Mourning to Morning

"Weeping may endure for the night,
but Joy comes in the Morning"
-Psalm 30:5

~~O~~

Sometimes it is up to us to decide how long we will weep
Sometimes the night remains as long as we'll have it's company

Solomon, the wisest man of his time, tells us in Ecclesiastes,
that there is a time to weep

it is even important to weep
to mourn loss
to let grief run its course

that is how we honor the past
and even the pain
that is part of the person we've become
and the tears we shed become a tribute
to that time gone by...

But the burial ground of Time-Gone-By
 is not a place to settle down
it is a place to leave behind;
We were not made to tarry too long among tombstones
We were meant to walk in the Land of the Living

There is a time to turn our back to where the sun set
There is a time to turn and face the Sunrise
and the Brand New Day that it brings...
There is a time to let go of the past,

-- even the precious parts of the past --

so that our hands are free to be filled
so that our hearts can hold new love
so that Morning can come
and Joy can begin again...

~~O~~

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."
-Psalm 30:11

"Light of a Clear Blue Morning"

Photograph courtesy of Dan Denardo Photography

Out of the ashes...

"Let us Rise and Build."

-Nehemiah 2:18

~~O~~

This requisition was enough to change the course of a country's fate, to swing the momentum and motivate God's people to rebuild what had been burned, to repair what had been broken, and most importantly to move them

Out of despair,

Out of despondency,

Into New Hope

and Possibility...

Our lives are also construction sites,

Always in flux

Sometimes we too go through seasons of demolition--

Perhaps the structure outlived its usefulness,

Or was no longer safe to dwell in...

...But God doesn't leave us among the ruins.

Yes, there is loss,

Yes, there is a time to grieve what was...

But there is also a time to Rise and Build.

And just as Nehemiah did,

for the displaced and disoriented victims of the diaspora,

So Jesus does for us:

He dons a hard hat,

Lifts us up,

out of the ashes of what was,

then turns our face to the new thing that will be.

He fills our heads with vision,

our hands with purpose,

and our hearts with courage;

and with that deceptively simple directive,

He lays the foundation for Brand New Day:

"Let us Rise and Build." 

~~O~~

"Awake, awake!  Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city!  Shake yourself from the dust; Arise!"

-Isaiah 52:1, 2

Photo courtesy of Dan Denardo Photography

Lost and Found

"For this is God,

Our Guide forever and ever;

He will be our guide

Even to death."

-Psalm 48:14

~***~

For forty years less two
I've wandered these desert sands
Hoping, always hoping,
for Just-Around-the-Corner-Promised-Land

The sepia landscape
blends into barrenness
peppered with promises
 that led me here,
White blazes on a wide path
now no more than mere mirage...
maddening mirage...

...but even here,
my heart holds to You,
"The God who seeks the one"
(as though I were some treasure
and not this mess that I've become)

I take a breath, then take a step
and feel Your steady gaze,
Your steady hands,
Your more-than-words assurance
that what awaits me is worth all the sand

And once again we're on the move
and I begin again the Walk
The desert lays,
defeated,
defied,
as Water gushes from the Rock.

~***~

-E.A.A. "Hindsfeet"  7/22/11

"I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."

-Isaiah 41:18

Freedom

"You shall know The Truth and the Truth will make you Free."

-John 8:32

~***~

The Truth:

It changes the lens through which we see ourselves and look upon others

It is the grid that filters out fear and fosters faith

It is the answer to the deepest longing emanating from the center of our soul

It lifts our chin and allows our eyes to unflinchingly meet His,

For what we see there, is the Truth that makes us Free:


I am Loved.

Loved like crazy.

Deeply,


Unfailingly,


Tenaciously,


Tenderly...

With Fierce protection and Firy fervor

With unabashed bounty on every side.

He delights in me

Is over the moon about me

and digs me with over-the-top abandon...

He yearns for me when I'm not near

And runs to embrace me when I return,
((before I can even get a word in edge-wise!))

He loves my sleepy-head and my coffee breath which accompany our sacred space

He longs for me,
loves me,
lived for me,
died for me.

That, my friends, is The Truth, 

The Gospel in a nutshell. 

That is Freedom.

"...that you may be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

-Ephesians 3:18-19

~***~