To My Friends at Saint John’s Abbey

Jenni Ho-Huan at Saint John’s Abbey Church

we laugh at the monks
who turn their backs
to a world so full of tricks and trinkets

but while we buy, sell, drink, and mate
they run deeper into a wealth
that never runs out

and wealth it is
that bounty they share
as they bind wounds and write words
or ring bells and pray

and we,
desperate, hungry, confused,
perhaps finally seek them out
and they host us gently
with food that lasts

thus nourished
we see how poorly we have seen
and how much we have lost—
hearts grown too cold and too old

for creation’s glory
the power of discipline
simplicity’s splendor

God, thank you for your monks
who in turning away
help us more fully turn back.

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