Alms

 Just not sure

Why I'm at this keyboard right now

10:00 PM I should be asleep

Just not sure

Why I stepped into the study to take

This machine off the shelf tonight

A night filled with a Dodger win 

And a good supper 

Other than a reflection I heard this morning

Taken from Luke 7 where

Jesus upends and berates the Pharisees 

In shockingly, even rude language

He wasted no time in offending his dinner host

Made statements about them focusing on outward appearances

Instead of attending to their internal chaos and upheaval 

Then he used a word that caught me straight up

Absolutely straight up

Not a common word, sort of an old word

Seemingly a powerful word 

That's come back to me over and over today

Alms

Alms

Alms

"Give alms to clean the inside"

Which is much more important than polishing the outside

Alms for whom?

Alms from where?

Alms for what?

Why alms?

"Give alms to clean the inside."

So simple

So brilliantly simple

So shockingly hard to do

For others

For ourselves

For God

Why am I writing this now?

Really no perceptible reason

Other than to given in and obey

Obey the lifelong voice deep inside

To write it down

Just write it down

It doesn't matter why

Just write it down

To clean the inside

Giving alms.