I wrote this piece on August 15 after reading local and international news. The Scripture in one of the devotions that I read had been Job 1:20-22. Read to the bottom.

TRAGIC SILENCE

And now my wisdom is silent.
For days and weeks now, I saw, I thought,
God’s wisdom ripe in me,
But violence in Egypt has given me pause,
Children beaten and set aside have silenced me,
Grandmothers murdered have set me ashore,
School children hungry have made me pause again.
Meaning I once grasped has now collapsed.
Faith falters.
Joy is jolted.
Truth is questioned.
My security, so sure yesterday, is paused.
In the ash heap near my community,
I am silent.
I am in awe of the awful.
Lord, I will listen in silence.
Answer me,
Calm me,
Grant me peace.
Fill me again with your wisdom.
Let me be faithful, true to you.

(c) Tom Bolton, 15 August, Milwaukee’s Grand Avenue

Related articles

• Eternal (tbolto.wordpress.com)
• Love (tbolto.wordpress.com)
• At Peace Now (tbolto.wordpress.com)