Weekly Inspiration (4/20/23)

Quote of the Week

“Hope and forgiveness and love are not the idle tales of a gossip. They are the signs of resurrection and new life. They are signs of God. Where you see hope in your life and in the world, there is the Risen Lord, there is God. Where you see forgiveness in your life and in the world, there is the Risen Lord, there is God. Where you see love in your life and in the world, there is the Risen Lord, there is God.” 

-Br. James Koester 
Society of Saint John the Evangelist 

Poem of the Week

Though the doors of the house where the disciples had met 
         were locked for fear of the people, 
         Jesus came and stood among them and said, 
         “Peace be with you.”
         After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
                            —John 20.19-20


The Damaged One emerges from trauma
         with peace.

His wounds, his brokenness, evidence
         of what such peace endures.

Through doors of pain, walls of despair,
         he comes with peace. 

Yours, beloved,
         he comes through.

Gravestone, locked door, unbelief
         do not keep him from you. 

The wounds still gape. The room is fraught—
         but he is not.

Now and yet to come, he's here. 
         Now your pain can breathe.

- by Steve Garnaas-Holmes