Church Hour (poem)

Church Hour

This one hour

This view from the center

A feeling of movement all around

But here, this calm center

Around which everything pivots

The center of this week

The center of this wheel

The center holds

I feel it now

Centripetal force now

Not the common opposite

Here things don’t fly apart

They come together

Like the sun with his careful hold

On those wanderers in the far sky

He holds, she holds, they hold

The spirit holds

This calming center

Such jovial gravity 

Fills and holds this quiet center

All at once

Joyous, brimming, bursting, buzzing

Glowing, swelling, soaring, singing

Joyous 

Together

June 2014 North Andover, Mass.

Copyright by Mark Bohrer

PS This was written on a church bulletin while sitting in South Church before the Sunday service started, listening to the choir and organist rehearse, the indistinct background talk of friends greeting one another, the swirl of people gathering in faith. If you ever see me scribbling notes while sitting in church, it's usually because something has inspired me! I shared this poem with Pastor Dana, and then had the privilege and joy of reading it a few months later in front of the church as part of service!