Since plans without fail are disrupted I’ll choose, then, to be interrupted Each day I will voice In prayer this bold choice My joy will prevail uncorrupted
Surprises this life guarantees (Old Murphy’s most mischievous deeds) But IF welcomed prior Not curveball nor fire Could ire or pilfer my peace
Each monkey wrench thrown in my face Invites me the cross to embrace Those martyrdoms tiny Endured, minus whining Refine my rough ego with grace
Bear fruit from intrusions: pre-choose ’em! As a Friend once pre-chose to give all
When plans aredeflected
Or mayhem ensues
That Friend will surprise
As love unexpected
Intrudes
***
In his book Interior Freedom, Fr. Jacques Philippe uses the example of St. Thérèse of Lisieux to explain the freedom available when we are interrupted. He says of Thérèse: “[St. Thérèse] did not like having her work interrupted. Sometimes she was asked to do work requiring quite a lot of concentration … [but] the schedule of the Carmelite community was so intense that she had very little time at her disposal. When she finally found an hour or two to devote to the job, she applied herself in the following spirit: ‘I choose to be interrupted.’ If a good Sister then came by to ask her for some little service, instead of coldly sending her away Thérèse made the effort to accept the interruption with good grace. And if nobody interrupted her, she considered that a charming present from her loving God and was very grateful to him.” -Interior Freedom, 56
New Yorkers are kind, but ain’t tryin’ to be nice Californians seem nice, if not kind “You betcha” that Northerners- Ope!- will delight Down South you’re called “Sweetheart”, you’ll find
No matter from where fellow trav’lers have rolled If you they… the wrong way… do rub By icy eyes, frigid words or shoulder cold Go “Melt ’em with Mercy!” and love
When road hogs screech by flashing digits distressing Or scream at you, leaving you shaken They’re hijacked by evil, so “Blast ’em With Blessings!” Watch Daytona grace overtake ’em
At leaders enslaved to their power or purse You’re outraged! Our nation’s betrayers! Then “Free ’em with Fasting!” God’s mercy rehearse To humble both pray-ee and pray-er
When tempted to bark something rude or plain wild At teens dressed risqué or unkemptly Soon “Mold ‘em, Don’t Scold ‘em!” with eyes kind and mild To quell their rebellions pre-emptly
If dreaming up zingers for Internet critics Whose gibes are unbearably biting “Requite with Politeness!” and shock by words civic Wits kept will subvert fretful fighting
St. Paul wrote, by kindness, “heap coals on your foes”* In other words, “Melt ’em With Mercy!” The cheek that you turn proves a mirror that shows ‘em They’ve hogtied themselves! (a la Circe**)
“Give enemies love, allwho curse and despise you…” Absurd? Without grace, yes, for sure! “Pray dearly for folks who abuse or crosswise you”*** Just who would dare say this? Outrageous! The truth may confuse or surprise you…
The One Who was hated and cursed and up-hung… …Now tomb-sprung, the soon-to-come Lord!
So “Blast ’em With Blessings!” “Free ’em with Fasting!” “Mold ‘em, Don’t Scold ‘em!” “Requite with Politeness!”
In searching For something To sum up Such slogans The Gem I’ll remember… Is “Mercy!” *****
NB: “God’s greatest attribute is mercy” (This phrase my college professor encouraged us to write at the top of any test we struggled with!)
*”…if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” (Romans 12:20 ESV)
**Circe was a goddess who turned men into hogs and other animals in Greek mythology such as in Homer’s Odyssey, where she turned Odysseus’ men to swine on her island of Aeaea
***”But I say to you that hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To him who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from him who takes away your cloak do not withhold your coat as well.” (Luke 6:27-29 RSVCE)Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. He commited no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
Beloved: If you are patient when you suffer for doing what is good, this is a grace before God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. He commited no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he returned no insult; when he suffered, he did not threaten; instead, he handed himself over to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you had gone astray like sheep, but you have now returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. (1 Peter 2:20b-25)
When eating light and heaving weights, my Waistline barely balks! Does the Lord ignore my efforts? All my Push-ups, squats and walks? Did my sweat… All mean squat? Might it Spot some fellow struggler? God,
May all the love with which I lift raise weight from someone’sshoulders
Where love is lifted… regifted it will be!
Does God look over me heart-tugged, or Shrug and overlook me? After Painting prayerfully for months, my Masterpiece went up in flames! Was it not… All for Naught? Or was it Framed in heaven above? Lord,
Use every drop of love with which I brushed to brighten some grey souls
Where love is traced… erased it cannot be!
In my sickness, which those persons sporting Lab coats sadly worsened, I am Wond’ring if, in darkness drear, God Hears my cries; my cursin’? Could my reeling… Spread some healing? Lord,
With love I trade this suff’ring for the grace You’ll bring to others
If laced with love… these aches won’t wasted be!
I farmed my darndest; scrimped and scrounged But debts compounded all the more I’m tempted to give up and cry that Life’s a fruitless chore! Is this living… Or mere dying?
I recall that, “labor in the Lordisnot in vain”; so on, I’ll go (1)
Where love is sown… it’s grown a hundredfold!
Lord, thresh new grains of hope from out the wheat of offered pain
To plant in those You hold and claim Your own
***
(1) “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”-1 Corinthians 15:58
“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do” -Hebrews 6:10
“I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship” -Romans 12:1
What if the biopsy knocks down, then kicks me? Or what if the loan is refused? What if my landlord plays tricks and evicts me? Or mem’ry (or marbles!) I lose And I’m clearly… Confused?
What if, whilst bussing, the brakes bust at random? The sky falls? The world won’t go round? What if I’m fired, convicted, abandoned? The tiniest break I can’t catch? I’d be fixin’ to Break down!
What if, like Job, I lose all of my kin? Or drown in my mountain-high debts? What if I relapse? I’m sick of this sin! I’m ‘fraid I’ll forever be fraught With those relished… Regrets!
Even if every last “what if” I’ve listed So happened to happen to me Or Death, without knocking, popped in for a visit I’d never be parted from Love In Whose grasp…
My Achilles is really a-killin’ me And my heel just won’t heal, what the heck! My stiff neck’s a real pain in the butt… but there’s more My sore butt’s a real pain in the neck (Since the day I survived that big wreck!)
I can’t stomach this unstopping stomachache Struck with gout I wanna pout all alone And I sigh when sciatic pain shocks me awake Diagnosed with Pneumonia, I moan (Sick at home, of my phone, I’m bored sick!)
Pins and needles! My knees need a healing Since my heart’s out of sync, I lose heart Got more docs than my clock could have time for! I’m feeling Quite dazed as my days fall apart (Why does rain make my brain start to smart?)
Does the Lord hear me sleeplessly weeping? My appealing for healing in full?
Then He whispered, I feel it all with you, Beloved
And I will heal as is best for your soul
Through these trials, My Child, I uphold you
And remold you to the Likeness of Love
Fear no harm! In my Arms, I enfold you
I will guide you to “Life to the full” (John 10:10)
*******
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” -2 Corinthians 4:16-18
(4-4 rhythm) Ignatius’ love for Christ was lion-heartedly defiant It roared! in seven letters to his flocks When Trajan’s men condemned him to be prey for starving lions He inked this pledge; I warm you that it shocks!
(3-4 rhythm) “The fire and the cross and the packs of wild beasts “The gashes, the rendings and wrenching of bone “The mangling of limbs and the crushing of… body “The devil’s own tortures…” (to be suffered alone)
“Let such come upon me”, Ignatius announced “if…
I may gain…
Christ!” (1)
(4-4 rhythm) This sentiment is sourced in the apostle Paul’s epistle He lists his “light afflictions” borne in meekness (2) To boast not of himself but of what’s souly beneficial: The Cross and that which fully “shows his weakness” (3)
Such as…
(3-4 rhythm) “…imprisonments… beatings and often near death (4) “And five times I suffered the 39 lashes “Then thrice I was beaten with rods, and once stoned “And thrice also shipwrecked… adrift” in the splashes
“Then danger from rivers, and danger from robbers “And danger from fam’ly; from Gentiles; false peers “Through danger in cities, in wild lands and waters “Through sleeplessness, hunger; through cold and through fears”
“For His sake I’ve lost all things, deeming them dung [literal translation] “that I may gain Christ!” (5) May this song ever be sung!
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage [dung], that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.” -Philippians 3:8-11
When-I feel so rejected I share in Your plight “The Son of Man came to His own… And even His own did not care to receive Him” (Jn. 1:11) Receive my own care day and night
To Thirst With You
Is
to Console You
When-I feel tired and parched With You may I ache “I thirst” (Jn. 19:28) for you; “Give me to drink” (Jn. 4:7) “They gave me dour gall; sour wine for my thirst” (Psalm 69:21) Your thirst, with my love, may I slake
To Think of You
Is
to Console You
When-I feel so insulted With You may I pray “Reproaches have broken my heart… I looked for just one to console me, but… found none” (Ps. 69:20) Find me! I’ll console You today
To CryWith You and
To Die With You
Is
to Console You
When-I feel like I’m dying With You may I cry “God, why’ve You abandoned me now?” (Ps. 22; Mk. 15:34) “Into Your hands, Father, I pour my spirit” O Christ, pour Your SPIRIT…
Your LOVE…
Your LIFE from Your side!
*****
“…one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” (Jn. 19:34)
“…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11)
“Two roads” diverge in each day’s wood (1) Death to self OR deadly selfishness A mystic donning Carmel’s hood (2) San Juan’s words the test of time have stood Confronting all with Spanish holiness
Teresa’s confessor advises Choosing the “road… to life”* though thorned Not doom’s “easy” road, is wisest ‘Ain’t natural’, ego surmises Fear uprises; is not this path forlorned?
To borrow from a ‘Frosty’ bard Choosing the “one less traveled by” Makes “all the difference”, this road hard Christ’s “narrow gate”*! All fear discard Wherein find the strength? In His footsteps nigh
Give your neighbor the last word With a smile, sprint the “extra mile”* Listen to folks most leave unheard Let them heist your time (your plans deferred) Hide cheerfully your inner trial
Your preferences let others steal Seek them to love, their burdens bear Rather than to be loved! Then you’ll heal The wounds they may not see, but feel Your attention transmits the Lord’s own care
This road “less traveled” could be in vain Without the off’ring up in prayer Of ev’ry chosen sacrifice or pain “Deny yourself”*, follow Him; His Reign The “difference” ‘tween these roads compare First His Cross, then His Crown, you will share
*****
(1) Poem inspired by Robert Frost’s poem, “The Road Not Taken” (link) and by certain words of Jesus Christ oft quoted by St. John of the Cross (2) St. John of the Cross *Quotes from Jesus in the Gospels
Rhymes for the Rejoiceful 