POETRY OF THE ORIENTAL TRADING COMPANY: ROUND 2

Plush Autograph Cross - $4.39

“Instead of a guestbook, use this Plush Autograph Cross! It’s a perfect addition to supplies for a party after a baptism, First Communion, and other sacraments, and it’s great at other celebrations, too….”

Let me write my name
on your cross - your soft
cross, cross meant for
sentiment, meant
to center your own
milestone.

Is this a desecration
or just a serious belief
in the goodness of
Good Friday?

The cross so transformed
for our good, why shouldn’t
it be plush instead of wood?

The cross so universal
that every name can
find its place on it,
accompanied by
Sharpie smiles?

Let me write my name
on your cross, joining
myself to Jesus, forming
a team to cheer you
into a newer self,
a newer depth of love.

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Kid’s Prayer Boredom Buster Kit - $39.99

Do they mean for prayer to sound like a mere
boredom alleviator? Or does the kit actually aim
to transform prayer from the boring thing
people think it is to something more alive?

Either way, the message is
prayer as fun, colorful, easy,
prayer as something that inspires stickers
saying, “Life is fragile! Handle with prayer!”
or “Prayer changes things!”

One voice in me says
sure, we need
to make it this simple
for children, thinks of it
all as a concession
while wondering how
we might prepare them
for the complexity
ahead.

But another voice says,
God, make it this simple
for me,

so that if I were to have a poster
for my own petitions, I could fill in
the “How did God answer?”
column with the sureness of a child.