'For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; 
no evil can dwell with you'.
Psalm 5.4



this is better than that
more truthful, more honest
has more integrity, is more just
more loving, more merciful
has more compassion
gives more hope
trusts more

all day, every day
we make judgements
rarely ever polarities, absolutes
at the ends of the spectrum
I decide between nuances
my chosen subtleties
of distinction

how then to navigate
the spheres of earth and heaven
my fallibility facing the holiness of God
exposed to his unambiguous call for
purity, goodness, self-giving love
to which I can only ever aspire
in my broken inadequacy

yet time and again
stories of hope surface
those expecting condemnation
finding forgiveness and mercy
an encouragement to start over
not where I am that matters
but the course I set


Monday of the Third Week of Lent
24th March 2024