The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “listen.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! I heard a sound at a park the other day…
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “near.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! I keep thinking about how Easter is drawing nearer. Even as the darkness of Holy Week approaches, life already begins to spring forward in new ways!
Also, I wrote this post before it started to snow. Really funny April.
April Fools Day, huh?
Here’s a good one for you all:
Happy springtime y’all!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “rest.” Yes, it is Sunday again! Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! Everything you know about life should include things that you learn before kindergarten!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “power.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! Here’s a picture of my eldest conquering her fear and flying down a hill on her rollerblades. She’s pretty powerful already!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “Be.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! This picture was taken off the side of the bridge on the Greenway in Vestal.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “name.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! Today’s haiga is inspired partially by Ash Wednesday and the reality of mortality exposed by Lent.
My daughter wanted something to do tonight. Someone shared a challenge to use the word “fragrant” and an antonym in a challenge. I offered this challenge as an opportunity to my nine year old to share her talents. If you’re out there friend, please let me know where I should share her entry. Here is her poem:
The flower is fragrant.
An Awesome Daughter’s Poem, 2019
A bell rings out very well.
A skunk is quite smelly.
At the beach I found this shell.
By the way, as a father I need to ask: What shell? We live literally miles upon miles from the ocean…
All people have rough days. Ministers are no exception. Today has been a difficult morning for me. I have wept, I have prayed, and I have reached out to friends. One friend recommended I read two psalms, so I did the natural thing: I turned to a completely different psalm. I am, if nothing else, predictable.
I spent time in Psalm 127 trying to get my head back on straight. The following poem is inspired by the first two verses. It is a rondelet, which is my favorite syllabic poetry form outside of the various forms of Japanese Haikai.
Find rest with God.
“Find rest with God” Rondelet (inspired by Psalm 127:1-2) by the Distracted Pastor, 2019
Anxious thoughts do not give life birth.
Find rest with God.
There will come no bread from poor sod:
Unless the Creator brings forth
There will come nothing of true worth.
Find rest with God.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “favor.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! Macaroni and cheese in a house with a toddler… Oh my.
Today the d’Verse Poetics challenge for today is hosted by anmol(alias HA) and is centered on the subject of geography. I wanted another try at the prompt as I found it quite intriguing.
People who know me know that I am a Whovian who adores Doctor Who. After Steven Moffat’s story entitled “Blink” was released I had a real problem. I am a minister and suddenly I was afraid of living statues. Actually, a nearby town had a statue with the weeping angel shape in their yard and I literally rushed past it in my car for months.
This past Halloween Night, I was on a retreat at the Malvern Retreat Center when a friend of mine from the past two years pointed out that there were lots of statues around. I had never taken a walk in the woods on Halloween. What better time than after the evening service when we were all required to remain silent until morning? In other words, no nervous humming, no music, and nothing but the sounds of the forest on Halloween.
I walked down into the grotto to the largest collection of statues. I would say that my heart was beating out of my chest, but I learned anxiety breathing techniques that kept me from having a conniption. I made it down all the way and refused to run back up the hill.
There was something terrifying about being surrounded by hills and darkness on every side. It was as if I was descending to my doom like some Greek hero descending into the underworld. I wrote this poem to explore the feeling of descending into the darkness down into the depths of a valley with the earth rising up around me on one of the scariest nights of the year.
By the way, the friend almost hid in the woods to scare me, but realized that I would probably have instinctively hit him hard enough that he would have woken up in the hospital. He was probably right.
Today the d’Verse Poetics challenge for today is hosted by anmol(alias HA) and is centered on the subject of geography. I pondered what to write about today and decided the best thing to do was to think about a bit of local geography that has been bugging my family for the last few days as we have sought to be outside walking, biking, and having a good time.
We live on a rectangular block. The one side of the block is up a hill and the other side of the hill goes downhill. Somewhere between the two roads there is a cresting place which always brings relief, especially on a bicycle. As the challenge was based on geography, I thought I would reflect on the weird geography around our block. My rondelet is called “Wheels go around.” Sometimes they go fast and sometimes they go slow, but they always go around when we are circling the block.
Wheels go around.
“Wheels go around” Rondelet by the Distracted Pastor, 2019
Quickly we roll down the far street.
Wheels go around.
We grunt: we climb up hilly ground.
As pedals almost stop and still.
We creep up towards downward thrill.
Wheels go around.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “pondered.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! I found this chalk drawing on the Greenway trail in Vestal! Random person, I like the way you pondered spring while the ground was still frozen!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “rest.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! “Rest” is a weekly thing. I found this on the Vestal Greenway. Yes, I saw your message. Thank you!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “fruit.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! Why the head shaving reference? I once thought my value lay in how I look. I am not bald. I shave every single morning to remind myself that life isn’t about a full head of hair or how I look in general. May I suggest the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention as a wonderful partner for your ministry in this life?
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “planted.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! The photo was taken on the Vestal Rail Trail.
Today, March 21, 2019, is World Poetry Day! Here’s a haibun with a picture of our good friend! Sorry beloved folks in the southern hemisphere! We’re really excited the sun is coming closer!
I was frightened you would come halfway around the world, see the state of things, and turn around. Snow and ice have covered lawns torn apart by plows and ground saturated with salt. The grass seems brown and dead.
Here we are on the day after the choice has been made. Here we are and you draw even closer. Here we are and your light shines on cold ground that I feared would be frozen forever. Birds have begun to sing, clouds have given way to deepest blues, and warmth fills our land little by little.
Soon the bees will bumble, the worms will wriggle, and the flies will buzz. Soon the mosquitos will awaken as bloodthirsty as ever. Soon summer storms will wash away the salt and grime of winter. Thank you for everything–even the mosquitos.
Welcome back old friend.
“Haibun for the Sun” by the Distracted Pastor, 2019
Heat the soil of this good earth:
Bring growth from cold land.
Today, March 21, 2019, is World Poetry Day! Here’s a rondeau I wrote which grew out of a rondelet I wrote back in February called “You have a voice.”
We each have to make our own choice
“Here You Remain” Rondeau by the Distracted Pastor, 2019
About how we will use our voice.
All choose to either make a stand
Or bury their head in the sand,
But each person has made a choice.
To speak out with your loudest voice
or to whisper if that’s your choice.
Each word is a line in the sand:
Here you remain.
To do nothing may be your choice
As you sit silent with still voice.
Remain still and hold your own hand
As others watch the flames you’ve fanned.
Silence is a deafening voice:
Here you remain.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “living.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! These love locks can be found (for now) on the Greenway trail in Vestal. I know they’ll likely be cut off following Paris’ lead, but I give credit to those who spit into the wind. Wasteful? Yeah. Still, they are a romantic gesture.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “repentance.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! The photo was taken off of the trails in Vestal. In particular, it is in the section labeled the “Greenway.” I will include an extra picture with the nearby placard if you wish a little context.
This pipeline runs through Vestal and travels through rivers where local folks catch fish. Probably not surprisingly, the number of people who catch fish where these pipes risk contaminating the waterways are often economically lower on the scale than the folks who get their fish imported from the local Wegmans.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “Sacrifice.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! You may not understand why this is the picture, but I am reusing today’s haibun from an earlier post.
The sardines my daughter is eating are sustainably harvested. Fish like sardines and anchovies can be a good source of protein but are often overlooked for more expensive (less sustainable) proteins like beef, chicken, lamb, and often less sustainable fish. Why do we look past them? Perhaps it is because we do not realize what a whole world spending a day or two a week sustainably eating might do for everyone.
Also, if you cook them well, it is not much of a sacrifice. They really do taste very good when cooked well! Just look at the photo!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “present.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! The photo was taken in the wetlands by the Vestal Rail Trail.
Last night there was a meeting in the Upper New York Annual Conference. The bishop spoke, hearts broke, and certain people started talking about others. Opinions like mine were thrown to the side as people began speaking about how inevitable it was that the church would split. I was offering people my peace to people who stayed after to pray when I came across someone mocking people who believed the things I believed. I offered them peace.
I would love to say my poem isn’t inspired by Proverbs 25:21-22, but the reality is that we all have to choose how we live out our lives of faith. I try to be a person of integrity who prays with people, but sometimes you need to choose how to respond to people. I would rather respond with grace than with anger.
Offer them peace.
“Offer them peace” Rondelet by The Distracted Pastor, 2019
When they do not know what they do
Offer them peace.
When all they offer is a kris
Which they offer to put in you
For trying to keep your heart true:
Offer them peace.
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “rest.” Yes, the word “rest” is used multiple times throughout Lent. Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga!
The word for the day for the #RethinkChurch Photo-A-Day challenge is “chosen.” Being myself, I can’t leave well enough alone, so here’s a haiga! When I was a child my dad asked what I wanted to play in the band. I said drums. I was told to choose again. I said trumpet or bugle. I joined the choir. When my eldest asked if she could do percussion, my heart smiled. She has chosen well and I am blessed to be chosen by God to be her dad.
Distracted Pastor Ramblings 