but now what

…the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another…

This will give you an opportunity to testify.

                                                                                                  Luke 2:6,13

but now what                                                                                    Erling Shultz, November 2019

the earth is quaking,

our securities are breaking,

my soul is shaking;

   the end is no longer near,

      it seems already here

   (what I trusted has become quite rusted)

it is all so overwhelming;

      fires, drought, famine, floods

      the hungry, needing, broken masses

      the lonely, lost, discarded children

      racism, fascism still presiding

      conversations never lasting;

   so tempting to stay in bed

      and not ever get up again

yet Jesus pokes and prods,

   ‘now’s the time to carry on,

   prime time for persons interacting

   and less apocalypse distracting;

         mature, endure, connect

         restore, retrieve, reveal

            tell your story

            share God’s glory’

may we cease looking for what comes next,

ask ourselves a but now what to our call

   and do the what we can and where we are