The Hitch-hiker
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, July 24, 2013
Sebastian (1999 – 2013)
“Lord, make me half the man my dog thinks I am.”
The tick that carries spotted fever
malaria that mosquitos pass
on to mere kids, and then the cancer
that twists, subverts, deforms normal cells–
who can ever say this world is good?
…
The mind that in an empty room hears
loud voices saying run, hurt, be bad
not good, rape, kill, then die yourself. Fears
are all around. There is no hope left.
…
We can be as deformed as our world.
…
Can someone befriend us when bereft?
Join us with our demons in the cold?
Maybe not help us to understand
evil all around, but hold our hand?
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, June 7, 2012
A series of exchanges on Via Lucis about the history of human cruelty led me to publish this children’s prayer for sanity. There are supposed to be line breaks, but they keep disappearing.
Dear God,
Please teach me how to pray.
We have more questions every day.
Our minds and fingers seem to find
and make a mess (we leave behind)
for other’s hands to fix and clean.
(Sometimes we’re even mean.)
Often we feel that we’re so small
that we don’t matter much at all.
And yet we know you made us right
and even called us “good” in spite
of all we do. So help us know,
dear God, how we should grow.
– Steve Shoemaker, Urbana, IL, March 27, 2012
Steve’s program “Keepin’ the Faith” can be heard anytime @ www.will.illinois.edu/keepinthefaith, including archive programs.
Views from the Edge 