Lenten Devotion for March 27

my hour 

by Thom M. Shuman

i wish to see
         Jesus
  in the panhandler
  on the street:
            but
   the stained, tattered clothes,
      the unkempt hair,
         the acridness clustered
         around him
  cloud my eyes;

i wish to hear
         Jesus
   in the politicians
      whose decisions i cannot
            support,
  in the evangelist
    mouthing platitudes to the
           pain-full,
  in the talk-show callers
      spewing hateful bile,
                 but all these words
  clog my ears;

i wish to meet
         Jesus
   in the tattoed skateboarder
            riding the rails
            down at the school,
   in the hip-hopper
           jamming at the
           bus stop,
   in the goths
            hanging outside the
arcade,
      but too quickly
   i cross the street
   searching for my
         twins.

   Jesus,
 why would you wish
           to see
              to hear
           to meet
me?