Flora

The grass grown here is named for St. Augustine—
The Florida one, not the church father,
Though the bishop’s name befits this place. Lust in
Its past plagues its present, and souls bother
With all manner of “wisdom” while the truth
Beckons from the lips of Christians homegrown
And transplanted into the hard soil. Youth
Still steal pears, or citrus here. On their own,
One might think it impossible they’d find
Their way from Desire. The city of God
Is near and far. Yet the Father is kind,
Answering Monica’s pray’rs, making sod
Like Sodom’s sprout blades of grass that grow strong
And vines that produce fruit further along.


Photo by Mitch Hodiono on Unsplash

In Spirit and Truth

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But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
John 4:23-24

In spirit and truth.

In response to a question about places of worship, Jesus tells a Samaritan woman of a coming shift in perspective. Soon (indeed, sooner than many of the day realized), true worship would no longer be identified with a specific location, neither at Jerusalem (where the Jews worshiped) nor Mount Gerizim (where the Samaritans worshiped). True worshipers would worship in spirit and truth.

But what does it mean to worship in spirit and truth?

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