Conspicuous Christians

 

The conspicuous Christians

fill 4 booths and keep the waitress hopping.

12 adults

5 young children needing highchairs in the aisle

17 orders, all different

5 special requests

2 plates sent back

1 spilled coffee

separate checks. please.

After an hour, they leave

dishes, napkins, crayons, sticky syrup spots,

and

1 tract

with

2 crisp 1 dollar bills tucked neatly inside. 

_____

On the Occasion of my 39th Sobriety Anniversary

 

You ask nothing of me that you do not share in every detail.

In a desert place, on the edge of a precipice, you found me

and took every wound upon yourself.

You bled where I bled, and that is as real as it gets.

You offered your hand but left it to me whether to take it. 

I did, and knew that I would never fall, then or ever,

and here I stand, Never Alone, sober and strong

Not because of any book or pulpit, but because

a workman found me in a desert place and gave me His hand. 

______

My 39th sobriety anniversary was last month. One day at a time.