Dead trees are
like stopped wind
waiting
for the call to take off
Swung by the breeze of the Baltic Sea
sleeping legendary giants
they keep in their roots
an amber of hope
And to these dead trees, birds
the treasure hunters
gauge their eyes
Translation by Andrzej Osóbka
Drzewa umarłe są
zastygłym wiatrem
który czeka
na wezwanie do lotu
PASSAIC —” Clergy from the city’s various churches gathered Sunday afternoon to celebrate unity in a city rich in diversity.
The annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service on Sunday at Saints Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, Passaic.The 28th Annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service was held at Saints Peter & Paul Polish National Catholic Church, where leaders from Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Methodist churches gave thanks and cautioned against indifference to the needy.
Seventeen churches participated in the service, organized by the Passaic Ecumenical Committee.
“We also gather to offer thanks to God for the privilege of being citizens of this great country of ours,” said the Rev. Stanley Skrzypek, of the host church, in welcoming the congregation.
The message from the pulpit four days before Thanksgiving was to remember those who need help.
In a city where politicians have long debated, but never acted, on building a homeless shelter, members of the clergy urged the congregation to help clothe and feed those on the street.
“Today’s society is a society where it seems to have put faith aside and replaced it by indifference,” said Jody Baran, associate pastor of St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Cathedral. “That, my friends, is the greatest sin.”…
This is local ecumenism that works, Christians joining together to witness to Christ, not to belabor what divides us. Fr. Senior Stanley Skrzypek is one of the foremost ecumenists in the PNCC. He knows what works.
Similarly, I was at the North Colonie Ministerial’s 40th (or 41st, depends who you believe – and Fr. Skrzypek was there when it started) annual Thanksgiving prayer service and gathering. It was wonderful and did real good for the Capital City Rescue Mission. With the current economic crisis they are taxed to the limit.
… and a war broke out
There were good reasons
to be mortally angry with life
to level us to the ground with heavy machinery
After the agreement of three parties
(two were fighting and the third one benefited)
the cornerstones came to a bloom
and again somebody forgot to build a bridge
in all four directions
Translation by Andrzej Osóbka
…no i wybuchła sobie wojna
Pogniewano się śmiertelnie na życie
i wystarczyło pieniędzy
żeby nas zrównać z ziemią ciężkim sprzętem
a generałowie nie uważałi
i w płaczu wdów nie zabrakło tonacji
na nowy hymn zrzeszenia sierot
Po uzgodnieniu trzech stron
/dwóch się biło a trzeci skorzystał/
kamienie węgielne zakwitły
ale znowu zapomniano wybudować most
w cztery strony świata
You’ve left the big storms
behind you now.
You didn’t ask then
why you were born,
where you came from, where you were going to,
you were just there in the storm,
in the fire.
But it’s possible to live
in the everyday as well,
in the grey quiet day,
set potatoes, rake leaves,
carry brushwood.
There’s so much to think about here in the world,
one life is not enough for it all.
After work you can fry bacon
and read Chinese poems.
Old Laertes cut briars,
dug round his fig trees,
and let the heroes fight on at Troy.
Translation by Robin Fulton
Dei store stormane
har du attum deg.
Dí¥ spurde du ikkje
kvi du var til,
kvar du kom ifrí¥ eller kvar du gjekk,
du berre var i stormen,
var i elden.
Men det gjeng an í¥ leva
i kvardagen òg,
den grí¥ stille dagen,
setja potetor, raka lauv
og bera ris,
det er so mangt í¥ tenkja pí¥ her i verdi,
eit manneliv strekk ikkje til.
Etter strævet kan du steikja flesk
og lesa kinesiske vers.
Gamle Laertes skar klunger
og grov um fikentrei,
og let heltane slí¥st ved Troja.
