Community Page
A place for the Meeting to share poems, music, art, after-thoughts and inspiration.
Poetic Reflections on Joy Sylvester-Johnson’s Spirit Journey
The Temple of Another’s Story
Take off your shoes before entering
the temple of another’s story. 2/25/25
Fierce Ember
Have you ever had a moment
when you shouted out to the stars,
This is my destiny,
this is why I’m here?
If you have you’ll never forget it
even when doubts return.
Beneath apparent ashes will always glow
a fierce ember. 2/25/25
Lesson from a Brush with Death:
"There’s no time to waste on resentments." 2/25/25
What Drew Her to Friends
“I cherish both their love of silence
and their freedom to question.” 2/25/25
If It Takes Suffering to Get Me There
“God’s love is compelling.
If it takes suffering to get me there,
fine.” 2/25/25
by Charlie Finn
A Life can Turn on a Hug
A life can turn on a hug
if it comes at the right moment
and is felt to have true heart behind it. 2/25/25
Bolt of Lightning
“I may as well make friends with grief.
There’s always the shadow of sorrow.”
The ground sometimes shakes
after a bolt of lightning. 2/25/25
Quiet Conviction that Changes Everything
“I know God will never abandon me”—
no hint of proselytizing,
simply a quiet conviction
that changes everything. 2/25/25
Avoid like the Plague
Avoid like the plague
others trying to convince you
they have found the single Truth
and so should you! 2/25/25
Schooling in Empathy
“I will never forget how it felt
when others found my face hideous
and, shuddering, turned away.”
Call it a schooling in empathy. 2/25/25
The Deepest Security
“I don’t feel old,
I feel eternal!”
The deepest security
is not financial. 2/25/25
Give God Some Elbow Room
“I get scared of people who know God’s will,
not giving God an inch of elbow room.”
Her words call to mind Joseph Campbell:
“Beware the error of the Found Truth.” 2/25/25
Now for some inspiration:
A StoryCore Interview with the late Pam Beziat and her husband Karl Meyer, dear friends of Joyce & Richard Rouse, from the Nashville Meeting. They share how they became activists and pacifists. Recorded July 2008
More Poems by Charlie Finn
Guaranteed not to Stay Stunned
The aim of shock and awe
is to stun into submission.
Trump and his sycophants are betting on it
forgetting about the American spirit
guaranteed not to stay stunned. 1/21/25
Please May We Pray for Him Too
While listening to her words
imploring of him mercy
for those afraid for their lives,
I focused on his face,
eyes unblinking unseeing
but inwardly seething
about the nastiness of this so-called bishop.
When we pray for the needy,
not excluding ourselves,
please may we pray for him too. 1/23/25
Be Mindful of the Light
Pricked by conscience
conjures up a nuisance,
fly easily swatted away.
Stabbed by conscience is more likely
to get and hold attention,
dagger of light
penetrating dark places.
Sometimes comfort,
sometimes beacon,
sometimes dagger—
be mindful of the Light. 1/23/25
Until Platitudes Become Fire
“Speak truth to power”
is a platitude on a page
until one breathes into it fire
by remembering Jesus.
Mercy too is a platitude
useless if left on a page. 1/24/25
Something Jesus wasn’t Good At
Whitened sepulchers,
brood of vipers!
Jesus wasn’t always so good
at concealing his outrage.
Cautionary tale seeing where it led him
or sobering invitation to follow? 1/26/25
Post Inauguration
Have we not heard a clarion call
to gird our loins for battle
on behalf of country and Earth?
Courage, have we ever needed it more? 1/24/25
(Webster's: “gird one’s loins: to prepare for action; muster up one’s resources.”)
Some Roanoke Friends went to
The People’s March on Washington, 1-18-25.
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Three Poems related to worship on January 12, 2025
By Charlie Finn
What Would Passion for Peace Look Like?
She wouldn’t like to hear it
for her humility is authentic
but I’m in awe of her,
of the efforts toward peace
across our warring world
that she and her husband made
before he disappeared from sight
only to take up residence in her heart.
What would passion for peace look like?
Inquire into the lives of Sue and Steve Williams.
You too will be in awe. 1/12/25
Haunted
As the cold snap settles in—
teens to single digits for at least the next week—
I’m haunted in the comfort of my woodstove
by the faces of two homeless
wandering into the meetinghouse on Sunday
seeking respite for an hour.
Where are they now with their small bags
holding everything they own? 1/7/25
What Are Hearts to Do?
Fifteen years ago today an earthquake devastated Haiti,
right now fire consumes Los Angeles
and then there’s Russia
continuing to grind into Ukraine.
What are hearts to do
who can’t shut it out? 1/12/25
