Verses for Vocation: Hope Sick
Cut between the pages of our prayers,
The mirrored ghost of flowers on a stem.
Purple petals, plucked and pressed and posted,
Passed a fragile hope across two continents.
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Faith and Work
Faith and work were meant to go together. You can be on mission in your everyday life and work, both on the job and at home.
Verses for Vocation: The Evening Commute
I thought about leaving at 4:30.
It’s the summer, after all. Most cubicles are empty.
August clouds draw my eye from Windows to the windows.
It’s best to beat the traffic, I muse, and ponder a breezy evening and ice cream at home.
But no—I forgot. If I leave now, there won’t be time
Before Thursday’s meeting because of Thursday’s other meeting.
So I click through and make two more calls.
(Will these particular prospects produce any progress? It’s always hard to say.)
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Verses for Vocation: Summer Break
A final trilling of the bell and the rush to the lockers.
Classmates weaving, waving, shouting through clutter in the halls.
Miss Swanson, arms crossed, has that harried look that grown-ups get:
Disapproval and relief and stifled laughter all at once.
Jerry throws his spiral notebooks in the air like oversized confetti.
In one smooth motion, Susan rolls her eyes and hugs joy and signs Felipe’s yearbook.
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Make Disciples Wherever You Go (Cross-Post)
This week, we’re taking a break from our Verses for Vocation series to share a post Chris authored at Follower of One. Follower of One is a global online community of individuals who want their work life to matter for eternity, helping others move one notch closer to Jesus. They host regular Marketplace Mission
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Verses for Vocation: Prairie Path
Listen: The wind is in the trees.
I lift my eyes up and see them ripple,
Oaks billowing like a picnic blanket in July.
A peaceful roar and then the fluttering.
Watch the forest catch its breath.
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Verses for Vocation: Love So Often Interrupts
Love so often interrupts my work.
A text from Katie, or a friend.
The dishes in the sink still to be cleaned.
Children’s giggled questions and soft faces, wily my schedule to despoil.
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Verses for Vocation: Faithful Obscurity
Today, then, make small matters great.
Trade acclaim for work done well.
For love’s sake, do not hesitate.
Risk it all and do not tell.
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Verses for Vocation: Hold Fast the Gift, A Sestina
Sunk, solid, like nails fast in the wood: This gift,
This breath for putting my back into the work,
For sighing at shift’s end to take my rest,
For crying for another hand when I am weak,
For laughing at my vanity when turning modest profit,
For saying “grace” when the kings of the earth say “earned.”
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Heal and Hold These Tired Hands
With this post, we begin a new series: Verses for Vocation: Poems on the Sacred in Everyday Life and Work. Instead of our usual essay-style blog post, I’ll be sharing an original poem that touches on the presence of the holy in our daily experiences and labors.
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Grappling with the Bible
When we work through our own concerns about the Bible with intellectual integrity and emotional honesty, we will be better equipped to serve our friends when such passages raise questions for them on their journey toward faith. We can do this work with a posture of reverence—receiving the Bible as God’s Word written, with both our mind and our heart, both charitably and faithfully.
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