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Goosebumps - 

Andrea Gibson, who is one of my favorite poets, has a poem called, “Acceptance Speech after Setting the World Record in Goosebumps.” In the beginning of the poem, they share that they were never set out to be a “wow-hound,” that they weren’t born “jaw-dropped.” Beauty hunted them, but they always outran it. Eventually, though, they gave in to beauty and started setting the record in goosebumps.

As part of the poem, Andrea has several short stanzas that describe a moment of beauty and end with the number of goosebumps they received. Here’s two of my favorites:
My baby sister, sober for the first time
in thirteen years, calling to tell me she just noticed
our mother’s eyes are green:
505 goosebumps 

The biggest dog in the shelter
hiding behind a teacup chihuahua,
and the woman who came to adopt a cat
taking all three of them home:
1,012 goosebumps

As a spiritual practice, I’ve been trying to pay attention to beauty and to write my own stanzas to describe it. Here's a rather personal one I wrote earlier this week:
An argument with my husband
while trying to put the kids to bed outraged
because my anger
always turns to laughter.

I worry he’ll think I’m not serious
because he’s making me laugh.
Why, I wonder,
must he always be so delightful?
143 goosebumps

I’m no poet, but Andrea has helped me to look for beauty in all places, even the mundane. I wonder, what stanza would you write this week? Where has beauty hunted you?

With all my love,
Pastor Victoria