tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21944050356241638782024-03-05T12:28:13.565-06:00The Sankofa MuseJoseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-52719390338034438562023-12-19T15:47:00.003-06:002023-12-19T15:47:31.327-06:00"And He Heard Me"<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They never knew what would pull us
into whispers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">when the learned men would ramble
into clouds<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">of noise<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> but in the after<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">work we would share our wonder and
doubts<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">why only some dreams could be
shouted<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and others shouted down<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
we knew our work<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">was to grow and clean
and cook and wait<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">until<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> the work caught us again<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">II.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Then<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> he would linger on the road be found<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">standing near the well gently staring<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">as if his eyes could see my dreams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
as clear<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">as the sun high and hot<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
So they said yes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and my will surrendered beyond my<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">counted breaths<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> we could stare
now<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">without fear and walk where <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">the breeze would lead<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">III.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Then somehow<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">he knew to run into the room after
my world<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">had dizzied me and I fell <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
into the disrupted dirt<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I could not weep<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> I had sung<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">my promise and saw all the sky
bleed red<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and gold and white<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> He
lifted me up his eyes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">lifted me up</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">his arms lifted me</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">up into<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> a world never until then<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">conceived<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">He had heard me crying<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">
Yes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> nothing more would <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">matter wherever my heart<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">would tremble<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> he would whisper<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Yes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> and we could wait<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">the day <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Christmas
2023</span></i></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span></span></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-30680305636160850182023-10-11T15:34:00.005-05:002023-10-11T15:39:17.626-05:00"A Rock in a Weary Land: For Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church"<p> </p><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">Upon pain of losing fingers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hands<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tongues eyes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or breath itself<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they still stole<br />the words<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the pages<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the scraps<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the books<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and hummed the story
into<br />a stair of light upon which to climb<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not
only up a mountain but into the clouds –<br />If those words can make you free<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>they said<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>them words will sprout wings<br />upon our backs<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and spark
lightning in our fingers<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every chosen one<br />had to climb<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>walk<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or crawl up the rock<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a mountain<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sometimes<br /> a hill<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>maybe<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even just a mound<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beneath which the most sacred bones<br />were cherished<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Rock<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moses went when summoned and
returned<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shouting<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Go,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be Free”<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Rock<br />Elijah survived earthquake<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fire
and storm<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to gain the stillness of
complete love<br />at the pinnacle where all is revealed<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A Rock<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a stone upon which<br />the wisest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>bravest<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>oldest of the sojourners<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>would finally rest<br />at the crossroads<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>where hope met
dread<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>where blindness was stunned<br />into sight<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ebenezer<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Rock was called<br />where help was offered and claimed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>where the chosen and blessed were anointed<br />for the people<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>always the
people<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Samuel waited to see who would stand ready<br />to deliver God’s children and sing the songs that gladden our hearts
even now<br /><o:p> <br /></o:p>They knew that every child who climbed that rock<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>returned with words that gave<br />wings to dreams<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The child who stood on the mountain<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>who was dragged up the hill<br />spoke the word that we still stretch out our souls to hear and to hold<br /><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Word<br />that causes us to tremble<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tells
us<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes this day<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that if you climb the rock<br />it is to see a way to the Promise Land<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>go<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and return<br /> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and guide us on</div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;">**********************************</div><div style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><i><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(There
are very, very few institutions in the Black community that can be honored for
celebrating 152 years of existence. The fact that three formerly enslaved
African American families gathered to pray together, without ceasing, is the
most profound reason for confirming with word and deed this milestone
celebration. October 6, 2023.)</span><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></i></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-17469936707516000182023-05-25T13:17:00.008-05:002023-05-25T13:19:58.016-05:00The Wonder Will Be<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The Wonder Will Be</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">for a friend, on his birthday</i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> There were how many days</span></p><div style="line-height: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> before I stopped</span></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">looking past the boy and just stared until</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">he lifted his head</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> straight into me</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> and he</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">dropped his hand from the fence</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">and stood still</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> telling me he would stay</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">if just a nod or a second glance</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> allowed</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">him passage</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Come here</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">you come here</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> can you cook</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The smile that crept from his eyes</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">past his mouth</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> and into his chest</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">was all the answer</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> I will</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">ever need</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Here yes here</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> we need these greens</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">to be</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> picked and cleaned and cleaned</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">and cleaned</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> no grit</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">none nowhere and not</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">none on you</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> neither</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The smile again</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> Well I thought</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">hadn’t been none for some years</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">somebody is always hungry around</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">here and I always got the fixins’</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The wonder will be</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">how long he will stay</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> and</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">his steady hand</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> bowed head</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">and the hum he’s sending down</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">past his hands</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> says</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I need to make room</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">again</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> at last</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> and finally</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> -- 2020</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><br /></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-50555159711448458132023-03-07T18:25:00.005-06:002023-03-08T18:57:18.706-06:00“The Presence of the Word: Out of the Darkness: Sound and Substance; Liberation and Black Imagination”<p> [<i>In perpetual, joyful transcendent honor of Toni Morrison, upon the issuing of the U. S. Postal Stamp, March 7, 2023. First presented as panel presentation, Conference on the Catholic Imagination, Loyola University Chicago, August 2019</i><span>] </span><span style="color: #cc0000;"> --After </span><span>[Toni Morrison] </span><span style="color: #cc0000;">Author's comments/responses in red--</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“And God
said.....” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Of course,
God said...”darkness, you shall not prevail. There will be light.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Creation begins with a word, spoken, with the
power to make things. And to make things happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Yes,
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“à</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">she:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Make it so.” The
power within all that has been created. Before anything was created, there was
the power. There was and is and will always be, the <i>word</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“And there
was evening and there was morning, the first day.”</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">̀</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">What they were
drowning in, in the bottom of the wooden vessel, rocking on water that could
also drown them – water that was now to be a forever-locked gate to the only
strength they had ever known, where the ancestors, the living-dead, wept for
their being ripped away from the earth where they had learned to dance. And it
was dark.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The evil
ones proved their clever genius in how they broke even the bonds of words -- “We
were landed up a river a good way from the sea, about Virginia county, where we
saw few or none of our native Africans, and not one soul who could talk to me.
I was a few weeks weeding grass, and gathering stones in a plantation; and at
last all my companions were distributed different ways, and only myself was
left. I was now exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of
the rest of my companions; for they could talk to each other, but I had no
person to speak to that I could understand. In this state I was constantly
grieving and pining, and wishing for death rather than any thing else.” (<i>Equiano</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chapter 3, p. 90)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">No words,
but crying and moaning and the groans of wide-awake night (always, never broken
night):<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Then late
at night, after the songs were over, from the darkness of the lower decks of
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Young Hero</i> and thousand other
ships, the sailors could hear ‘an howling melancholy noise, expressive of
extreme anguish.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one such occasion,
the ship’s doctor said that he asked his black female interpreter to go inquire
the cause of the wailing noise. According to the doctor, ‘she discovered it to
be owing to their having dreamt that they were in their own country, and
finding themselves when awake, in the hold of a slave ship.’” (Harding, <i>There
is a River</i>, p. 16) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“And God
said”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in the conviction bestowed in
them at birth, they sang.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each utterance
shaped the universe, resisted the darkness. Word. Sound. Sounding truth.
Speaking “No,” to the destructive trauma of darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Erasing the circle of all that was truth and
evident:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we are born, we grow, we bless
and are blessed; we teach; we descend into a darkness where we are named,
blessed, called forth through the gateway of the night, to protect those who sleep.
We are bringers of peace.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">No. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">The circle
was forever destroyed. This we knew. But we could only sound the anguish, being
separated from the words that allowed us to live.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">And so we
live. They named us, “dead.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And yet....
we howled and sang and year by burning year, we found a word, then more; then
many. And now, we now shape the circle -- being completed once more.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">They brought
storms into our sky and into our minds and the howling we have done is nothing
but the howling we have been burned by.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Flinging the darkness up and away from us, we are the ancestors of the
children yet unborn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Every song
draws someone, one by one, by “We”, into the circle where they and we can learn
who they and we have always been.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">[Toni
Morrison]<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“For a long
time, the art form that was healing for Black people was music. That music is
no longer <i>exclusively</i> ours; we don’t have exclusive rights to it. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">(Ain’t that the truth! Somebody<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>stole all my stuff,
Father-brother-uncle-cousin Langston said)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Other people
sing it and play it; it is the mode of contemporary music everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So another form has to take that place, and
it seems to me that the novel is needed by African Americans now in a way that
it was not needed before – and it is following along the lines of the function
of novels everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">(So we gotta do the soul-food magic,
again, take the left-overs and cook them up so good and delicious that we can
feed a neighborhood...of strangers)</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">We don’t
live in places where we can hear those stories anymore; parents don’t sit
around and tell their children those classical, mythological archetypal stories
that we heard years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But new
information has to get out, and there are several ways to do it. One is the
novel. I regard it as a way to accomplish certain very strong functions....<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It should be
beautiful, and powerful, but it should also <i>work</i>. It should have
something in it that enlightens; something in it that opens the door and points
the way. Something in it that suggests what the conflicts are, what the
problems are. But it need not solve those problems because it is not a case
study, it is not a recipe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">”[there are
things to be incorporated] that should be directly and deliberately related to
what I regard as the major characteristics of Black art, wherever it is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of which is the ability<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to be both print and oral literature: to
combine those two aspects so that the stories can be read in silence, of
course, but one should be able to hear them as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">It should
try deliberately to make you stand up and make you feel something profoundly in
the same way that a Black preacher requires his congregation to speak, to join
him in the sermon, to behave in a certain way, to stand up and to weep and to
cry and to accede or to change and to modify – to expand on the sermon that is
being delivered.....And having at my disposal only the letters of the alphabet
and some punctuation, i have to provide the places and spaces so that the
reader can participate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because it is
the affective and participatory<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>relationship
between the artist or the speaker and the audience that is of primary
importance, as it is in these other art forms that I have described.” (<i>What
Moves at the Margin</i>, pp. 58-59)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Oh, so what you mean is that Black
literature is sacrament and sacramental?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It achieves the effect that is intended?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It has the power to make the stranger a neighbor, neighbors a community;
and communities a culture?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is that what
you mean, Ms. Morrison?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there
anything else we need to know, for this time and space and place and
purpose?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anything about how the original
artists, through their ability to be mystics, in the truest sense of the word –
becoming the angels that traverse Jacob’s ladder and not the trashy individual
caught up in their dream – learning to demand that God come down from heaven
and liberate those who groan and cry and mourn and weep – making their voices
the primal and primary therapeutic response to the enduring trauma inflicted on
them all – being thoroughly assured that “their wings were going to fit them
well, since they tried them on, at the Gates of Hell,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of becoming Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Elijah,
Mary, Martha, John the Baptist, Peter and even the silent abused Savior – in
other <i>words</i>,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the carriers of the
Voice of God (like all good prophets are).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I’m sorry, Ms. Morrison, is there anything else you want to tell us
about how the art you conjure up is so closely aligned with the principles of
sacramental theology that we can grin and wallow in your generous teaching?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Oh, Ok....</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“The only
thing I would add<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. . is the presence of
the ancestor; it seems to me interesting to evaluate Black literature on what
the writer does with the presence of the ancestor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Which is to say a grandfather as in Ralph
Ellison, or a grandmother as in Toni Cade Bambara, or a healer as in Bambara or
Henry Dumas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is always an elder
there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And these ancestors are not just
parents, they are sort of timeless people whose relationships to the characters
are benevolent, instructive, and protective, and they provide a certain kind of
wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Yes, ma’am. Saints. The living-dead
of the Kongo cultures. The visitors of our dreams and daydreams. The
intercessors, guides, angels and guides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The saints. When the survivors of the ocean voyage stepped on the earth
that would be their prison, they decided that as soon as they learned the
language of those who enslaved them, they would use that language to free
themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They stole the book, the
book that starts with darkness and sound – with the word of power. And they
named themselves the liberating heroes of the stories held dear by those who
sought to control them.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">And they said, “Never been to
heaven, but I’ve been told, the streets of heaven are paved with gold.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“When I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout,
and there will be nobody there to turn me out.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And, “Everybody talking about heaven ain’t going there.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">Yes, ma’am. And all the ma’ams and
sirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You have taught us to see and hear
prophetic literature.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">And we are grateful. And that is why
we love you all. By giving us your art and becoming our ancestors, you have
taught us to love the gifts you show us to be. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">“Without
ever leaving the ground, [you] could fly.” (Morrison, <i>Song of Solomon</i>)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;">To fly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without. Ever leaving. The ground… in the
world of the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.</span><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkPCr8RCFedE944x7oB92cvV0v7wLQYtOow4wrrCS9ov4ubfE2kKnbpg__j58NfgwnP96_pGY42X_bmxRljVgf348SGYcOriz5K419WhGqL3ISKfNiMHPdnC9mNfHG_g1S6FL0XdtMH5FBqFiDYV8WMgRntf0399Z-hJZlVq4BLgGYeoLyhutbAq8Y" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="329" data-original-width="330" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjkPCr8RCFedE944x7oB92cvV0v7wLQYtOow4wrrCS9ov4ubfE2kKnbpg__j58NfgwnP96_pGY42X_bmxRljVgf348SGYcOriz5K419WhGqL3ISKfNiMHPdnC9mNfHG_g1S6FL0XdtMH5FBqFiDYV8WMgRntf0399Z-hJZlVq4BLgGYeoLyhutbAq8Y=w112-h112" width="112" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #c45911; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-themecolor: accent2; mso-themeshade: 191;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-88969615187034296012022-12-23T01:15:00.005-06:002022-12-23T01:16:54.476-06:00“Until None Need Stars to Call Them On”<p> “<i>They were overjoyed at seeing the star…</i>” [Matthew 2: 1 -12]</p><div style="text-align: left;"><div><br /></div><div>Moving west for days that blended into a forever now</div><div>our minds locked into each other’s vision</div><div> and the star</div><div>defied all the knowledge we had hungrily held</div><div><br /></div><div>each night it called us</div><div> </div><div>the calm and steady trust brought to us</div><div>by that flickering light</div><div> was nearly drowned</div><div>by the pinched face and the slicing words</div><div>of this hungry king whose fear </div><div>assaulted us</div><div> from the moment</div><div>we gave him our cause</div><div><br /></div><div>That night we did not share a word</div><div>of what we felt</div><div> we slept</div><div> we allowed our dreams </div><div>to wrap us in a cloud</div><div><br /></div><div>And when we found the child we gave them </div><div>of our treasures</div><div> and our hoarded dreams</div><div>and whispered</div><div><br /></div><div>Leave</div><div> so that what our hearts can barely contain</div><div>when following this child’s eyes</div><div> will survive</div><div>until none need stars</div><div>to call them on</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span>Christmas 2022</i></div></div>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-26168822070096797982022-04-11T00:47:00.009-05:002022-04-11T00:49:29.933-05:00And Here I Stand on Fire: Palm Sunday Passion Reflection<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And Here I Stand on Fire<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><i>“As they led him away they took
hold of a certain Simon, a Cyrenian,</i><i>who was coming in from the
country; and after laying the cross on him,</i><i>they made him carry it behind
Jesus</i>.” (Luke 23:26)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Oh</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I know</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">the story</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">that
somehow</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I was seized by the soldiers</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">to walk</span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">behind
him</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">the burden of the day</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">heavier by far</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">than
a single bar of wood</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I know</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">how
I fell out</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">into the road</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">as
they pulled him along</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">My
breath caught my throat<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>constricted<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">water
streaming down my face</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Oh</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I know</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">He
stumbled<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he shook</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">he
groaned</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and
I looked into his bloody eyes</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They
never seized me<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I
grabbed the wood</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I could not
lift him</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">from
the dirt</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I could not leave</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I
could only see his back<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his legs</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">II.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">When
the stumbling stopped</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">the beasts</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">pushed
me back<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>into the crowd</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">two
women wiped my face</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">held
my hands<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and stood</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">with me</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">until
the silence and the dark descended<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">III.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">They
brought me to the hall <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Men
I did not know made me bathe</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">drink<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what little wine they could spare<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">It
was not sleep</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">it was a falling into
nothing</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I
could dream</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">IV.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Days
and nights made <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">no
difference <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">V.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Please
let me cry this<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to you<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Again
the air grew warm</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">we
all grabbed each other and leaned<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">into
fear<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the door<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>disappeared<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and
I saw</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">His eyes</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">his
eyes</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">as steady as a fisher’s net</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">pulled
me to him<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again I fell<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and
never broke the stare<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">hand
upon my head</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">please let me</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">cry</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His hand</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">and I said</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Yes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And
here I stand</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on fire with his
eyes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">his
hand<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>upon me still<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(For the Ordination of Joshua
Peters, SJ</span></i></p><p align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: right;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">20 June 2020)</span></i></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-62308998916060576992021-12-22T15:14:00.000-06:002021-12-22T15:14:00.220-06:00"In Galilee a Virgin"<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">In Galilee, a Virgin<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(Luke
1:26)<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">With the whisper</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>came the fire</span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">sounding into a hum that
caught me<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">breathing slowly<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I knew<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from somewhere<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">to be still<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but blistering heat<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">shifted my breath<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>choking me<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Near the edge<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I heard<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">one word<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then another<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and then<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I was light enough to
leave my bench<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">my hands sought the
source<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>my eyes<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">blinked and teared<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then one
word<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">then another<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fire
pulsed<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">whisper floated<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">a circle<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my hand <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">trembling <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beneath my<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>heart<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and from <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">where<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or
how<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I still do not<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">know<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>there was only<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
fire<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">And my<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>stilled the air<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">What will<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his eyes see<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">when I place his hand
here<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>where<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">the fire lingers<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>still<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what will<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">my throat release
into<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">the world<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>suddenly and forever split apart<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Is any<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>enough<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to shear<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">away the doubt<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the searching<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">is over<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I am now made<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">whole<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when I can hold what<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">this fire has claimed<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">sing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>softly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>every<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">ever dreamed <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to
give</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: times;"> </span></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b><span style="font-family: CODY; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 107%;">-- Luke</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 6pt;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">20 December 2021<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-91723993172893451062021-09-28T23:05:00.023-05:002022-01-03T20:34:27.060-06:00"I Done Done What You Told Me to Do"<p> [<i><span style="font-family: trebuchet;">Solicted for a project on Jesuits and Theater, coordinated by George Drance, SJ</span></i>]</p><p class="MsoNormal">The title of this reflection comes from one of the grand old
Spirituals, which should be no surprise to anyone who has sampled any of my
other writings. What amazed me when I discovered this song, just a few minutes
before I began writing this piece, is how it could be the drumbeat for a
meditation on how one lives one’s vocation – no matter what the circumstance or
specifics of the call. Not only could I use this song as a way of thinking
about all the moments in my life when I was told to do something by my parents
or by teachers, something – anything – that I was either hesitant to do or
absolutely paralyzed from doing, I can use this song as a way into understanding
how faith has been <i>performed </i>throughout my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No; it is not a quirk that I have never been
able to imagine doing all sorts of great and fulfilling things. I tell people
that I have been most successful when I have been told, “I think you ought to
do……” and I say, “If you say so….” I have learned to trust those who see gifts
in me that I often overlook.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62LSdhqxHXM&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&index=55">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62LSdhqxHXM&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&index=55</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My sixty years of work in theater is the perfect proof of
this being led by faith into and out of a wilderness of discovery and
transformation. Within weeks of my entering the Society of Jesus in 1962, Fr.
Joseph D. Sheehan, our Novice Master, understood that I would need a forceful
intervention in my life if I were to ever break through the overwhelming fear I
had of speaking in public. Oh, I had been the drum major for the Beloit
Catholic High School marching band for three years in high school. But in
almost every other public setting I fell into a traumatic state of confusion
and fear. I had to be forced to have my picture taken, to be put behind a
microphone to speak. Looking back all these decades, I know why this condition
controlled so much of my public life. Racism. I was the only Black person in my
high school for three of my four years in attendance. The administrators
manipulated me into every publicity photo ever produced. I was always pushed
forward for the public view. Even my selection as drum major was racially
based. “You have a better sense of rhythm than the other band members,” our
band director said. Oh, really? The only Black kid in the school? How
sensitive. And how completely wrong – at least in the beginning. By my senior
year I could perform as well as any drum major in any of the southern Wisconsin
high schools.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Three months after I entered the novitiate, Fr. Sheehan had
grown frustrated with having to demand that I answer questions or offer
comments in our classes. He called me to his office one afternoon, to “give him
some advice,” he said. The novitiate was going to produce a holiday musical. It
would be a parody of “The Music Man,” called, “Man, Music.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And he wanted my opinion as to which novices
could be cast in many of the roles in the play. He handed me the cast list. My
name was already there. “No.” I was clear. “I will not appear on stage. I
cannot appear on stage.” “I didn’t ask your permission,” he said. And truly,
the rest is history. I went into the absolute wilderness of the theater and
came out of the wilderness, more alive than I had ever dreamed possible. The
first enthusiastic laughter and applause for what I was doing told me that I
should wade into that water, with faith and gratitude.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During my four years in that building, I acted in seven
plays – sometimes small roles; sometimes the lead roles. Crafting costumes and
creating choreography when needed, added to my skills set. Soon after I moved on
to St. Louis University to begin the formal study of philosophy, theater
classes and productions became a therapeutic oasis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My year of graduate studies at Johns Hopkins
pulled me into directing – at the request of the Hopkins undergraduate drama
club. I directed three plays (two one-acts and one full-length play) during that one
academic year. And on and on. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In all of these years, I learned that the theme for this
reflection is about faith. This Spiritual fits how I feel about religious life
and priesthood – connecting also with another powerful meditation, “Done Made
My Vows to the Lord, and I will go, I shall go, to see what the end will
be.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That was the song Sr. Thea Bowman
blessed us with when the community of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies
visited her in Canton, Mississippi, the year before she died. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yf4PaXHLc&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&index=43">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2yf4PaXHLc&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&index=43</a></p><p class="MsoNormal">I will go. I won’t turn back. I will trust the truth of the
vision of others. I have no idea what the end will be, but when I get farther
along the path, I will tell God, the ancestors, my elders and my trusted
circle, “I done done what you told me to do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That is theater at its most vulnerable and transparent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We trust the script, the director, the
actors, the crew. Faith. And then…. oh, how blessed is the moment when we begin
to have faith in ourselves; seeing, finally, within us what those who love and
trust us have always seen.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFdNBHNSNp2b8kjWvtyHPN-YMCA_5f189unvdxwjQFqc9hy6rOmw85bnrhv0-9ziq5KzPz4G55bgEIPjOOSF522HTXfZHgY32Ka27o-HticD8EnFoLaW8jOLWtyIO3VKuXMuO66wE2PY/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="158" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFdNBHNSNp2b8kjWvtyHPN-YMCA_5f189unvdxwjQFqc9hy6rOmw85bnrhv0-9ziq5KzPz4G55bgEIPjOOSF522HTXfZHgY32Ka27o-HticD8EnFoLaW8jOLWtyIO3VKuXMuO66wE2PY/w140-h175/image.png" width="140" /></a></div>From a production of
“Teahouse of the August Moon,” performed at St. Louis University in 1968. The
director, Leo Hanson, had to convince me that I could play a 90-year-old
village elder of Okinawa. At least one member of the audience confirmed Mr.
Hanson’s choice. They asked him who was that retired professor who played the
old man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> An almost 70-year difference between my age and the age of the character. It does not matter. The Spirit of Wisdom inhabits all of us.</span><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT73l6mF_1GXXUY31Hk8PAv34wLG1V3REiOuvRmKPCvSQaTdT2Yvr9IR6l-S1wSAvUHcLvN0wLL0ef__r9yWeJ5G-OXHlLFLR0fSSGHW9W_7rsALTRY465ag84xlDBaNMiHJwApz3q-V0/" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img alt="" data-original-height="157" data-original-width="121" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT73l6mF_1GXXUY31Hk8PAv34wLG1V3REiOuvRmKPCvSQaTdT2Yvr9IR6l-S1wSAvUHcLvN0wLL0ef__r9yWeJ5G-OXHlLFLR0fSSGHW9W_7rsALTRY465ag84xlDBaNMiHJwApz3q-V0/w142-h184/image.png" width="142" /></a>And from the most
recent moment of blessing and confirmation: playing Solly Two Kings in the 2018
production of “Gem of the Ocean” at Southern Illinois University. The character
fit me better than a costume. An elder taking a young questor on a journey into
their history and then turning over the role of guide to the young one.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Teaching? Ministry? Acting and directing? Being an elder? </p><p class="MsoNormal">I done done what I was told to do.</p><p class="MsoNormal">https://www.jesuittheater.org/</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-21828423902503650692021-07-31T14:32:00.001-05:002021-07-31T14:33:37.137-05:00The Tomb of Ignatius: Rome 1972<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oXWS8GE2KRFqhbDujrCHZMXwVxgqWZC37fFQAlMf8pazppyu-RAkA7mpmidWXWyYn4p9wXkv2BZN7DmOEk_0YCidjZyn5-FkGJqpIGZEFEEMc06XnfqBNB6uLx3YKKnzyqGClMiwuKs/s1896/ROME_Feast+of+St+Ignatius.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1896" data-original-width="1208" height="327" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0oXWS8GE2KRFqhbDujrCHZMXwVxgqWZC37fFQAlMf8pazppyu-RAkA7mpmidWXWyYn4p9wXkv2BZN7DmOEk_0YCidjZyn5-FkGJqpIGZEFEEMc06XnfqBNB6uLx3YKKnzyqGClMiwuKs/w303-h327/ROME_Feast+of+St+Ignatius.jpg" width="303" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Rome.31 July 1972. Photo: Michael Harter, SJ</span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Liturgical Dancers: Luis de Tavera & Joseph A.
Brown, SJ.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Eucharistic Liturgy: Presider: C. J. McNaspy, SJ. Community: </span></i><i><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Jesuit Institute of the Arts. 3<sup>rd</sup> Annual
Meeting.</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><br /></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">The Tomb of Ignatius: Rome</span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">31 July 1972<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p>1.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">mark it out:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>six
footsteps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just under<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>deep enough for
a child<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">for a child to<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>hide<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and if able to stretch<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and turn over<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it
would touch the walls.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">no more room.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not even air would be comfortable beyond<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">these limits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
tightly sealed.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">see it:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a boat<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">a covered<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>gold
boat<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>shaped<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to float lightly into the sea<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>riding<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">high off to the edge of nowhere<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or sent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">angels everywhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>pulling the eye<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">up and around.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>pointing into corners where<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">prayer evaporates and silence lingers.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">behind marble clouds and silver folds<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">bronze curving in and out<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the breath<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that comes from the holy places everywhere<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you look.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>can you
see it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mark it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">4.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">when the bones have been cleaned they must be<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">boiled until the last scraps of meat and muscle<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">collect on top.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>boil them in lye for the<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">best results<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">5.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">results are seldom expected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even though<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">you know that plants need water<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and rich dirt for successful growth<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>once<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in awhile<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a seed
has been found<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">to take root in dust<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>airless dust<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">dust that is sealed away from<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">light<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from
rain<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>from everything but<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">memory<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(and
even some times in forgotten<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">dust)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">6.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">we were wrong<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>distracted<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fools<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">after gold to believe that visions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">come in silence<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>though a busload of belgian<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">tourists buying postcards<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>avès riding<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in a wave of mumbled music<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>timed by<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">camera shutters and lights locked in<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">15 minute cycles<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the vision in that
should<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">have been a clue<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">7.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">that he would have accepted<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">everything at once<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">how clear he knew that<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">not even bernini himself could contain<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">an italian determined on devotion<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">8.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">little child<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">ignatius<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who could follow a lame man<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">who wept more and more as<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">time slipped him somewhere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">beyond he child.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and back again<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">9.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or sent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">the eye cannot be held to sliver<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">lights the perfect draping on an<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">angel’s thigh<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>it is drawn to wonder<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">if the dust<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">has any hidden<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">10.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sustenance<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">11.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">it could<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">it could<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">12.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">something brought us here<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">13.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">mark it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>nowhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mark it out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">see.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>somewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>see it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>dust.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">gold and bronze.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>visions<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">called it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>out.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sustenance.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">sent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sent or
called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>called.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and sent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sent and
called.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yes here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>of course
here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">would know.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>he knew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a flame<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">is always certain.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>especially<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in darkness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in
silence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">yes here.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>sustenance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in dust.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">in tears.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in
tourists.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lights.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">and visions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mark it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">everywhere.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">[Published in <i>The Sun Whispers, Wait: New and Collected Poems</i>. Brown Turtle Press. 2009]</p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-89389213897601541402021-06-12T20:24:00.001-05:002021-06-12T20:28:50.927-05:00"After the Flare and Flame"<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 106%;">After the Flare and Flame<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i>The Road to Emmaus: Luke 24: 13 -32<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p>We knew it no longer mattered</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>how we stumbled<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">away from the gushing women<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">our brothers who were no longer
ashamed<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">to weep<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">If we walked twice the seven miles
to home<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">we would<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Anything to exhaust the rage</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>before we were crushed<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">and as empty as he said he found
the cave<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Burning everywhere<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>our eyes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>our throats<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">our lungs<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my skin was dry enough to peel<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">with the merest touch<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>enough</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">What stoked this fire<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was fear<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Neither of us noticed</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>or
cared<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">to see the stranger nearly upon us<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">His first words startled me<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">reawakening the rage that had <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>almost<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">settled like ashes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>after the flare and flame<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">The confrontation took us both
into a howling<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">threatening storm of words<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Until he twisted us free<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">of the knots that had strangled
us<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>these last<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">fearful days<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">How could we be blind<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>how<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">could we not hear the voice that
will now<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">forever<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hold us<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>still<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"> Our
hunger shifted</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">from needing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>protective enveloping dark<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p>into the memory of his mother</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">handing us bread so many nights<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When he broke the bread<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he brought us<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">from the tomb where we had cowered<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">And now we can do<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as he had
done <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">and will always do<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">give that bread to all</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">-- Luke<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Dedicated and offered as a gift to a group of men
bringing their light into an all-too-shadowy world. For the ordination of newly
ordained priests:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ajani Gibson (for the
Archdiocese of New Orleans); and for the Midwest Province of the Society of
Jesus: Thomas Bambrick; Jeffrey Dorr; Garrett Gundlach; Robert Karle; Aaron
Malnick; Hung T. Nguyen; Trevor Rainwater; and Jeffrey Sullivan.<o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-27451537622868940902020-12-18T16:27:00.003-06:002020-12-18T16:47:03.719-06:00"What Little Hope We Have"<p> <span style="font-size: medium;">These demands stab at what little
hope we have</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">left buried in the soil of our
prayers Pay now</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">go there stop that
Bow down die<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">How like we are to the soon
exhausted oil left<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">sputtering in the darkness<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Them
forcing us to register<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">away from here when all will be ignored before any<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">return is finished step madly into the water and drown<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">who will even notice<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Look
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">they have come back<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Some dark cloud seemed to cover
her as</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">they came to each of us that
morning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> When they left for his forced reckoning<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> I
doubted<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">their place would wait that
journey’s close<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Nevertheless we left it locked
against intrusion<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Something between them seemed so
trusting and<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">so calm that they gave us just
enough morsels <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">to sustain us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> But now <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p> </o:p>there is yes
there is oh my this </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">she is holding a child and he is holding her hand <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">and the guiding cord for the mule<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
a child<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I am going to the road<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
and so are the others to see<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">what is pulling us into their path what
yes oh <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">yes she is looking at each of us<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
and he too is holding <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">us with a gaze so fierce as to
begin us humming <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">just to find our breath<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
yes oh yes<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;">a child is here <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> to
tell us <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> why the light must flare <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><o:p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: CODY; line-height: 107%;">-- Luke</span><span style="line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="font-size: medium; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Christmas. 2020 </span>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-3478934702107387352020-05-12T00:27:00.005-05:002020-05-15T16:41:07.952-05:00"My Arms Are Empty"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My Arms Are
Empty: A Song of Lamentation<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>for Ahmaud Arbery<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
When I saw
him die</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I no
longer<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
cared about
the trembling<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the tears<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no one<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>walks these streets<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>except<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the very few<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and the solitary
runners<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
choke
me<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I cannot breathe against<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the rhythm
sorrow beats into my <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
throat<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I moved into the morning and I
will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
sit<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>against this tree<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>seven
days <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they say<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
seven days
of tattered shirts<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I no longer<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
care<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>let the holes be seen<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>seven<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
times
seven<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have found this place<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
stay<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I cry<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I whisper<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and no one<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>cares that I am<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
become the Piet<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">à</span>
without a child<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
even
that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even that<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I
hum<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Oh, Mary,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Don’t You
Weep”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and she is now<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>here with me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
saying<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>you will<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you must<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>drain your heart<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
until the
others come<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
the others will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
This tree is
not shelter<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not from<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the devouring
fire<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it burns<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
forever<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and our scars<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pulse<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
with the
rage that cannot sound<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
when the
others come<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
know that we
will <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>then unclench<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
our swollen
fingers<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our hands
will drum our sorrow<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
into this
ground<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
you glance
at me<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the one who
whispers each<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
child’s
name<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>if I cannot hold<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
them to my
breast<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
hold them
with my song<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
live<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>child<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>you live<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and this<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
tree and
I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will be the place where<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no lie can
live<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>-- 12 May
2020<o:p></o:p></i><br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgdJa41aAw&t=8s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtgdJa41aAw&t=8s</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-18841749776845833742020-03-19T20:35:00.000-05:002020-03-20T12:01:24.278-05:00"I Grew to Trust the Dreams": The Feast of St. Joseph<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">At a time
when many people were rejoicing in my ordination to the priesthood, albeit for
myriad, sometimes competing reasons, I had to respond to one invitation after
another of being asked to “come [somewhere] and say Mass.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“People need to see you,” was the usual theme
of the invitations. In the spring of 1973, the oddest invitation of that ordination
year came from a nun who was teaching at the old north St. Louis Catholic grade
school, St. Bridget, in the shadow of the Pruett-Igoe Housing projects. The nun
asked me to come to the grade school and preside at a Mass for 8<sup>th</sup>-graders,
on March 19, the Feast of St. Joseph. The invitation would have been sufficient,
in that simple statement; but as is often the case, she could not leave well
enough alone. “If you can, please emphasize the role of ‘St. Joseph the Worker’
– most of these children don’t know the value of hard work; since they don’t
see many people with jobs.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">It was
enough to make me believe in God. Either that or walk away from it all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So I said, yes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of the homily, I asked the
students if they knew why Joseph was a saint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The usual fidgeting and glancing eyes were the immediate response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I said, I think we must understand
that many people have focused on the fact that Joseph was a carpenter. But we
don’t know any more than that. “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” is all we are
told in scripture. We don’t know if he was a great, mediocre or merely
competent carpenter. So I don’t think that is the reason for his obvious sanctity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think the real reason we honor Joseph with
the title of “Saint,” is that, when his girlfriend told him she was pregnant,
and it wasn’t his child, he did not panic. He did not reject her. He did not
turn her over to the authorities in the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He accepted her. He protected her. Because he listened to the voice of
God which came to him in his dreams.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Further, I said to them, “lots of people will say that many of you don’t
know the value of hard work. But I know better. You have seen your fathers and
mothers and uncles, aunts, grandfathers, grandmothers and neighbors, get up
every day and hustle, one way or another, to bring something into your home.
And they struggle, out of love for you and your family. They work as hard as
they are able to. But it is their determination to remember that all children
are gifts from God that makes us admire them and love them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">As soon as
I was finished with the Mass, a young woman asked me if I was going to come
back soon. The nun who had invited me moved as quickly as the wind and came to
the front of the room and told the students that she regretted that I wouldn’t
be able to come back to the school, since I had such a busy schedule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Two years
later, when I was doing a Mass at St. Francis Xavier High School on the St. Louis
University campus a young woman walked up to me and said, “You don’t remember me,
but I remember you. You came to our school two years ago and said Mass. I
remember what you told us…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Thank you, Sister.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">Today, just
before the Feast of St. Joseph ends, I am offering this poem from the past.
Like the other poems about Joseph that appear in “The Sankofa Muse” (entries
#31 and #39), the poem supplies words from the mind of the most silent of
saints.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The dreams, the
responsibilities, the spirit-capture that changed his life. And the eyes of the
child and the child’s mother:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The man
listened beyond what was known and changed his world; and ours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-CA;">“I Grew to
Trust the Dreams”:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><!--[if supportFields]><span
lang=EN-CA style='mso-ansi-language:EN-CA'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1</span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]-->Christmas:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1984<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
"<i>When
he arose, he took the young child and his mother<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>by night,
and departed into Egypt</i>."<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
there
have<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>been no further dreams no other
warnings<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no more men
who come crowding out the air<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>pushing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
through a
cloud of whisperings<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no dreams
come that last poised moment when<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I would
reach to turn my world towards what <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
is now<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
forever
shattered<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I grew to trust the dreams<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
this
boy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and her<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the mother<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>all I learned<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
(what<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to need<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>to accept<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to carry into hiding)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
that night
when every child in the world began to die<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the
dreams<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the dreams suddenly vanishing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I cannot be
blind to the blood without them<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I cannot
bind my fear without them<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I cannot
mute the howling wind<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>when
I hold<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
this child he grows heavy<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I look at him<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
touch him<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>press my lips to his eyes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his ears<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
his
hands<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his heart<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he is my dream replaced<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
nightly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>every child I see is him and every dream<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
his
life<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will be filled with<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the telling of the day <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the children
began to die<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you must live an anointing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
you must
bring them back <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
haunting my
dreams<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>have found their flesh<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I feed you
child<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a sea<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a field<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a night sky of <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
children
blenching into silence<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
grow heavy with them<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-91303461113640440392019-12-22T23:25:00.001-06:002019-12-22T23:25:10.080-06:00But Her Eyes Called to Me<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But
Her Eyes Called to Me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">“And coming forward at that very
time, Anna gave thanks to God and spoke <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">about the child to all who were
awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem” – Luke 2:38<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Over every throbbing ache<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in every finger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">in my knees and back<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
have whispered<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">tell me why I remain<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>alone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">childless and feared<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they will not limn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">their concerns or doubts<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">nod as if my eyes do not see even
the glittering<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">dust that floats when the great
veil is disturbed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>but cannot outpace<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my
deepest hunger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">To know why<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am kept<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>even the old man will not<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">cross the barrier of the day <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we bow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">as best we can<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and wait the interruption<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">from beyond<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what grave is yet
denied<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">And then<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>even my breath <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>was pulled from me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">when I turned<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">He stood behind<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>slightly bowed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">could not move<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but her eyes
called me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I know<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I finally know<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I see<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">what I had not hoped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yet
hoped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">and hungered for<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>since<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">(I will not say)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hold now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>little one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">shattering the silence<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>forever<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">until the last word is<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>burned clean<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I hold you now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>little one<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">It is done<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>O God<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">It is done<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Brush Script MT"; font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 107%;">-- Luke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>22
December 2019<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-78929319618217223782019-11-09T20:28:00.001-06:002019-11-25T18:57:13.395-06:00"Samuel Remembers"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Samuel
Remembers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 1.0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For Fr. George Clements, Seer and Prophet<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Each
time <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I sit here on the helping
stone<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>knowing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
have seen the storm<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>used it to soothe
their desires<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">And
when my bones have ached with fire<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>that was<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the
true voice<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I tell them<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>waking me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">to
rush to the elder and warn him of his sons<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Wearing
the robes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my mother wrapped around me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">searching
against my own heart’s whispers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>for a man<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">who
would not satisfy their disturbed dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and then<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">wandering
into the far reaches<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yet
again<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
was the last of the old ones of the old ways<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
am he who shaped the way it must now be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By holding<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a small bowl of oil<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>embracing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the
beautiful boy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and sending him
to dance<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">against
the giants<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>rushing to grind
us <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">into
small beads of sorrow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the promise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
felt<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and feel<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and know</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It
was my mother’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">voice
that sounded me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>awake<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I
sit here<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>knowing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the storm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">can
be used<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
fire can be<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>called<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the
ache can be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">healed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: .5in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">29 April 2019/for 3 May 2019<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: 1.0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Anniversary of Ordination:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>3 May 1957<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>[“Ebenezer:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Stone of Help”]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">____________________________________________________<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">In celebration of
the 62<sup>nd</sup> anniversary (May 2019) of his ordination to the Roman
Catholic priesthood, this poem was dedicated to Fr. George Clements of Chicago.
Beginning with his pastorate of Holy Angels Church in Chicago (1969-1991), George
H. Clements reshaped the notion of “church” by calling into existence programs
devoted to <i>one-church-one child</i>, <i>one-church-one-addict</i>, <i>one-ch</i></span><i>urch-one-inmate</i>.
He was also one of the mentors and shields for the early development of the Illinois
Chapter of the Black Panthers as they constructed some of their revolutionary
work known as the “Rainbow Coalition.” Fr. Clements was also part of the group
who founded the National Black Catholic Clergy Caucus in 1968 and remains a
mentor to the members of the NBCCC and many other men and women religious and
clergy, and lay leaders throughout the country. Much like Samuel in the Old
Testament (1 and 2 Samuel), Fr. Clements sought out me and scores of others and
called us to be courageous and focused and unafraid of the giants who would contend
with us. <o:p></o:p>On November 25, 2019, The Reverend George Clements died, in
Hammond, Indiana.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-83170520859944405752019-07-20T22:12:00.004-05:002020-10-18T23:53:31.056-05:00I Told Jesus It Would be All Right<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>TOLD JESUS IT WOULD BE ALL RIGHT IF HE
CHANGED MY NAME:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
A MEDITATION
ON THE NAMES WE WONDROUSLY WEAR<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We have the
memory of<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Mary, what
you gonna name<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
your pretty
little baby”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
being called
every thing but<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“A child of
God”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
boy bastard
girl pig cow<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
fool nigger
and so<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
on and
on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the torrent<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of
filth<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>fell<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
upon the
heads <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
of those who
would stand<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
mute and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
unforgiving<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“think I’ll
name him<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Jesus”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0dA3qejnVg">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0dA3qejnVg</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oh<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>yes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>names are important and we do not need a seminar in linguistics to
understand the reason. African Americans (or Africans? Or Americans? Or
Colored? Or Negro? Or Colored Americans? Or Negro Americans? Or....?)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>had/have only the luxury of grace, and the
memory of the people of God when it comes to owning the name we/they are/were
known by.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
SOMETHING
WITHIN ME/ I WISH I COULD EXPLAIN<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I’VE GOT
SOMETHING WITHIN ME/ THAT HOLDETH MY REINS<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAf8UhbB0wE">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAf8UhbB0wE</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
That
something, they call it God’s Holy Fire, filled the void of meaning when the
devastation of enslavement took the ground out from under the souls of the
African men and women (there could never be a child in such a circumstance –
not if childhood depends on innocence. The capture destroyed all innocence) who
were cast upon the waters of greed and abasement. They searched the scriptures
that were used as weapons of submission and found the names of liberators; the
names of faithful servants; the names of warriors and kings and prophets and
vision-seekers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They found Deborah and
Samuel, Daniel and David, Mary, Martha, Hannah and Elizabeth.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
They spoke
the saving names in the ears of the children, they sang the names (Moses,
Joshua, Elijah, John, Paul, Peter and Samson) in the dances whereby they called
down the divine power.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>African women and
men who were being called everything but a child of God, understood the story
of Jacob better than many a theologian, then or now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When the
embodiment of God’s power, hereafter known as the Angel, confronted the
dissembling, thieving, opportunistic Jacob, the hero faced, in the midnight
hour on the plain of Peniel, his worst nightmare: his own weakness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the struggling, the sweating, the
wrestling with the power of God was called to a draw, Jacob was halt and no
longer what he had been. He encountered God and was not vanquished. What did he
get out of it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A damaged hip, the
promise of countless descendants, and a new name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The people
of the new enslavement chose their God wisely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They invoked the power and settled upon themselves names that carried
the shimmering aura of the spirit-blessed. And you think it is an easy thing to
take my name and “nick” it? You think it is a sign of friendship to slip your
tongue under my inheritance and trip my name on your tongue until my reality
stumbles on your presumption?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Oh, no. I
told Jesus it would be all right if HE<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
change my
name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmjOU_PmHY&list=PLbrjbumNvOk2Sd7GI25ZEMsaK858RVNQN&index=67&t=0s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzmjOU_PmHY&list=PLbrjbumNvOk2Sd7GI25ZEMsaK858RVNQN&index=67&t=0s</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And Jesus
told me that the world would hate me, scorn me, abuse and crucify me. I told
HIM that it was a bargain worth the making, as long as HE<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
knew who I
was and how to speak to ME<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
that no
storm can assail, no tempest can assault.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The woman
who cleans the filth of strangers day after day after day, walks into her
church and is called “sister,” “daughter,” and “saint.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the street and in the homes and hearts of
her neighbors she is called, Miss or Mrs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And she knows the worth of her name, her calling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> S</span>o, too, the man who is “boy” and “nigger,”
and “Sam” and <i>joke</i>, day after day in the street and on the job (if he
has one, and is not known simply by a string of numbers). Oh, Lord, let him
walk into the sanctuary, where he is “brother,” “father,” “elder,” “sir,” “deacon,”
and “reverend.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And revered are they
all. It’s all in the name, the true name, the sweet name, the proper name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“Don’t ever
call me out of my name,” is shouted on the streets all over the African world
of childhood.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Why? Because
we have the memory of the homeland left only in our words, in our songs, in the
ways that make us a “folk.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we know
that we have to live up to our names, bestowed as they are by people who wanted
to weigh us down with history, music and promises.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Every tongue-twisting
name that shows up on the census and school record-book is a warning and
declaration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This child will have attention
paid to her, to him. You may not want to waste a glance or breath on my baby,
but you will, by God and his mama, take the time to say his name and to spell
her wondrous identity correctly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After
all,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God told Adam and Eve to name
everything set before them in creation, and whatsoever they name a thing, that
would be its name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So, I got a
name, you got a name. Written in the book of life. I got a name that makes music
on my mama’s tongue, that lights up my granddaddy’s eye when he says it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Don’t even
think about doing nothing about my name except<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
to make it a
sacrament.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After all I
am a child of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thank you, very much.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 107%;">[prepared for M. Annette Turner and the
Archdiocese of Louisville Office of Multicultural Ministry. December 1997]<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-11755508606504434562019-05-26T15:18:00.003-05:002019-05-26T15:20:19.363-05:00To Wade into Tomorrow's Call<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">To Wade into Tomorrow’s Call<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">He enjoined them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for "the promise of the Father about which you have
heard me speak...”</span></i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">
Acts 1:4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">We were told to wait<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the promise<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>to stay cloaked<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">and still<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>for the days until<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">we would feel the fire</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">send<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
then send<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>us into<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">a fire that could never consume<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">our souls<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> Now<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">after the whirlwind finally died<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">we would begin to walk<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>one to Cana<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">or Capernaum<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>or sail<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>as far as Cyrene<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">or Carthage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">But before<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we would kiss our love<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">upon our brothers’ brows grown<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">smooth and unscarred by fear’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">vanishing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>forever<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We stood at<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">the shore where we were first<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">called and fed<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>breaking our fast<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">by remembering<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and by
remembering<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">promising to wade<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>into tomorrow’s <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">call<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "mistral"; font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 107%;">-Luke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">26 May 2019<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><u>Ordination
to the Priesthood</u><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Norman A. Fischer, Jr.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>27
May 2000<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">R. Tony Ricard<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>27 May 1995<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "baskerville old face" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Joseph A. Brown, SJ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>27 May 1972<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-52320835474584374202019-03-23T23:30:00.002-05:002019-03-23T23:32:17.262-05:00The Awakening Gaze<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The Awakening Gaze<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">--
For Ricky; and for James and Bob and Emerson and all the others who are still
hidden from view<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
She stood in the door<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the
light in the room<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
no longer just from the sun coming in
the window<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
had been quieted and browned by the
yellow<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
fluids dripping from bags<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the blue and red and white<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
blinking lights<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the drawn curtain<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the flat grey metal<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
cabinets<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>tables and poles<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
She watched the lights speak to no one<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when the
nurse<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
and the other lady found her<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>they would be mad<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
she knew this<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Squeezing the
brown and white and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
red and black stuffed dog she<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>came to the man and said<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
hello<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
it was the only voice<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the only sound<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>able to cut through<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
the whistling and hissing and clicking
clacking of the sentinels<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
waiting for him to give over finally<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
hello<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just this once<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>someone sees me and not the red<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
and purple and green camouflage my
skin has become<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
she<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is not afraid<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to see me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and so<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
in her gaze I am able to remember<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
I was boy-long-before-remnant<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a name<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a laugh<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
and secrets<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now, he
remembers,<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am disappearing<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Into nothing but a flask for
fluids<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that distract<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
the nervous staff<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
More of this and</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
More of more of the same will comfort <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>he will<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>be still</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
and we will lessen our scratching
guilt<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
hello<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you know a story<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>please?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
If you will sing me<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
your favorite song<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will tell
you<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
a story<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when the nurse found
them<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
she was singing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“go to sleep<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>baby mine”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
the flickering machines stopped<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
to hold<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
his silence<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "brush script mt";"><span style="font-size: 24px;"> -- Luke</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">AIDS
Memorial, Carbondale Illinois<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">28
April 2013<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Shared
on the occasion of the 20<sup>th</sup> Annual AIDS Walk in Carbondale<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.6in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-7904095145102110262019-01-21T17:54:00.001-06:002019-01-21T17:54:51.399-06:00"Go Down, Moses""Go Down, Moses"<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueSULlAKSkU&index=17&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&t=0s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueSULlAKSkU&index=17&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&t=0s</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On a day when we are called to remember and renew our calling, let us
hear what a <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>real dream sounded like, a
year before King was murdered.<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Trumpet of
Conscience</i>, Martin Luther King, Jr. Harper & Row, 1967:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“I have said that the problem, the crisis we face, is
international in scope. In fact, it is inseparable from an international
emergency which involves the poor, the dispossessed, and the exploited of the
whole world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can a nonviolent, direct-action movement find application on
the international level, to confront economic and political problems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I believe it can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is clear to me that the next stage of the
movement is to become international.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>National movements, within the developed countries – forces that focus
on London, or Paris, or Washington, or Ottawa – must help to make it
politically feasible for their governments to undertake the kind of massive aid
that the developing countries need if they are to break the chains of poverty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We in the West must bear in mind that the
poor countries are poor primarily because we have exploited them through
political or economic colonialism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Americans in particular must help their nation repent of her modern
economic imperialism.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But movements in our countries alone will not be enough. In
Latin America, for example, national reform movements have almost despaired of
nonviolent methods; many young men, even many priests, have joined guerrilla
movements in the hills.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So many of Latin
America’s problems have roots in the United States of America that we need to
form a solid, united movement, nonviolently conceived and carried through, so
that pressure can be brought to bear on the capital and government power
structures concerned, from both sides of the problem at once.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think that may be the only hope for a
nonviolent solution in Latin America today; and one of the most powerful
expressions of nonviolence may come out of that international coalition of
socially aware forces, operating outside governmental frameworks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
....Indeed, although it is obvious that nonviolent movements
for social change must internationalize, because of the interlocking nature of
the problems they all face, and because otherwise those problems will breed
war, we have hardly begun to build the skills and the strategy, or even the
commitment, to planetize our movement for social justice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In a world facing the revolt of the ragged and hungry masses
of God’s children, in a world torn between the tensions of the East and West,
white and colored, individualists and collectivists, in a world whose cultural
and spiritual power lags so far behind her technological capabilities that we
live each day on the verge of nuclear co-annihilation; in this world,
nonviolence is no longer an option for intellectual analysis, it is an
imperative for action.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Testament of
Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr</i>. Edited by James M.
Washington. Harper & Row. 1967. pp. 652-53]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
**********<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Where Do We Go
From Here: Chaos or Community?</i> Martin Luther King, Jr. Harper & Row. 1967:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow
before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by
the ever-rising tides of hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>History
is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals who pursued this self-defeating
path of hate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Arnold Toynbee once said
in a speech: ‘Love is the ultimate force that makes for the saving choice of
life and good against the damning choice of death and evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore the first hope in our inventory
must be the hope that love is going to have the last word.’<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We
are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of
life and history there is such a thing as being too late.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Procrastination is still the thief of
time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life often leaves us standing
bare, naked and dejected with a lost opportunity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ‘tide in the affairs of men’ does not
pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues
of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Too late.’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is an invisible book of life that faithfully records our vigilance
or our neglect. ‘The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on...’ We
still have a choice today:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>nonviolent
coexistence or violent coannihilation. This may well be mankind’s last chance
to choose between chaos and community.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
[in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A Testament of
Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr</i>. Edited by James M.
Washington. Harper & Row. 1967. pp. 632-33]<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8NGQGIogys&index=9&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&t=0s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8NGQGIogys&index=9&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&t=0s</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
21 January 2019<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-61141041594942195012018-12-23T23:18:00.000-06:002018-12-23T23:18:57.792-06:00"At the Border: Joseph Reflects"<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 106%;">At the Border: Joseph Reflects<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Matthew
2:13: “Then Joseph got up, took the child <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">and
his mother by night, and went to Egypt<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">The
dreams are worse<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and I am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">a
coward to pull you<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>child<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>into<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">this
dark cloud<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But your eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">oh
your eyes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>are the same light<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">the
old men brought in bags and<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">boxes<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>when my heart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">could
stand no more<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>strangers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">devouring
you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>soul-draining hunger<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">surrounding
us like sand<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
side-short<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">glances
and grins tell me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">breaking
with them<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>holding you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">when
I should be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mending<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">shaving<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>routing<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>the wood<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">rules
outweigh<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my fear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">you<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>little<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>smiling<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>breathing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">soft
and calm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you stop<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">like
the trumpet sounding<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">within
my soul<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that night<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">when
the whispers first<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>spoke<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">We
will not rest<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>not<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">wonder<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>no<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we will<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">cross
the border<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You must<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">live
beyond the delirium<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">death
hurries to suffocate<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">the
dreams<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>you will be<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">for
now<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>my only warmth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">all<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>we all<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>must<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">save<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And all I can<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">ever
hope<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">to
hold<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "lucida calligraphy"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 106%;">--
Luke <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">23
December 2018<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br />Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-38490984558358911742018-07-08T17:59:00.001-05:002020-05-15T23:57:01.826-05:00"I Couldn't Hear Nobody Pray"Every day during this season of doubt and drought and deserted dreams, it becomes harder and harder to know where the light is, and where the road is to lead us up, at least, if not out of the valley of trauma and sorrow.<br />
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<br />
“Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert, for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were over he was hungry.” (Luke 4: 1-2)<br />
<br />
But we are trapped in the desert of delusion and addiction to power; and denial and utter non-feeling cruelty. Oh, let the children come to me, He said.<br />
<br />
No. This is not, nor has it ever been “one nation, under God, with liberty and justice for all.” We who know this, we who bear the stripes of the crucified, abused and abandoned, are called now, to do exactly what Jesus did. Say, “no”, to the satanic seductive chants; say, “no”, to our doubts as to whether we are sufficient for the evil of this day. Say, “no”, to the devouring of the children. As surely as in the days of Elijah, the children are being thrown into the gaping jaws of Baal. And we stand, horrified. And we stand....and stand....and stand.<br />
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwXxBrA3wA">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IwXxBrA3wA</a></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><br /></span></div>
Way down yonder, by myself. And I couldn’t hear nobody pray.<br />
<br />
Oh we, some of us, are gathering in vigil. We are singing, marching and organizing. And we are, some of us (more than is tallied, if the deepest, darkest, most shadowy whispers can be admitted), afraid that nothing we do will be enough. Over and over during the season of Independence Day, 2018, we have had the grand debate, “This is not America. We are a nation of laws, of due process. We do not abuse children and destroy the bonds of families. This is not America.”<br />
<br />
And the Native people look on --<br />
And the eyes of those descended from the torn-away Africans, look on --<br />
cold and unblinking.<br />
<br />
This is the America that some of us have endured for more than 450 years – since the Spanish landed and discovered a land already populated, already civilized, already free. This is the America that was forged in war, tempered and seasoned with the blood of the helpless, broken and traumatized – and then ratified in a document that never meant, “We the people,” for all who were thereby defined as less than fully human.<br />
<br />
When He had resisted the temptation to use his power without regard of the consequences, He returned to his place among the people. He walked into the assembly, changed and noticeably so. The people in the worship space asked him to speak a word of comfort. His, “yes,” became their, “no.”<br />
<br />
He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.<br />
He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written:<br />
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,<br />
because he has anointed me<br />
to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty<br />
to captives and recovery of sight to the blind,<br />
to let the oppressed go free,<br />
and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.”<br />
Rolling up the scroll, he handed it back to the attendant and sat down,<br />
and the eyes of all in the synagogue looked intently at him.<br />
He said to them,<br />
“Today this scripture passage is fulfilled in your hearing.”<br />
<br />
And when they had truly heard him, they were enraged; and they drove him out of the synagogue, and sought to stone him. To death.<br />
<br />
“Recovery of sight to the blind’? That is the stumbling block, it seems. Do we know that far too often it is we ourselves who “have eyes but do not see; ears, but do not hear”? That this prophetic utterance is aimed at all of us who are convinced that we really do belong to an exceptional nation, that we are a people set apart, chosen and blessed. What is it we do not see.<br />
<br />
Seeing is not the problem. Facing up to the cause of the paralysis of will is the problem. And none is immune. From my first experience of traumatic stress – being left alone in a hospital ward, about to undergo an operation, aware only that my parents walked out of the room, closed the door and left me – to the most recent example of being devalued, marginalized and ignored by those who have benefited from my decades of service, I know the hesitation that comes from a sense of nearly overwhelming powerlessness. Will I make a difference? Can I be heard above the whirlwind? Does anyone care? Everyone is susceptible to this virus of discrimination and the myriad amoral displays of non-concern.<br />
<br />
When the cloud envelops us, we should viscerally understand the temptation of Christ in the desert and see that it is the same as His agony in the garden. And the old folks sang us that story, too:<br />
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<!--[if supportFields]><span
lang=EN-CA style='mso-ansi-language:EN-CA'><span style='mso-element:field-begin'></span><span
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> </span>SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1</span><![endif]--><!--[if supportFields]><span
style='mso-element:field-end'></span><![endif]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ujs13XnuYo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ujs13XnuYo</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
Why, indeed, are we here? Is it comprehensible that the pain our souls feel is so deep that we wish we had never been born?<br />
<br />
But, yet, we live.<br />
<br />
At a vigil of concern for the children who have been deliberately and cruelly traumatized by those who worship themselves as greater than any God who has ever been revealed, I called the participants to shake the blindness from their minds and admit that if we are conscious, we are able. If we are able, we are obligated. And if we are obligated, then we are blessed. Out of one of the greatest collective sins in human history – the transatlantic slave trade -- came the groaning and moaning that transformed itself into song. The song transformed the singers and the listeners into people whose birthmark is “resistance” and who learned to fly from the gates of Hell, by the power of their determination to be free; and if not, them, their children.<br />
<br />
There is nothing left, but to walk out of the tombs in which we find ourselves, bringing the children with us. Nothing was ever so dark, so corrupted by greed and lust, that somebody, somewhere could not shout down the very walls of Jericho. We need to find that power. The children have no one else.<br />
<br />
They do not belong in anybody’s jail. Neither do we. Neither did any of those women and men who learned to fly from the fire. Maybe our voice will be the one sign to someone captured in darkness that nothing is ever final, and they are not alone.<br />
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<span class="MsoHyperlink"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8byFwU5Sk&t=0s&index=7&list=PLbrjbumNvOk2Sd7GI25ZEMsaK858RVNQN">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP8byFwU5Sk&t=0s&index=7&list=PLbrjbumNvOk2Sd7GI25ZEMsaK858RVNQN</a></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-14337732520379198652017-12-26T22:37:00.001-06:002017-12-27T12:04:03.196-06:00'What Kind of World"<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-CA"><i>All of the
editorial comments with which I could surround this poem are so obvious, upon
reading it, that silence serves us best. Only this: Almost 50 years ago this poem was published
in The National Catholic Reporter. The
triple evils of </i>materialism<i>, </i>racism<i> and </i>militarism<i>, enumerated by Martin Luther King, Jr., still feed the
fears of this country, and continue to define so very much of its drive to
dominate, destroy and silence most of the world. But that was true in the days
when the decree of Caesar Augustus went forth, that all might be subject to a
census...and it is true now, when far too many are not counted at all.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
what kind of
world</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
is it indeed
that forces<o:p></o:p></div>
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christmas to
our winter<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and some
poor ragged jesus<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
to stumble
over starved dead<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
rotting in
the jungles<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
to steel
himself against<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
shouts of
men behind<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
stone walls
and take upon himself<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
a cold world
and fall again<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
in his still
fruitless coming<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
we have
never fully<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
understood
what kind of world<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
it is indeed<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
we have<o:p></o:p></div>
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in our land
this winter<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
a famine of
simplicity:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
homes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
food<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
magnificent
hallelujahs<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
for a
hundred resurrections<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and a
thousand births<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
but no straw<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no animals<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no shepherds
struck<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
dumb with
fear and wonder<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no virgins<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no silent and
adoring kings<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no not this
year i <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
do not want a savior’s coming<o:p></o:p></div>
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our nights
are neither quiet<o:p></o:p></div>
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calm nor bright
we have<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
everything
to keep us living<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and go about
collecting<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
scraps of
mute despair<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
to stuff in
window cracks<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and under
doors to keep away<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
our
loneliness<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
this biting
awful cold<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
what kind of
world<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
is it indeed<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
wait
awhile sweet<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
jesus just a year<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
to give us
time<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
just a
year to give<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
us time<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
but you will come<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
i know:
you must<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
you will
come now<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
in this dead<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and barren
world<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and stumble<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and be cold<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and grow
more ragged<o:p></o:p></div>
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and more
poor until<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
gasping
blood you spit<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
your anguish
into the dry earth<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and cry to
be delivered<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and you will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and we will<o:p></o:p></div>
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and they who
come<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
after us
will<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
this winter
waiting<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
is our
ritual<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
it must be
carried out<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
even though
we<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
no longer
keep the mystery<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
of our
fathers<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
give us time<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
perhaps a
year<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
will bring
us mysteries<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
and we may
beg<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
a savior’s
coming<o:p></o:p></div>
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><i> -- Luke </i></span><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> (1969)</span>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-29261500226869721692017-12-19T14:05:00.002-06:002017-12-19T14:06:14.250-06:00'Come I Said, Be Warm"<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No I was told <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
to say<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
If you do
not see their<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
coins<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
if they have only<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
small
belongings <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
tell them<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
No<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
But his eyes cut<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
into my
throat and I could<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
not breathe<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
or look away <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
for<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
then I would
have had to stare<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
at her
skin her hands her<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
eyes even more commanding<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yes<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The old man
who had told us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
stories
every evening after evening<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
spoke in my
mind<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It
could be<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
you it has been us<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
All is
still<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
I was the
only one in the door<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Come I said
you can at least<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
(and then
the air swirled and I knew<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
the dream in
his eyes was my hunger<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
long denied)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Come I said<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Be warm<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Your child shall <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
not be<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
denied<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>8 December 2017</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
[<i>Even though very many
of the eyes that scan this place have looked at these words, in other sendings,
the poem is persistent. So it is here. And so are we. And so is the Child in us
all. Nothing of grace can be denied</i>.]<o:p></o:p></div>
Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-60428142220980318712017-08-28T23:43:00.000-05:002018-01-06T17:12:43.822-06:00My Lord, What a Morning<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, give me little time to pray: Jesus, Lay Your Head in the Window<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bXC9SFxXoc&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&index=34">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bXC9SFxXoc&list=PL5384FE34170E9995&index=34</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
“The wind blows east and the wind blows west, it blows like
judgement day, and every soul that ever did pray will be glad to pray that
day...”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the very last minutes of a mighty day of remembrance and,
I am afraid, not the last minutes of a viral cloud passing over our horizon, we
should pause and think of the sacrifice of the thousands who marched for “jobs
and freedom,” long ago, on August 28, 1963. As we are called to note about that
great gittin-up morning, the assembly was met with the news that William Edward
Burghardt Du Bois had died the previous evening in his destination home in
Ghana. And we still ponder the promissory note waved in the face of the powers of the land by Martin. But as only a few of us will know
or find in many ways emblematic, the Roman Catholic community honors on this
day the great life and genius of Augustine of Hippo. Three of the most
brilliant people ever to be blessed with the designation of <i>African</i>. (Because I said so.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We must remember them, call on them, and feel their presence
in our lives today, in this time, when the world is being subjected to viral,
toxic winds that are blowing from every direction, truly making our time feel
like the Judgement Day.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j9_mCk5lFU">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j9_mCk5lFU</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Too many people declare themselves to be shocked or stunned
or overwhelmed by the anger and venom spilling forth in every part of this
planet. How could we be surprised or bewildered or undone by the violence, the
addictive hatred that marches in our streets?
The sound of hatred on the march is the oldest rhythm of this country,
devoted to equality and liberty and justice and fairness and decency – and
greed; sexual coercion and domination; ego-driven assaults on the vulnerable
and the marginalized; and the sexualized pleasure of public murders. As Martin
Luther King said to us all, we should be concerned about the victim lying
beaten and bruised on the Jericho Road, but we must be even more concentrated
on why there are robbers on that road, and why there are so many who walk
blindly by. The blindness is self-inflicted, the deafness is self-determined. “But that is not the way most of ......are.
We are better than this. We have moved beyond mouths dripping with venom and
guns pointed at those who have the courage to stand and resist and say, “No,”
to anger and threat and chaos.” Believe that, wish that, at our peril and the
collapse of all we thought we knew. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there is a judgement day, for each of us. No matter how
well-prepared we, some of us, thought we were, the death of each child; each
young woman who thought that she was one of the free and unbound, each young
man who believed that he had a right to dance to the rhythm of his heart and
imagination; each sister, brother, aunt, cousin, father or infant – each death
was enough to arrest our breath and pause the beating of our hearts. But none
of these deaths could stop the determination of those who believed in their
right to kill those who were defined as “them.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What do we do? We do what the songs have told us over and
over. My Lord, what a morning. But, more, this time, let our eyes <i>hear</i> the echo
of the truth, “My Lord, what a <b><i>mourning</i></b>...” For we must stop and
reckon with the devastation. As Audre Lorde told us, “we were never meant to
survive.” Of course we will mourn
ourselves for our fear. And we will of course mourn the death of all hope in
the souls of those who seek to destroy all they cannot embrace. We will mourn
the disappearance of our hope when the hurricanes drown Houston and Corpus
Christi, and Ferguson and westside Chicago, and Liberty Village and Grenada and
Cairo. And all of Puerto Rico and the islands in that seas.<br />
We will mourn.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And then we will say, Oh, no. Ain’t no grave can hold my
body down. If those women could push past their fear and the near certainty of
their own deaths and seek the tomb of the blessed son, only to find the stone
already rolled away, then we can draw in our collective breath and do what our
first fierce ancestors did in the bottom of those imprisoning ships when they
woke from dreaming of their homes and found themselves still chained, still
smeared in their own filth, still hungry and dehydrated. We can do no less.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They sent out a song that was nothing more and nothing less
than a storm of truth. No. Yes. Never. Always.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We will stay on the battlefield.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let us be attentive to Sweet Honey in the Rock and Sonia
Sanchez as they remind us that we are obligated to see the horizon beyond the
nightmarish cloud. A total eclipse lasts no more than a few minutes. This darkness shall not prevail.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It never has.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRe5aACNx50">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRe5aACNx50</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2194405035624163878.post-59288579791868954832017-05-06T10:58:00.004-05:002023-09-18T02:31:47.627-05:00"I'm On My Way..."<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">On April 14, 1978, while teaching at Creighton University, I
wrote this poem for the Creighton University African American Student
Association’s “Recognition Night.” As I
prepare to do a blessing for the Southern Illinois Black Pre-Commencement
Ceremony this spring (May 6, 2017), I find that this poem still has some
strength to share. And the time is always
appropriate to hear Mahalia Jackson declare, “I’m falling and rising, but I’m
on my way....”</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o7GnV30kJA&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&index=66">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o7GnV30kJA&list=PL-W4ZdGkUNrnIQvye1F_w4E6f6DgbF0tM&index=66</a><o:p></o:p></p></div><div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Mark the eternally<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Redeeming fact<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> when<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the shadow suffocates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">your hope<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> act<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">past the lightning terror<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">of the demon days<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">unremembered passage<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">from home to hell<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">shackled<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">mute of drum<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">fashioning banquets from<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">glacial wrongs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> Eden was <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">redeemed in songs<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">an arthritic alien<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">hungering greed ripped<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">families apart<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> the soul<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">was mastered by the shadow’s<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">need<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to deny and
shatter<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to garble and grind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">truth into ashes<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the verdict of death:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">make them blind<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> transfer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the blanket of the crime<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to the shaking shoulders<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">of the bent and broken<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">let the shadow haunt and
terrify<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">let all decency be deprived<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">until freedom
spoke in<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the raining of a gun<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the delusion of the shadow<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">was seen as fog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">stinging fear retreated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">and the sweat-tasting hymn<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">of jubilee<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> caught the rhythm<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">of the drum<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">in spite of death<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">still we come<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> we choose<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">to shed the curse laid<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">on our back<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> and when<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">the shadow threatens<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"> act<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
</div>Joseph A.Brown, SJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18154531856997534366noreply@blogger.com2