SPIRITUAL POSTING, October, 2018, from Rev. Bill Charles

A POEM INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE & POLITICS
The states of red and blue rave on in mutual dissent
Providing fodder for the winter of our discontent.
“We have no earthly use for him!” and “She is no damn good!”
“We’ll be much happier when they have left our neighborhood!”
Our gleeful insults speed us down our path of steep descent:
The soulless death-grip of the winter of our discontent.
Contempt for neighbor, truth, and love hold an increasing sway.
We act as if God’s “out to lunch.” We’ll have no price to pay.
The winter of our discontent rejects our “one accord.”
My mother said it best: “A luxury we can’t afford.”

THE PICTURE: The King James version of the Bible (pictured) served the English-speaking world very well for centuries; but changes in language are a constant, and words take on new meaning. “The meek will inherit the earth” is an example of the challenge of understanding scripture in our 21st-century world. Two key words in my poem (beyond Shakespeare’s “the winter of our discontent”) are “one accord” which can be understood as “one mind.” Of course, the “one mind” referenced in Paul’s letter to the Philippians (2:2) needs to be in keeping with God’s will. There are several verses promoting “one accord” in the Bible. We don’t need more verses saying the same thing so much as we need to put into practice the verses we have.

A PRAYER: God, individually, each of us is not of one mind, let alone the communities of which we are participants. Bless us with “the mind of Christ” and the behavior patterns to go along with it. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.