For Rowdy Christians Everywhere

by Dave Schultz

Penance

  I make my way down to the white

  and holy ice. For renewal,

  for healing. To find a second

  chance after forgetting myself.

  I move silently and am blessed

  with a cool, clean, singing spirit.

  I come to work on my spirit,

  to wash its sins and make it white

  as the snow that falls from God-blessed

  skies. I come to earn renewal.

  I labor to remind myself

  that God watches us, each second.

  I lift one floe, test a second

  for its weight--to make my spirit

  stronger I must challenge myself.

  I grapple and hoist the thick white

  slab. Arms lend my heart renewal,

  Strong legs help a weak soul get blessed.

  I trudge uphill, panting and blessed;

  set it down and find a second

  piece--frozen chunks of renewal.

  While my body strains, my spirit

  breathes Our Fathers, as in the white

  silence I atone for myself.

  I continue to push myself.

  Ice block joins ice block, and a blessed

  tower takes shape, sculpted in white,

  declaring that for one second

  I loathed my sins, and my spirit

  earnestly sought for renewal.

  My penance brings this renewal:

  It helps me to forgive myself,

  as God forgives. It keeps my spirit

  in mind of the grace God has blessed

  us with, each moment, each second.

  Fear and hope glisten in ice-white.

  Seeking renewal of spirit,

  I put God first, myself second,

  out among the ice, blessed and white.