Greek Orthodox Sacramental Anointment
Kyrie eleison priest says
Water important and priest prays
At baptism, chants are incessant
Lord have mercy for those present
Child is beautiful, twelve months old
Godparents, traditions uphold
Undress child, it's fear transparent
Lord have mercy for those present
In font, oil added to water
Placed in water is goddaughter
Oil with water stings, unpleasant
Lord have mercy for those present
Three times child
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Categories:
sacramental, water,
Form: Kyrielle
Surprise
This poem brings a surprise,
Once I came home with bits of pies
In my hair, kids did what they dare,
Food fights all over everywhere,
All part of sacramental life,
Church celebrations full of strife,
No, I am not kidding,
In cream puffs we were skidding,
This Dracula finally left the scene,
You try teaching all those tweens!
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Categories:
sacramental, childhood, children, christian, class,
Form: Free verse
Sacramental Trees
Maybe you didn’t know
When you hurt me so.
Maybe you 've killed t a few
I think your words would do.
I float across that space
Where lovers once embraced
And thus you bring torment
To me to whom love you sent.
When I close my eyes
My daytime face then dies.
I look across dark seas
To sacramental trees.
My dreams are full
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Categories:
sacramental, abuse, allusion, lost love,
Form: Rhyme
Sacramental Ecology
Communion
reversed
grows feelings of narcissistic isolation.
Isolation
reversed
invites empowering cooperation.
Cooperation
reversed
requires competitive capitalization.
Capitalism
begets
Win/Lose strategic
Business as bottom economic line
Usual.
BusinessAsUsual
begets
monocultural monopolistic fantasies.
Monopoly Win fantasies
beget
monotheistic loyalty games
speaking patriotism
whispering worship.
Monotheistic loyalty
begets
isolation.
Isolation
reversed
invites active communion,
a verb
sacredly familiar
as secular cooperation
Cooperation
co-arising
polypaths toward WinWin Futures,
economically secular
and politically sacred
communion
abhors mere capital
monotheistic underinvestment.
Monotheistic isolation
reversed
grows feelings of polyphonic communion,
resilient ecology,
resonant theology.
The silence of sacred trees branching
and the secular sounds of trees
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Categories:
sacramental, community, environment, health, integrity,
Form: Political Verse
Sacramental Dialogue
Let's do a bit of sacramental gaming.
Oh no, Dear!
That smells and sounds coldly inappropriate.
What would your great-grandmother say?
OK, well...
how about a mutually refining discussion
about theological system development?
That might be alright,
although heavy.
But, don't you mean the development of systematic theology?
That too, I suppose,
although I have not thought about processive faith-systems
in quite that systemic way and means
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Categories:
sacramental, community, culture, health, spiritual,
Form: Political Verse
Sacramental Acts
An afternoon beer in the shower
The written prayers of a Serbian bishop
Eating Mexican food alone at the market
Chopsticks and noodles
A prayer beneath a canopy of trees
Contemplating a woman’s lips
Contemplating her kiss
Waking to the rain on your window
Writing a poem for a black widow
These are the sacramental acts
For the simple and holy essence of your life.
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Categories:
sacramental, beautiful, beauty, faith, life,
Form: Free verse