"Oh Woman, Dear Nameless Woman" (Luke 13:10-17)

Oh woman, dear nameless woman,

Your life isn’t as it should be.

What has held your head down?

What has bent your back and heart

so severely?

What has burdened you so, dear woman,

that you are bent over …

that you are unable to stand straight …

that you cannot look

into the eyes of others?

What has shackled you

in this position?

Is it poverty or abuse?

Has all sense of worth

been stripped from you?

Have the cruelties of life

spit upon you and mocked you?

Have you been used by men to the point

of losing your own name?

Has death taken the very ones

who would have taken care of you?

Oh woman, nameless woman,

how your heart must long

to look into the eyes of others once more;

to seek hope and acceptance and love.

But alas, you cannot, can you?

Your head cannot be lifted.

For whatever reasons,

it is bent low.

You see only the dust of the streets 

and the feet of those

who step over you

and around you

and on you.

Oh woman, dear bent-low woman,

God has brought you to this place,

to this synagogue,

to this person who is teaching

freedom from bondage.

On this day …

yes, on this very Sabbath day

you will be set free 

and will stand tall

once more.

You must sense this hope, don’t you?

You made such a great effort to come.

You risked being turned away

by the leaders

as being one so nameless

that you would be in their way … 

a mere nuisance in their day.

But you have come to this place.  

Dear woman,

is this a last hope for you?

He has called you, 

not by name, but “Woman”.

Even before his touch, 

even before you might stand tall

he proclaims that those things

that had kept your head low 

and your back so bent

be gone forever.

Did you hear his words, dear woman?

SET FREE!  

Set free from all of the

bent-down bondage!

His eyes are the first eyes 

that you have seen in so long.  

How can you not respond

in the way that you do!

Standing straight … Praising God!

Oh woman, dear nameless woman,

Have you heard his name for you?

"Daughter of Abraham".  

Your great faith has given you

such a glorious name

and this man,

the one they call Jesus,

has seen your faith, 

even in your crippled posture.

What a beautiful name you now have!

(c) 2013  anna murdock

"Early Summer Mornings" (Aug, 13-15, 2016)

I thought it odd

that the early hours

of my Saturday morning

were silent and still.

There were no cautious sounds

in the trees …

sounds that a sentinel might make, 

moving into guarded position.

Perhaps it was the heat

of the summer’s morn.

I thought it odd

that the pre-dawn hours

of my Monday morning

were silent and still.

Was it was too early or dark

to be noticed by them?

I tried to be quiet

as I packed my car

so as not to alarm

the self-appointed

guards of the trees.

And, as I think back, 

it was odd

that sandwiched between

the silence of Saturday morning

and the silence of Monday morning,

there was Sunday morning …

there was urgent rustling and a

loud “CAW, CAW” 

and the response from far off

of “CAW, CAW” …

repeated again and again and again.

Just maybe the crows 

knew the difference 

and provided

the neighborhood with their own

Sunday’s Call to Worship!

(or is it  Caw to Worship?)

To them, it was not odd at all.

LACE and GRACE

Yesterday, I remembered

those summer days 

of my childhood …

those days that

brought out the best

of a mother and daughter

and Queen Anne’s Lace.

“Go out and play,” she would say

and I found myself running 

to the empty field.

At times, it was the

kite-flying field.

Other times, it was the

tag-playing field.

And still other times,

it was a baseball field,

beckoning very young, giggly players,

to run through weeds

toward imaginary bases.

But on a perfect day

the field would be filled

with Queen Anne’s Lace.

The little boys wanted 

nothing to do with such things

as flowers

so the field was mine.

No kites … 

no shouts of “Tag, you’re it” …

no giggles or the shouts of

“Run, run, runnnnnn!”

I was alone in a field of beauty.

Alone with flowers to be picked.

Many consider these flowers

to be weeds, 

but not me and not my mother.

At the sight of my bouquets of

Queen Anne’s Lace,

my mother would fill jars 

with water tinted by food coloring.

The stems of “lace” were divided

and I would put them in the jars,

knowing how thirsty they were.

Yellow, blue, red, green water.

The jars looked like stained glass.

And soon, the white flowers of 

Queen Anne’s Lace would 

become the colors of the water.

"Drink, for you are thirsty!

Drink, and become even more beautiful!

Drink, and be filled!"

This morning, I will think

of Lace and Grace as I,

along with many others,

receive Holy Communion.

"Drink, for you are thirsty!

Drink, and become even more beautiful!

Drink, and be filled!

Drink, and become the colors of Christ

   in this world!

Drink, for not one of you

is a weed!"

LACE and GRACE.