How Much?

Not just, “How long?” but
“How much can one family take?”
When the “C” Reaper circles
the block, over and over,
faith is hard pressed to
maintain its full-bodied flavor.

We cry in the closet sometimes,
trying to be strong for others,
because that’s what we think
we’re supposed to do.

But you, O Lord, have created us
for community, for each other,
and if there’s any time we need
each other more than ever,
surely it is now!

Surround us with the love
of those who can and will
sing the songs of faith for us,
recite the creeds on our behalf,
believing for us, for a while,
until we can breathe again.

As much as we think we want to
see and understand the big picture,
what we’d really like right now
is to change the smaller picture,
re-pixeling the molecular details
of our very beings until
normal returns from its exile.

Into your hands, O God,
we commend our lives,
our love, our souls.
Hear our cries and answer us.
Hold us with the fierce but tender care
of a mother and father;
breathe into us your life that is sustained
now and forevermore. Amen.

© 2009 Todd Jenkins