I wrote this poem when I was co-leading a youth mission trip last summer. We usually think about Samuel when we read the stories about him, but I was thinking about Eli one morning, and about being a father/encourager of youth:

As Eli, Restore Me, a Parent

These days in the Psalms,
Not just in funeral meditation, but
Comforted, Truly restored, Daily restored in the Psalms
Of our Lord,
I seize refreshment.
I yearn for restoration, joy and glowing in the Lord.
Possessing, seeing provision, peaceful,
Pardoned, always pardoned—so near to restoration—
And Partnered, Prepared, and praised by my Father,
Pardoned and prepared—for Paradise.
Am I here as Eli,
Surrounded by new and also known
Samuels and Sammies?
Have I come here as Eli—
More a priest, and now pulled back again
As a parent?!!
Am I now restored to Give my children
in service with a thankful heart?
These Samuels again are prophets so
Often—the fresh mouth-piece of our Lord.
Was I Eli so often?
Have I missed the focus with my kin,
In my daily work clans?
My expectation too modest?
My example—what is it I live?
Do I show it?
Do I walk the path with the visible gait
of going with God? Am I too tied
up in the trappings of career and rite?
Is my job today to listen to Sammy, to help
her practice, to obey?
To help him assume the position—to be quiet
and listen to our Lord?
To help them be proximate, embraced by God!

Lord, help me to see, to guide and coach the
Next Wave of Prophets.
Restore me Lord, a Father.

–Tom Bolton June 29, 2010