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The Daily Examen - June 21-22, 2017

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 06/22/2017 - 20:07

The Daily Examen, Wednesday, June 21, 2017

The summer solstice brings
a dream of crossing dark water
a crow eating a dead baby owl
in the middle of the road
and pleasant weather
for walking beside
the river.

The Daily Examen, Thursday, June 22, 2017

St. Alban’s day
and I wonder
about the priest
led St. Alban to faith
and whom St. Alban
died instead of.

What happened to that priest?
What happened to faith
so strong
that others would adopt our faith
and be willing to die for it?

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The Daily Examen - June 19-20, 2017

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Wed, 06/21/2017 - 05:06

Daily Examen Monday, June 19, 2017
Fidget spinners
and prayer beads.
Exploring the pilgrimage
from the exonarthex
to the narthex
to the nave
to the sanctuary
to the Interior Castle
Confronting gatekeepers
and exploring alternate paths.

Daily Examen, Tuesday, June 20, 2017
And when the long awaited answer comes
it is greater than ever expected
and the only response
is joyful thanksgiving
mingled with yearning
a little anxiety

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Examen

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Father's Day Memories. Daily Examen. Sandy Hook.

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/18/2017 - 20:30

As I reach for a bowl
to make my morning oatmeal,
I see a plate from my childhood
nestled amidst the other dishes
and ask myself,
“What will you remember?”

Father’s day.
I remember to call my father
who has forgotten to turn on his phone.
I wonder if my daughters
will remember to call me
as I recall
the phone they are likely to call
is dead.

I stand,
in the moment,
seeking to commit
the smell of raisins
in the oatmeal
to long term memory
to stay with me
through my final years.

It is a solitary moment,
not one others will remember
when they eulogize me.

In the morning
I go to church
for the weekly remembrance
of the resurrection.

In the evening,
I choose not to watch an interview
with a man who denies
what many remember.

Note: I have gone back and forth about whether to include my "Daily Examen" posts with the rest of my poetry. I have decided, generally, not to. Too many of my other poems are more likely to get lost that way. However, this poem, which started off as my Daily Examen for June 18, 2017, stands well on its own, and I have chosen to include it with my other poems, with my Daily Examen, and also in Politics.

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Two Types of People

Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 06/18/2017 - 04:19

It is an old cliché, “There are two types of people…” Those who divide the world into two types of people, and those who don’t. I tend to think more in terms of continua and less in terms of binary oppositions. Nonetheless, it is a valuable rhetorical device.

One such example is the quote attributed to Helen Keller, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” It is tempting to head off on a direction about the life of fear that seems to grip so many in our nation today, and the life of adventure. I choose adventure.

This came to mind this morning as I was reading some of Scott Cairns’ “Short Trip to the Edge”. On page 178, (at least in my copy of the book), he says,

Sometimes I think there are two Orthodoxies (as, perhaps, there are two Christianities) – the mystical faith of those who glimpse how little we know (and are drawn and driven by love), and the cranky faith of those who appear to know everything already (and wish the rest of us would either agree with them or disappear).

This resonates with me on several levels. It seems that those of us drawn and driven by love and willing to admit not knowing everything are too few and far between in politics. Likewise, it feels like the discernment process, at least in my branch of the Jesus Movement, fails to embrace those of us drawn and driven by love who admit to not knowing everything.

It feels like allowing God to shape and change me doesn’t fit with institutions that want to do the shaping themselves, perhaps out of fear of confronting changes they need to look at.

Yet again, perhaps we are confronting a false dichotomy. It is not binary oppositions, it is a continua. Our journey is to recognize what we don’t know, where we aren’t as loving as we could or should be and asking God change us in these areas.

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