The first reading today continues in the Book of Genesis where we read: “then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being…” Continue reading
I am writing this on Monday evening. Such is the tyranny of bulletin production schedules. It has been a full day, a tiring day, but a good day. In the betwixt-and-between times after one late afternoon meeting and before a 7:00 pm conference call, I get to pause and think about the days gone by. What did I see and hear? Continue reading
Hand soft upon the window
Reaching out to touch the time just past
New York City school yards
In the cold spring
Winds eddy between the buildings
Pushing the laughter and unrestrained excess of recess
Young girls speak their hidden language with furtive fleeting looks
Eyes reveal their hidden whispers
The boys, oblivious and parading
Do what only boys could understand, care to understand
Teachers seize an uninterrupted moment
A passing bit of quiet in the smoky haze
As the day drags on
A respite before they all return
She traces simple lines and arcs in the cold spring frost
On Mercy’s pane
Watching the time just pass
“Yahweh God shaped man from the soil of the earth
And blew the breath of life into his nostrils
And man became a living being”
That breath passes from generation to generation
A chain of life connecting grandmothers, mothers, and daughters
The breath of God flowing
So wondrous
Tears soft upon her cheek
For reasons she does not yet know
Only a child
Someone’s daughter
Soon now a mother
A new link in that chain
Watching her yesterday on the playground
Not yet able to imagine what is lost or what lays ahead
Or the gentle mercy she will need
– June 26, 2001
friarmusings 