Be out of words.
Be through with the platitudes of
polite society.
Be in need of something holy.
Return to a gathering place
alone and fallow. Stand
where contours of earth are traced
by wind and light.
Let the fire of hunger
throw its fury into shadows
while hands prepare a lavish meal in
silence.
There is a work being done, unknowing,
a wedding in Cana in need of its company.
Beyond the usual and ordained,
invite the orphans of hiddenness,
the quiet, unfulfilled desires.
Invite a tempered anonymity.
Invite the prodigal and his brother.
Invite fear and reluctance.
Invite the deeds done unheralded and
those performed in shallowed pride.
Invite every squandered moment.
Invite ignorance and her twin sister certitude.
Invite envy and smallness,
and every loose regret. Invite the
denied. Invite the dispossessed.
Invite the stranger within
whom no one has
known or loved. Invite the exile.
When the proclamation of the feast has been received,
and all seems ready;
wait, breathe, rest…
for from the vast horizons
in all directions will
come the oft unwelcomed guests of
actual character, legion within a
kaleidoscope soul.
Place a ring on fingers, a robe on shoulders.
Watch as each disfigured face alights in
awed relief, blossoming deeper beauty out
into the music and the laughter.
Let the raucous celebration resound joyous into the night
for this is the great homecoming.
And there, at the threshold
glowing sure against the darkness,
besmirked and coy,
arriving almost too late:
the words.
“Be hungry enough
to invite others hungry”…
beautiful, James.
Thank you.
besmirked and coy, I love that! felt it… absolutely perfect