We Are Such a Mix

bread crumbs
Each year at the start of Lent, I notice again my need for God’s grace to bring me back from all the ways I’ve wandered away or gotten lost. These poems describe three of those experiences.

Sometimes I Feel So Frail

sometimes I feel so frail;
and what does God do
but win with a look
my wonder,
      will,
      all;
again;
You have made it all
as You have made it,
and built us to be
better by our trust;
this we know, that
grace enough is given;
and we transform Your
world by trusting grace.

We Are Such a Mix

we are such a mix of thorns and thread;
why do You insist on living in the midst,
even among the broken bowls and spilled strengths?
I’ve seen You sift among the crumbs
and find (I don’t know how) a loaf;
what we tear, touch to make us mend;
and show again to sift and share and be again the bread.

Even In Even On

even in even on each shallow surface
where we might wait
afraid or unsure
You are there, even there
and reach for our hand
to hold us close
and bind us in
within Your Heart’s embrace;
everywhere we might wait,
or wander, or wonder,
there is Your hand,
reaching for our hearts,
protecting and guiding and gently proclaiming
“you’re home, even now, you are home.”
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Mary Ellen Smajo has been savoring and writing responses to sacred moments since early high school, when she first began to notice and reflect on God’s tangible actions in our lives. She is a (“very happy and grateful!”) member of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps and serves as the music minister for IVC Chicago. Prior to joining IVC, she worked in clinical education; before that she worked as a medical physicist in the hospital setting. Her PhD is in medical physics, and she did her undergrad at Loyola University Chicago. “These poems are God’s; may they do the work for which they were sent. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.”

7 COMMENTS

  1. Again, wonderfully inspiring, Mary Ellon. I pray and hope you can have all your poems published…..soon. I look forward to hear from you when this comes to fruition for you and all of us who admire your beautiful words.
    Pat – North East England.

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