“Therefore we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith during all your persecutions and the afflictions that you are enduring.” – 2 Thessalonians 1:4

Let me boast of the teacher
whose time in the classroom
was short, but whose time
to inspire was longer and glorious
and still… all too short.

Let me boast of the caretaker,
rarely at worship because of her charge,
but shining with spirit in every
encounter, aglow with affection
so clear in my memory.

Let me boast of the less-known,
forgotten, ignored,
whose passage of Earth left its light,
instead of the powerful, wretched indeed,
to leave us so broken in sorrow.

Let me boast of the saints.

A poem/prayer based on 2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12, the Revised Common Lectionary Second Reading for Year C, Proper 26 (31).

The image is The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs by Fra Angelico (1420s) – Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3000363.