Revoicing the Psalms

Happy are those
who do not follow the advice of the wicked
who refuse to deny God’s invitation
to shalom

Shalom
the peace that passes understanding
transcends reason
baffling
the insatiable wicked appetites
of the conquerors
looking to score
in their tit-for-tat
head-to-head
eye-for-eye
invasions
valuing only
the one who
comes out on top

Shalom
the peace that passes understanding
transcends reason
invites all in to a commonwealth
of justice and joy.
Invitation into
a new nation
free association
transcending political boundaries
knit together in
compassion and peace.

Obedient to the
reconciling
law of self-giving love
we’re rooted deep
in loamy peat
on the shores of a river
teeming with life.

Factions and fissures,
deceptive divisions and decentering delusions
won’t tear us apart when
inoculated against isolation,
the incubator of our
idolatrous individualism

But justice streams when
love’s labour allots
its spirited fruit to
a starving world
offering evergreen leaves of
holistic healing peace.

Andrew Stephens-Rennie

Andrew is a writer, dreamer and organizer with a keen interest in developing leaders in faith, compassion and justice.

He currently serves as the Director of Missional Renewal for the Anglican Diocese of Kootenay on the unceded territories of the Sinixt, Syilx, and Ktunaxa nations. He previously served as the Director of Ministry Innovation at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver, BC.

Andrew is cofounder and contributing editor at www.empireremixed.com, and co-editor of "A Sort of Homecoming: Essays Honoring the Academic and Community Work of Brian Walsh" with Marcia Boniferro and Amanda Jagt.