Sunday – March 14 – Lent IV (The First Day… and the Eighth)

Holy as a Day is Spent

holy is the dish and drain

the soap and sink, and the cup and plate

and the warm wool socks, and the cold white tile

showerheads and good dry towels

and frying eggs sound like psalms

with bits of salt measured in my palm

it’s all a part of a sacrament

as holy as a day is spent

holy is the busy street

and cars that boom with passion’s beat

and the check out girl, counting change

and the hands that shook my hands today

and hymns of geese fly overhead

and spread their wings like their parents did

blessed be the dog, that runs in her sleep

to chase some wild and elusive thing

holy is the familiar room

and quiet moments in the afternoon

and folding sheets like folding hands

to pray as only laundry can

i’m letting go of all my fear

like autumn leaves made of earth and air

for the summer came and the summer went

as holy as a day is spent

holy is the place i stand

to give whatever small good i can

and the empty page, and the open book

redemption everywhere i look

unknowingly we slow our pace

in the shade of unexpected grace

and with grateful smiles and sad lament

as holy as a day is spent

and morning light sings “providence”

as holy as a day is spent

—Carrie Newcomer