September 24, 2010

My Journey to God

The Offsetting Statue

The cast concrete formed the great shape
Of the strong, ebullient saint.
Still producing by its strong scape,
It remains—yet grows faint.

There are times when I must wonder
Why the figure fades away.
But blinded by sun, deafened by thunder,
It still emits a mild ray.

Weeks passed and minutes expired.
Weeds harass, weather upsets.
And the grand statue, though tired,
Still empowers, still offsets.

By Mike Keucher

(Mike Keucher is a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. He is from St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Bloomington. He wrote this poem as a tribute to the late Father Charles Chesebrough, his former pastor, who died on May 28, 2008. “Father Charlie loved statues,” Keucher wrote. “I suspect because it is within the stable concrete of a statue that we can come to learn—in ways we can grasp—the timeless lessons that help us to concretize our faith here on this side of heaven, … and bring us closer to God.”) †

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