Wednesday, February 9, 2022                                   (today’s lectionary)
Tummies holier than the bones of Saint Peter
So simply Jesus spoke to us, and we heard him not. Well, some of us heard him better than others.
Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.
John Blase has grieved the passing of his father for nearly a year now. Last week he shared a poem, not about his father, but about what happens when he/we/I carry unspoken self-loathing inside for too long. Eventually it comes out, and it’s never quite right.
Unspoken Sermon by John Blase
I overheard a woman at the gym the other day
saying something critical about her tummy (her
word not mine) and I thought My God, woman,
stop that! You’re in here outpacing me on most
movements, plus from what this eavesdropping
poet has heard you’ve carried three or four boys
inside you then pushed them into this world then
continued to nurse them literally and figuratively
as they’ve grown, you’ve wifed a husband and home
and no doubt organized birthdays and holidays
and summer vacations by squeezing nickels together
to make things sing, plus probably waded through
a metric ton of horny bullshit from men along the way.
You’re a queen of this earth. Your body is a temple
with a tummy holier than the bones of Saint Peter.
To speak of your flesh in that way is a blasphemy.
I could have said this out loud to her in the moment
but we were breathing all hard and sweaty which
would have made things creepy, and middle-aged
white men need to heavily self-edit our sermons
these days as our faith and works reek rotten for
we’ve preached a lot of stupid stuff then acted on it.
I suppose there’s a chance this poem will find its
way to her ears, and maybe the ears of her sisters,
hopefully heard in the spirit the poet intended.
Of course Jesus tells us not to judge. Does this apply to the woman, who has judged herself? Does it apply to John Blase, who is judging her for judging herself? One thing John Blase is not, and that is blasé: he is strong on this point, that God’s creation deserves appreciation, not depreciation.
The mouth of the just man murmers wisdom and his tongue utters what is right. The law of God is in his heart.
But I identified with the part where he described himself, “as our faith and works reek rotten for we’ve preached a lot of stupid stuff then acted on it.” Reparations for all my first-child, first-world, white guy entitlements might never be complete. But at least, by being silent (“heavily self-editing my sermons”) … by being silent, I can begin.
(1 Kings 10, Psalm 37, John 17, Mark 7)
(posted at www.davesandel.net)
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