5 Merciful
Invisible People (poem)

Invisible People (poem)

Invisible People J. Marshall Jenkins As I age, I see invisible people whom I once walked past in my youthful hurry. Some literally shrink, with brittle bones bowing, slow gaits, dim eyes, ears catching only echoes. They wear a practiced smile. My late mother retreated...

Because He Meets Us In Trials (poem)

Because He Meets Us In Trials (poem)

Because He Meets Us In Trials J. Marshall Jenkins This restlessness to rest in God: Many set out with Wordsworth and take it to woods and fields green hazed yellow with daisies, birds a choir in flight. God is there, no doubt. However, such wandering retreats only...

HALT, Welcome, and Be Welcomed

HALT, Welcome, and Be Welcomed

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy (Matthew 5:7). Participants in Alcoholics Anonymous keep an eye on themselves with the acronym, HALT, which stands for, “Hungry, Angry, Lonely, and Tired.”  That experience cues them to call the sponsor, go to a...

By Mercy (poem)

By Mercy (poem)

By Mercy J. Marshall Jenkins Only by mercy do the merciless live another day, and only by mercy does another day come at all. By mercy the rainbow drapes every color over battlefields, and a young sycamore etches spring growth in winter sky. By mercy mortals play at...

The Right Use of Freedom

The Right Use of Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery....For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one...