Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
What does it mean
to be living stones
when all around
is loss and death?
What does it mean
to be chosen
and precious
when inequity
renders some
as seemingly dispensable?
What does it mean
to be built together
in the midst of a plague
when we must stay apart
when our buildings are closed
and our liturgies scattered?
Maybe, just maybe
the freedom brought
by being locked out
is the very thing
that enables
us to recognise
the Spirit at work
all around
Freed from our attempts
to fetter her
Freed from our narrow vision
of where she might be
Freed to catch the Spirit
in our peripheral vision
as she alights
where we are
in hospitals
and homes
in funeral parlours
and makeshift chapels
In recording studios
and gardens
in front rooms
and kitchens
The Spirit shows up
without fanfare
without invocation
or epiclesis
She shows up
Bidden or unbidden
welcomed or not
She shows up
sometimes quietly
sometimes raging
always reshaping
And all we can do
is try to keep up
or at least remain vigilant
to the opportunity
that she leaves
in her wake.
when our buildings are closed
and our liturgies scattered?
Maybe, just maybe
the freedom brought
by being locked out
is the very thing
that enables
us to recognise
the Spirit at work
all around
Freed from our attempts
to fetter her
Freed from our narrow vision
of where she might be
Freed to catch the Spirit
in our peripheral vision
as she alights
where we are
in hospitals
and homes
in funeral parlours
and makeshift chapels
In recording studios
and gardens
in front rooms
and kitchens
The Spirit shows up
without fanfare
without invocation
or epiclesis
She shows up
Bidden or unbidden
welcomed or not
She shows up
sometimes quietly
sometimes raging
always reshaping
And all we can do
is try to keep up
or at least remain vigilant
to the opportunity
that she leaves
in her wake.
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