by Barbara Lyghtel Rohrer
A profile of a woman
in church I don’t know
reminds me of my best
friend in grade school
and I think what if
within the sanctuary sat all
the people I have known,
the classmates
from grade school,
high school, college,
from my graduate classes,
from the churches
I have attended,
all the members of this
church now I claim as my own,
all the employees of dozens
of clients over the years,
from ten years
within a school system,
the volunteer work,
the workshops I have taken,
seeking, learning.
And what of my own family
growing to include so many
in-laws and new babies ––
all of them I would like
to see in this sanctuary.
All gathered into one
beloved community.
All of them whole, connected,
loved, embraced.
World without end.
Amen.