Is the cold getting old? Winter felt more difficult than normal?

Yes.

God, yes!

This winter has been one of the most challenging periods of my entire short-lived life. Luckily it’s March and that means we’ve only got another eight weeks of winter. Maybe less. Hopefully not more.

At church this month the topic is death.

Glancing at the order of service on Sunday morning and seeing the Death Card staring back at me wasn’t what I expected or particularly wanted to see.

However, the readings, musical response, and sermon were just what I needed to hear, experience, and think on.

So maybe you, dear reader, need to give a listen too.

Below is the poem that inspired the sermon followed by the audio file of the sermon.

PLAY
By A.R. Ammons

Nothing’s going to become of anyone
except death:
therefore: it’s okay
to yearn
too high:
the grave accommodates
swell rambunctiousness &
ruin’s not
compromised by magnificence:
the cut-off point
liberates us to the
common disaster: so
pick a perch –
apple bough for example in bloom –
tune up
and if you like
drill imagination right through necessity:
it’s all right:
it’s been taken care of:
it’s allowed, considering.

Take a listen to the poem, hear a song, and listen to the message below.