First Things RSS Feed - Warren L. Molton

If God Is That Sublime Moment

Mon, 01 Dec 1997 00:00:00 -0500

If God is that sublime moment
in the story when Jesus said,
“And his father seeing him afar off . . . ”
which could mean, of course,
that he had been watching every day for years,
longing for him,
straining to see him afar off”
it’s that afar off that moves me . . .

Continue Reading »

If God Is My Elm’s Great Roots

Wed, 01 Oct 1997 00:00:00 -0400

If God is my elm’s great roots
burrowing deep for water
but, as branches seek sun,
might also want light,
and so slowly begin rooting upward
shouldering loose the path stones
through the garden
laid long ago and meant to stay,
now making my path impossible; Then
I accept God’s judgment
and leave the stones raised
like unsettled grave markers
to remind me that God
may move slowly to undo
all my familiar stepping stones
telling me to start new paths
with nothing more to mark my way
than the trail
of my own faint dewprints
on the grass.

Continue Reading »

If God is My Unsable Past

Sat, 01 Mar 1997 00:00:00 -0500

If God is my usable past,
the part worth saving,
the minutes, episodes,
chance in-counters
when I measure the moment
by soul standard,
an inward counting
of worth and meaning-
the past
stumbled upon
or given as an outright gift
to which I first said no
then later yes
with a bless-me-now
petition of recognition
instead of my normal
grudge;
yes!
that usable past
as even bruised fruit preserves
and shriveling grapes store sweet wine; Then
out of the past, O God,
let the useless become usable,
the broken repaired,
the lost found
as when the prodigal’s nowhere
with a change of compass
becomes now here
at homecoming.

Continue Reading »

If God Is Any Great Returning

Sat, 01 Feb 1997 00:00:00 -0500

If God is any great returning,
a listening to some new witness
bidding within,
any hard going back
to where in a rootless time
you quit,
as Bonhoeffer left life in New York
to return to his death in a Nazi jail,
so that now it’s your turn
at the bitter feast of eating crow,
saying I’m sorry
to every cynical hello
after your selfish goodbye; If God is any great returning,
your soul’s yearning,
lobely and longing
for the path lost or deserted,
for cause dropped from infancy
as too childish, too hard, too frail,
too sure to fail to bother,
but now of your life,
your death; If God is any great returning
and your burning soul
has spun your compass about
so that you are finally en route home
like the prodigal,
then go quickly
expecting to feast with the Father
even though your wining brother
may not yet dine with you
and in truth
awaits proof, even as he should,
that you are really home
for good.

Continue Reading »

Of God Is Calling Your Name

Sat, 01 Feb 1997 00:00:00 -0500

If God is calling your name,
a name that is common enough,
how would you know,
what could make you sure
it was he called
and not some other who might answer first
before you could decide,
or just after you
and say he spoke before
you drowned him out
with your greediness, your
need to be the favorite,
the only one
whose name God knew
for sure? Then
don’t answer at all
with the chance
that you might hear:
“Oh no, not you;
I’m waiting for another,
the one who never volunteers.”

Continue Reading »