March 27, 2025
Good afternoon,
The Bruce writes in (2023) Orders:
The pastor preaching shades of hate
The self-inflating head of state
The black and blue, the starved for bread
The dread, the red, the better dead
The sweet, the vile, the tall, the small
The one who rises to the call
The list is long—as I recall
Our orders said to love them all
The one who lets his demons win
The one we think we’re better than
A challenge great—as I recall
Our orders said to love them all
Mary Oliver writes in When Death Comes :
When it’s over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
Steve Martin ( 2025 ) writes:
Intrepid guide
Prodding gently
the contented
the agitated
those convinced
those floundering
over
narrow trails
toward
untapped destinations
resurrection moments
As you can see, I am all over the emotional map in my last few days of being pastor here at Poole. As I mentioned at the worship reflection last Sunday, I have been blessed in serving three congregations. I have grown as a person and pastor at all three. I have been a congregational pastor since 1987. The world and the church have changed, and I too have changed my beliefs and faith. God has been the constant, but if I have changed, then I guess God has changed in my body, mind and soul. If I change, then my understanding of the Divine Master has also moved to a stronger and more merciful place.
Praying for the peace of this world to arrive in Gaza, West Bank, Yemen and Syria. AMEN
Fred
black and white shadows
crush humanity’s freedom
am I complicit ? MPL 2025
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Ponder Anew 