On Saying the Creed

I believe …

And believing,

I stand together with the company of saints

Knit together, woven by his grace,

Across centuries and continents.

I stand with the martyrs

Of every generation;

The ones who strode,

And the ones who fumbled.

I stand with the clear-eyed,

Theologians and philosophers,

Who gazed into the deep places

And saw more than their own reflection;

And with those who could only mumble hopefully,

Choosing to believe that the mystery was real.

I stand with those who argued deeply,

Trying to decipher how it works,

Sometimes forgetting this, their common ground;

And with those who would rather reach out dusty hands

For the work that must be done.

I stand with the loved and the unloved,

The feeble and the fainting,

The highly valued and the overlooked,

All borne to the same shore.

They all crowd together,

Every nation, every language,

Linked in a mighty shout

That neither death nor hell can silence,

The word that undoes man’s kingdoms:

I believe …

We understand

As our frail crafts spin on roaring seas of doubt,

Tossed by the world’s winds’ sneering,

Our masts bent to a question mark,

That a nail-scarred hand holds the tiller,

And he shall steer us home.

Yes, I believe!