The pure in heart

by Gracia Grindal in the October 23, 2019 issue

Matthew 5

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they
Shall see God.” How can a heart be pure?
Pollution in rivers we filter away
So we can drink from fountains clean and clear.
The human heart is vain and filled with rot.
Nothing I do can wash up its messes.
I am not pure of heart. Will I see God?
There are such folks and them he blesses.
He sees them shining round him. It baffles me.
On my own terms I want to see my Lord,
Not as he says, in others, I want to see
His face, to worship him forevermore,
The font of crystal waters that I crave—
It’s my Impurities I want to save.

This poem appears in the October 23, 2019 issue.

Against killing children

We have become a society of people who cannot prevent our own children from being killed in their classrooms—and who do not much mind the killing of other people’s children by weapons of war.

by Wendell Berry