Thursday, May 28, 2015

Watermark



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The Eternal Moment
In the Upper Room
Which followed
The Crucifixion

That Excruciating Pause
Before Faith
Becomes Sight

Unbearable Stillness and Confinement
The Suspended Animation
Of All Space and Time

Bated Breath of a Thousand Years
Hope held in abeyance
Under the Crushing Weight

Of The Wait --

-- And just on the other side
Of this sliver between seconds
The thinnest veil obscuring their View

The Tide Is Returning

Bearing Down Mighty on their Good Friday Shore
Their dashed dreams
Their Broken Bewildered Hearts

Rushing in
to Watermark them
in 
Unimaginable
Resurrection

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"It will be said in that day, 'Behold our God upon Whom we have waited and hoped;
We will be exceedingly glad in His Salvation."
-Isaiah 25:9

Friday, May 22, 2015

Ashes?




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Ashes Seem So Final.

Barns burned down
Bodies laid to rest
Dust to dust
Death's denoument...

But crucifixions are conduits,
Calling cards only
 of Impending Resurrection
Imminent Rebirth...

The Ocean's Ebb is not its end
The Tide returns
Again
and
Again...

After the Interlude...

Ashes,
Sorrows Sown
Do not have the last word
What has been burned down
lays lovely ground,
and will,
in the end

Be Bartered
for
Beauty

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"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for He has anointed Me,
to give Beauty for Ashes..."
-Isaiah 61:3

Thursday, May 21, 2015

no trespassing?




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Today, on a run, I saw a sign in front of a chuch that said, 
"No Trespassing, parishioners only".....

Really?

Really??

Keeping this blog g-rated prevents me from using the language I'd like to use right now, but it's something along the lines of "Brood of vipers", 
as Jesus more gently put it.......

I was utterly horrified......Jesus would be rolling over in His grave if He were still in it.......

The Big Business of church has drowned out the still small voice that said, "Come, all who are weary" ... "Come all who are thirsty, and you all, who have no money, come, buy and eat, buy wine and milk without money and without price..." 

I find it sadly amusing (pardon the oxymoron), that we would be taken aback to hear, if Jesus came back today and walked through our churches, the crack of the whip and the turning over of tables and pews; we would be shaken at the rage as He delivered the same 2000 year old rebuke, 
"How dare you turn My Father's house into a den of thieves!"

How dare we indeed.....How dare we pick and choose who can join our little country club we slap His name on and call "church".  How dare we treat anyone as a trespasser, we the lot of us, who, but for the Mercy and Love of God, are all trespassers into Amazing Grace........

God help us on judgement day, we who purportedly represent Providence, we "Parishioners".  
We may be very surprised to find God's Heaven filled with all the "Trespassers" the church turned away.

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"My Name is blasphemed among the people because of you."
-Romans 2:24

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Middle



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Middles are Messy.

In any Great Work of Art,

Michaelangelo's David,
My God, the dust, the pounding, the breaking...

A Butterfly in the making,
Nothing but a cocoon full of goo...

Creation Itself,
On Day Three, probably looked more like Madness than Method...

We short circuit our Beginnings,
We get stuck in the uncomfortable 'In-Betweens'
of what's been "Authored" and what will be "Finished",
the Work Begun and the Work Completed...

Our Belief stalls out on Day Three,
Stopping short of the Rest awaiting us on Day Seven,
We draw conclusions before all the data is in,
While there are still Three Days to go...

The Execution of a Great Plan
- One for Peace, and not Evil,
For Hope and a Future -
Sometimes takes more than five minutes,
More than our minute attention spans allow for,

And we abort our Beginnings
Before they have a chance to Begin...

So Breathe

Breathe through this Middle

Keep Walking

God is the Alpha and the Omega
The Beginning and the End...

Let Him also be Lord
in the
Middle.

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"Trust Me; I know the Plans I have for you: Plans for Peace and not Evil, Plans to Prosper you, and not to harm you, Plans to give you Hope and a Future."
-Jeremiah 29:11

Monday, May 18, 2015

Communion




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Anchored
Here,
In the Deepest Place
Axis of the wheel
Ancient Mooring
Abiding
in You

Here
We touch,
Here
We speak

Face to Face
Mouth to Mouth
We Breathe...

...and the Well is tapped...

Your Kingdom Comes
You Come,

Rushing upward
Soaking me
Saturating me
Gushing out of me
Like water from the Rock,

Drenching every Desert Heart
Slaking every thirsty soul
Bathing Your Beloved

in
Communion

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"Blessed is he who is in You; he passes through the valley of weeping
and makes it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools..."

~Psalm 84:5-6

Friday, May 15, 2015

Letting Go





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We treat our lives, at times, like an all-terrain vehicle
And our walk with God less like walking
and more like off-roading...

Clinging so tightly
White-Knuckling the steering wheel
In an attempt to avoid catastrophe...

Yesterday, I went through a car wash...
I pulled up to the opening, 
Lined up my tires with the track,
Rolled down my window at the attendant's behest
At which point he told me,

"Put it in Neutral and Let Go of the steering wheel"

The track took hold of my car,
Pulled me along, 

Peacefully,
Smoothly, 
Methodically...

And everything was cleaned that needed to be cleaned...
Everything was done that needed to be done...
I made it through to the other side...

Without any hyper-vigilance on my part
Without anything on my part......

Just the Letting Go.........

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