Threshold
May we honor these thin times
this liminal space
that opens to the sacred
There is only a veil
between this world and the next
Become aware of deep time
and ancestors
still in us
communion of saints
still in us
goodness not just our own
still in us
nor is the badness
just our own
We carry the lived
and unlived also the healed
and the not yet healed
Let us take this communion
and these connexions
among ourselves as holy
and as whole
We are (just) part
of the Great Whole
children of God
and free to be fullness
in time's freedom
Introduction
This next poem is long and biographical in content and tells a true story. Long ago John Duns Scotus pointed out that God loves things in themselves and as themselves. He called this the scandal of particularity. Yes, there may be universal meanings, but we come to them through what is concrete, specific, and ordinary. Christian Wiman has written, “If God is love, Christ is love for this one person, this one place, this one time-bound, time-ravaged self.”
Some who are not familiar with liturical Christian churches might be helped by knowing that the Feast of All Saints is always November 1st as is the Celtic festival of Samhain. The Feast of Christ the King is the last Sunday of the liturgical year and often occurs near American Thanksgiving.
Ahimsa in a Life
Each day Ruby St. Jo opens the Book
and spends some time with Jesus.
This routine gave her freedom.
Caring for children had been her career
even into her social work life.
So when her own children moved on
a second marriage happened, bringing
new life, good times for Ruby and Ned
years for work and play and love.
They found joy in the lives that they led.
So after 12 years wedded Ruby walked
from the grave of this love of her life.
It seemed late in this time of suffering.
What more in a darkening November
but the Feast of Christ the King?
Her grandsons and a new life called.
Calvin and Timothy needed her now.
Their father addicted and in jail.
Their mother unable to cope.
Ruby would be both parents now
sharing heart and home with the boys.
They needed her calm; she liked their noise.
But home life was not easy at first
as adoption papers were approved.
What came next was not easy either.
In the big city hospital Tim needed care
so Cal would be home with her friend.
She would find space in the city
to stay with Tim till the end.
Their world was dark for many months.
It took time for Tim’s miracle healing
in an unexpected change.
In November with her boys back home,
although now it seemed like spring,
in a time of thanksgiving walked Ruby St. Jo
toward the Feast of Christ the King.
Ruby St. Jo in her working time
had helped some kids who were rough.
Those living in poverty,
in the presence of illness or addiction
in the absence of fathers, sometimes without homes,
some teens often out on their own.
Grandson Cal knew some rough ones too
though he gave them a wide berth.
One day got a text about Jimmy
who he knew at their old school.
Jimmy’d been killed on a bike ride
by a rope stretched across the paved path
His friends were angry, hurt,
and vulnerable;
no one seemed to know of their needs.
The man who strung rope was not charged;
no grave they could visit or funeral would be held.
The rough crowd of young teens decided
to hold their own wake for Jimmy.
When they found no adult that
they knew was going to do a thing,
they’d start a procession of All Saints
to the Feast of Christ the King.
The wake idea got the blessing
of Jimmy’s big sister. They’d skip school
and go to their secret beach.
Ruby St. Jo knew that beach too
and knew that she must go.
She asked her pastor and an elder
from her church to come,
but like the priest and Levite of old
they walked by on the other side,
and urged her not to go.
Ruby waited on the secret beach
while some of the teens got stoned.
It was almost an hour
before Jimmy’s sister showed
to quiet the crowd and introduce Ruby St. Jo
She called to the wondering crowd,
“You lost a friend to an untimely death,
but do not blame God or harden your hearts.
Just know you are loved
by Jesus the Christ
who understands grief and pain,
and all that you have been through.
He’s holding Jimmy now
and may you realize that he’s also holding you.
May you learn to see yourself
with the same love, delight, and expectation
with which God sees you in this moment.
You are a chosen generation, created for these times.
You can bring light not darkness
into this challenging world.
As you seek to hear your calling,
you will carry it wherever you roam.
Like we stand on the shore of this ocean
God’s mercy will lead us all home.”
Her presence was just as much as her words
the tough kids might remember,
the ones crying when she was done,
the ones who had Jesus on a cross round their necks
found a place in their time of loss.
She gave them time to grieve,
to pray, and just to breathe
as she let the Spirit bring
the gifts from that violent November
for the Feast of Christ the King.
Some small part of church that day
went beyond its own interest in being,
as souls were blessed and invited,
as eyes of the heart began seeing,
souls redeemed and reconciled.
So pray as you can with Ruby St. Jo
and spend some time with Jesus
Pray for Cal and Tim, and for all rough kids
on the shore of the ocean of mercy,
and listen for your own callings.
You will pray for us all when you sing
and will bless this journey of all saints
that ends with Christ the King.
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