3 Strands

A church on the way

   toward healing, wholeness,

      and stretching toward holiness,

has a three-strand cord,

   or maybe it's a three-string chord,

      by which it both swings and sings

         toward its sacred calling.

First, is the story belonging

   to each of its congregants.

      It is their unique history;

their personal narrative

   of love and loss,

      holding and hurting,

         joy and sorrow,

            a story needing to be

               fully known and owned.

Second, a congregational novel:

   ways the gathering souls

      have tried to become

the blessed, broken,

   poured out, and shared

      body of Christ in a

         particular place, spanning

            the entirety of their existence,

               also becoming readily repeatable.

Photo by Mary Lou Dumas Sgarlato

 The third, a story whispered

   by the Holy Spirit

      into the listening ear

         of the people as they

            worship and serve together,

as their spirits are marinated

   in the Word made flesh's story,

      love daily unfolding

         into their living, breathing.

As this third tale materializes,

   the other two are healed,

      softening their strands and stanzas,

         so the trio can be braided

            into an autobiography of grace,

               singing a new adventure of hope.

© 2015 Todd Jenkins