Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Lent



+

The Bated Breath
Between
Ashes
and
Beauty,

The Road
From
Razed
to Resurrection...

An exquisite Stillness belies
The Movement
Beneath the surface,
Behind the Scenes,

The Readying for Birth

Submerged, Momentarily,
In this baptismal
'In-Between',

I feel myself,
not free-floating,
but tenderly Held,
Embraced in His Arms,
Every muscle therein tensed
Tremulous,
Ready to Lift me

From Lent,

To Life

+

"I Am the Resurrection and the Life."
-John 11:25

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Exhale



+

We inhale ... what?
Air,
Food,
Sometimes Each Other...

What are we Exhaling to a World
Longing for Resuscitation?...

What you Inhale
Is what you will Exhale...

Let It Be a Sweet Breath
A Breeze of Benediction
Blowing on the Smoldering Coals of this Creation,
Bestowing Blessing,
Bellowing the Beloved
Back into Beautiful Flame...

+

"Awaken, North Wind, and Come, Oh South...
Breathe on this Garden
That its spices may flow out."
Song 4:16

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Bleed



+

Blood Pushing, Pulsing,
Engorging 
Bones, 
Body,
Muscles no longer atrophied

But Warrior, and Ready,
Steeled to the core
Stallions ready to Run

Determined in their stride
Filled with Iron
Arms that bend bows of bronze

Taut, Tempered
In Fire not of this world
But found in The Deepest Heart of God
Burning
Mercilessly,
Mercifully...

Eyes Ablaze with this Flame,
Like her LORD's,
Just Exactly like her LORD's...

Hind's feet headed for craggy, impossible,
Unspoiled High Places
Utterly Insurmountable...

...And Yet...

And Yet,

She Will Stand
And See
From those Conquered Summits
All that was Beyond
this laughably brief Sojourn...

A million years hence,
This speck of existence
Will be but a drop of her Blood
Swimming in the current of His

The moment she was part of 
The Transfusion
Into a Beloved World
Whose heart
had gone cold

+

"I have Loved you with an Everlasting Love...Come from the four winds,
Oh Breath and Spirit,
And Breathe upon these slain,
That they may Live."
-Jeremiah 31:3, Ezekiel 37:9

Monday, February 16, 2015

Lifted II




~~

Wings tightly folded, far too long,
now stretching
 spreading, 
soaking in Sun...

Suspended Animation
in this Moment Between

Broken Life
and Breaking Dawn...

as this once fearful fledgling
bravely bares herself,
lifts her face,
 to meet His Shining,
and with all her still-water-soul,
beautifully reflects 
her Beloved's Light

Thus Illumined,
Thus Lifted,

she unfolds to Him,
feels His Arms Underneath,
Beautiful Buoyancy,
Rapturous Rise,

For such a time as this,

Together,
They Fly...

~~

"Rise up, My love, My fair one..."
Song 2:10

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Lifted



~ ~ ~

When you look back
See a Life Lived --
Not tethered to transient, untenable illusions,
Man's measuring sticks
That shackle you in the shallows,

But Winged
And Wide-Eyed
Moved by The Immovable,
The Immortals

Let not gravity have the last word,
You who were fearfully and wonderfully formed
For Flight

Re-Find your Belonging -- 
Not to the base elements around you,
But as The Beloved

Keep company with The Angels,
The Awakened,
The Lovers

And Be Lifted

~ ~ ~

"They shall mount up with wings as eagles..."
-Isaiah 40:31

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Brushstrokes.....




* * *

I see only a small, very very tiny, 
Infinitesimal corner
of The Painting
and dance myself to exhaustion
trying to understand The Whole
and move accordingly...

Instead,

Let me dance with The Painter Himself
Slow, Soft, Fluid,
and So Very Close...

Moving in union with The One
Who holds the canvas,
Who created all color,
In Whose Arms I am the brush
with which He makes
such beautiful
Brushstrokes

* * *

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
Lean not on your own understanding,
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
He will smooth your paths."
-Proverbs 3:5,6

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Love



+

Bloodied Broken Prodigal Heart
Having gambled away
Every Grace
Every Good Gift Given,
Left Empty
Razed
Unrecognizable

Except

To a Father
Whose Heart bred this one
Bled for this one
Bore, in Agonizing Union
Every Blow
Each Abuse
The Crucifixion of Unbearable Betrayal...

In a show of Unprecedented Mercy,
Of Unbelievable, Astounding Grace
He tenderly takes up
My wasted Judas heart
Claims it as His own
Sees the treasure beneath the ruins

He unearths it
all of it
the excruciating pain
the paralyzing sorrow
the utterly undone-ness of it all...

And Instead

Buries it, absorbs it, into His very own Breast
Broods over it
and again, Breathes into it, 
the ancient In The Beginning words, 
"Let There Be..."...

Willing it to Live Again

Readying it
for
Resurrection

+

"All Things New"
-Revelation 21:5

Monday, February 9, 2015

Wet




* * *

...Right under your nose
Right Beneath Your Feet,

Tapped

Percolating up to the surface
of this once dry desert
wetting your ground again
trickling around your feet

Springs Surfacing
There, all along...
Around your ankles now

Flowing Again...

Swirling around
Your waist
Your torso...

And now you swim
and float
and are carried

Looking Up
You Smile again,

As you are Born
away,

to
All Things New...

* * *

"Joy and Gladness will be found therein,
Thanksgiving and the voice of melody"
-Isaiah 51:3

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

The Walk



+

Sometimes I think
He's not as task oriented
as we've made Him out to be...

Sometimes I wonder
if He just wants
to take our hand
and enjoy a stroll,

Maybe He gets tired too
and wants to simply
sit a spell,
and share a little beauty,
then to stroll some more...

not to arrive anywhere
in particular,
but just for the joy

of The Walk

+