages,
Brings visions from both saints and sages.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Roger

Today's word is "roger" ... All right. O.K.

Speak
Smoke signals, signs on roads,
fingers flying, flags in modes,
voice commands, pictograms ...
written words or poetry slams.
A hug, a look, a shout or whisper,
we communicate by any measure.

And we fear as ideas fly around,
we might get lost in Bable's sounds,
and wish that we could simplify,
the ways we think, speak and reply.
Then in agreement, and without doubt,
we could say, "Roger" and be out!

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Mufti

Today's word is "mufti" ... A Muslim jurist, expert in Sharia law, or civilian clothes worn by someone who usually wears a uniform.

Disquise
If this is some sort of conflict ...
a battle between God's will and mine ...
then, though others will not recognize who I am in mufti,
He will not be fooled. I am known by
more than outside fashion. This terrifying knowledge
goes far beyond what I know of myself.
It drops on me when I least expect it ...
     In a selfish moment when I want to keep what I have,
     When I want to protect myself from, or for something,
     When comfort is so much more magnetic than servanthood.

Oh, this invisible pressure to do the right thing.
It nags and prods and won't relent until the deed is
done, or left undone. Then it sits back Cheshire-like
and grins, content. (When ignored, things seldom go well.)

It's an urging to trust and to become better than
I ever desired to be. To be led and loved in ways
I did not think were possible.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

En bloc

Today's word is "en bloc" ... As a whole.

Apart
Can you do faith alone? Just you in a room?
Just you and the golf course or the lake? Just you ...
worshiping, reading holy books, thinking holy
thoughts ... whatever those are? Just you
deciding how best to change the world?

It might work for a while ... but then, how do you
show compassion? How do you forgive or share or
practice honesty? How do you learn how to become
community without ... um ... community?

Even if you could learn all these things en bloc, and
go about the world in a blaze of self-made glory,
what is the story you would tell?

How would you explain the way we belong to one
whose love is greater than our love of solitude?
One who includes and graces us before we even see our need?
One who always whispers, "Come."

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Novitiate

Today's word is "novitiate" ... The state or period of being a beginner in anything.

Experience
I'm only a beginner, I know it's true,
in this kindergarten filled with
old souls and novitiates ... all busy at their lessons
in this one-room school.

Some, it seems, are able to write
their answers on the board for all to see;
even as others of us are struggle to
form our letters correctly, or spell our names.

Some already know how to line up,
quietly, not poking anyone or chewing gum.
Others cannot help but hop and dance
and giggle at the impossibility of stillness.

Wherever we are in this crazy class,
it seems we're responsible for our own
progress. And it's up to us to decide if we'll
move ahead. Or stop, where we are, as if we're good enough.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Clepe

Today's word is "clepe" ... to call, name. Yclepe, clept.

Named
Adam clept them all ... the animals
that is, one by one. So when they
to the ark were summoned, two by two,
they recognized the sounds that Noah spoke.

Our names are how we know ourselves;
how we identify ourselves to others.
Change a letter and you change the way
you see yourself as well. Try it.

It's said that God has a secret name for each of us,
that will truly and completely hold the
essence of each personality or spirit.
I wonder if we have an inkling of it's nature?

Could we predict even a small portion
of its meaning? Do we know ourselves at all?
Or will we be surprised when the one that
knows us best, whispers our truth into our ears?

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Adsctitious

Today's word is "adscititious" ... Added or derived from an external source; additional.

More
If you could sit in silence, would you?
If you could, could you? I mean, if you found
a place away from words, spoken or otherwise.
From visions electronically beamed into your brain.
Sounds from radios, TVs, and screens in restaurants,
blasting from CDs, and videos, people talking everywhere,
and just, well ...
found yourself cabined by a lake, or tented by a tree,
or placed absurdly on a mountain top, wearing mittens
and a wool coat ...

What then?

What if you could hear a leaf fall to the ground,
a bullfrog croak, a far-off loon cry, snow slowly slide
down the side of your tent, a stream ripple,
a branch break. But nothing adscititious.
Nothing at all.

Where would your mind meander?
How long before you would talk to yourself,
nervously listening for anything vaguely human?
Anything to blot out the blaring silence.

How long before you felt the need to run ...
back to the chaos, where sound becomes a blanket,
blocking out worrisome thoughts of why
you are where you are, and where you might be
going?

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Pol

Today's word is "pol" ... a politician, especially one experienced in making political deals.

Rights
Fighting in the real world is hard,
Even thinking about being in the fight is hard, and
Choosing what to fight for ...which cause
Deserves time and energy? Well ...
There are so many. They are are all
So serious. And it seems so hopeless.

Watching all the pols work their
Way into and out of situations, you think
There must be a way to progress that doesn't include
Impossible compromise or the lust for power.
That gets to its goal by a different route.
That loves its way to change. That cares
In spite of. That gives and gives when it is not
necessary or expected. That wins by
Relinquishing, by sacrificing, by
Placing oneself in the position of servant.
And in the process, begins to turn
The world upside down.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Skeigh

Today's word is "skeigh" ... (Of horses) spirited, inclined to shy; (of women) proud, disdainful.

Sit
It's a tug of war, this sitting still,
And waiting in meditative pose, for a word,
     a thought impression, something that will enlighten.
It takes a bit of faith to think that from the grace-filled air,
a prick of conscience will connect, or warmth,
     signifying a deed well done, surround ...
     that perhaps this day, though I be skeigh, an insight will alight.

Most often the skittish shyness wins.
Who am I to sit restless for revelation?
I am no saint, no scholar bright, nor a Godly fool.
Only one who ponders; who approaches this infinity
     with one eye open, fearful ...
Unsure of what awaits ... a cloud of wonder,
     or fearsome lightning strike.

Yet, we are invited to come, to see,
     to hold our very lives attentive ...
     to expect a bolt of glory, or a lover's whisper
     at an unanticipated hour, which will,
     despite our cowardice, deliver news
     from that mysterious kingdom in which
     we move and have our being.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Vexatious

Today's word is "vexatious" ... To cause vexation: troublesome; annoying.

Bumps
Stumbling blocks are everywhere,
In the road that appeared so fair,
Making our paths bend and wind,
Causing us new ways to find.

This is vexatious, don't you think?
As each new problem forms a link,
That makes a chain hard and unbending,
And seems to be most never ending.

But if we look with upmost care,
At each circumstance in which we're snared,
And use our faith to take the test,
We might find an unsuspected guest.

For tucked inside frustrations wild,
Are insight's lights that might beguile,
If we allow them to break in,
And change all of our might-have-beens.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Counterpoise

Today's word is "counterpoise" ... To balance by an opposing weight, counteract by an opposing force. To bring into equilibrium.

Heavy
See saws go both up and down
As long as both kids the same weight are,
If one Is thin and one is fat,
Counterpoise won't work like that.

One will stay up in the air, the other
Grounded thinking it's not fair.
Nothing can make them move at all,
Until one jumps off and the other falls.

Sometimes balance is the best,
And all are happy in this rest,
But if progress is sometimes right
Opposites might just have to fight.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013

Animalcule

Today's word is "animalcule" ... A minute animal, nearly or quite invisible to the naked eye.

Invisible
Tiny things sometimes grow,
Into giants that then show,
Little things can great become,
Not insignificantly succumb.
 
Yet there are some animalcules,
Which will remain most miniscule,
And yet have purposes unknown,
Carried deep within their bones.

Size does not determine fate,
As some wee creatures contemplate,
How best to use gifts undeserved,
To improve the world they serve.

Anne Selleck
Copyright 2013