Looking Glass

Photo by Lee Lindsey McKinney

Once we identify the image 

in the mirror 

as the single common denominator 

in all our problems, 

all our relationships, 

and all our stories, 

as well as the only person, place, 

or thing over which we have 

even an illusion of control, 

we have found the beginning point 

for healthy relationships. 

The next step requires putting down 

the looking glass and giving ourselves 

to make a difference 

in someone else's life; 

neither offering to fix, advise, 

or change them, nor pretending 

to be or do anything more or less 

than who we really are and that 

of which we're truly capable. 

Don't wait for perfection or 

understanding to begin, 

and do not demand either of these 

in yourself or others along the way. 

Lead with your heart, 

and let grace map 

each step of the way. 

Today is always a new day 

in each journey. 

© 2016 Todd Jenkins

Short

One of the churches I drive past regularly on my way to and from work recently had this message on its sign: 

Time is short,

hell is hot. 

Jesus is coming,

ready or not. 

The sign's sentiments seem to indicate:

(1) an attempt to scare heaven into passersby; and

(2) our religious-cultural generation's focus on securing an individual spot in a divinely favored afterlife. 

In my experience, you can scare the hell out of people, at least briefly, but heaven - or more significantly, love - cannot be instilled by fear, even for a little while. 

When fear of afterlife outcomes becomes the starting point and the focus, at the expense of living the grace of Jesus Christ in the here and now, congregations and institutional religion will continue to decline. The church that nurtures faith in the long run will be the one that offers hope and grace to a world of people who have been declared unacceptable by a culture of judgment and competition. 

My sign would offer this alternative:

Life is short, 

live what you've got. 

Grace abounds,

 noticed or not. 

© 2016 Todd Jenkins

Old Stone Fort Archaeological Park
Manchester, TN

River

Shall we cry you a river

  with the tears of our angst

    over our continued refusal

      to put Mother Earth

      and her life-blood

    on equal footing

  with exploitative

economic enterprises?

The collective lament

  of those who recognize

    our systemic rape

    and plunder of creation

  cannot restore,and may not

ameliorate this abuse,

but cheek’s glistening trail

  can remind us all

    of the universe's plaintive call

  to tread gently, leaving

ego, fear, and greed behind,

thinking long-range,

  recognizing and living

    our interdependence.

  Will it be enough?

Will we listen?

© 2016 Todd Jenkins

For you

Photo by Becky Johnson

Here we gather,

nothing like a museum

for the righteous, but

rather, a healing place

for those in search of grace.

   Here we rise,

   joining our voices

   with a long line of dreamers,

   cairn-stacking narratives

   of resurrection against

   a sea of indifference,

   hoping against hope

   that love will win.

Here we go,

sent out into

valleys of despair,

reflecting the forgiveness

we have received,

wrapping the whole world

in the gentleness with which

we've been covered.

         Here we are,

         for you.

© 2016 Todd Jenkins

eNEMY

In our interpersonal lives

we are constantly creating conflict

as well as being drawn

into conflict created by others.

  Exacerbation occurs when blindness,

  ego, denial, and indifference

  cause each of us to blame the other,

  refusing both responsibility and

  engagement in remediation.

    When this sort of behavior

    is practiced on a societal

    or international level,

    we are directly participating

    in the creation and escalation

    of our own enemies,

    whether our differences are

    political, economic, or other.

  As long as weaponization

  and violence are both our initial

  and primary tools for interaction,

  there will be no peace

  and no amelioration.

We'll either have to detonate

all the weapons and

outlive all the warmongers, or

genuinely commit ourselves

to something more magnanimous

before there'll be hope

for a different outcome.

© 2016 Todd Jenkins