When the fog lifts...

"When the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, 

the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys."

-Exodus 40:36

+

"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep..." is what Frost wrote, an eloquent word picture of what this Life so often looks like...

I'm not sure how "lovely" I think it all is.....sometimes it just feels "dark and deep" and not so lovely, not at all.....sometimes it just feels menacing, unending, oppressive.....sometimes I feel closed in and claustrophobic, barely seeing the hand in front of my face, holding to the tiniest thread and semblance of a path......Could this really be The Path?  

I want meadows, and clearings, wide-open spaces and lookouts that let me see for miles......not this plodding, this panting, this praying for daylight.......

I long for Frost's "Lovely"......I tire of "Dark and Deep".........but he tells me the two are not mutually exclusive......the paradox of "Lovely" and "Dark and Deep", paired, purposely, quite purposely, like a chess move playing out, plotting itself, into my Path.  And the thought comes that perhaps, perhaps, all this "Dark and Deep" belies something extraordinarily, exquisitely, and unexpectedly "Lovely", which, though hidden, pervades the Whole.  Perhaps, without "Dark and Deep", there is no "Lovely"....not the lasting kind of "Lovely" anyway......

....I want the Lasting Kind.  For myself, and for all others who will follow in my footsteps, the ones who will come behind, who will also lay Lovely ground...

So if "Dark and Deep" must coincide with "Lovely", if they are the inseparable companions Frost made them out to be, and if embracing dark and deep means I will also hold in my arms Lovely, for a world who is starving for Lovely, then Let It Be.....And with Isaiah, regarding these Woods, this Life, I say, "Here am I, Send me."...

...Bring on the Dark.  Bring on the Deep.  

Bring on the Lovely.

+

"I am dark, but lovely, oh daughters of Jerusalem, 

like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon."

-Song of Solomon 1:5

breadcrumbs...

breadcrumbs

"We're all just walking each other Home."

-Ram Dass

~~

My book, a compilation of posts from this blog, is now available on Amazon for Kindle.

My friends, I've walked this path with some of you for years, 

some of you just weeks or days...

All of you have had a part in the creation of this book, 

of the Life it took on, the Breath that it holds.

  

You shone your light, you lent your perspective, so generously into my life and onto my path; we journeyed together through calm waters and crucibles, through light and dark, holding each other's hands and helping each other to see, just a little bit farther down the road.

It is with a humble and deeply grateful heart, deeply grateful to each and every one of you, my traveling companions, that I bring this offering to our table,

breadcrumbs

~~

"I am God's pencil.  A tiny bit of pencil with which He writes what He likes.  He writes through us, and however imperfect we may be, He writes beautifully."

~Mother Theresa

breadcrumbs

breadcrumbs

"We're all just walking each other Home."

-Ram Dass

~~

My book, a compilation of posts from this blog, is now available on Amazon for Kindle.

My friends, I've walked this path with some of you for years, 

some of you just weeks or days...

All of you have had a part in the creation of this book, 

of the Life it took on, the Breath that it holds.

  

You shone your light, you lent your perspective, so generously into my life and onto my path; we journeyed together through calm waters and crucibles, through light and dark, holding each other's hands and helping each other to see, just a little bit farther down the road.

It is with a humble and deeply grateful heart, deeply grateful to each and every one of you, my traveling companions, that I bring this offering to our table,

breadcrumbs

~~

"I am God's pencil.  A tiny bit of pencil with which He writes what He likes.  He writes through us, and however imperfect we may be, He writes beautifully."

~Mother Theresa

Wide Water II

+

The Water is wide,

But there are Wings...

and there are boats that carry two......

There is a light on that far shore

coming into view

The same currents that battered us,

That broke us,

bent us to their mysterious will,

now carry us

and plot our course,

into the stream intended

all along...

+

"He shepherded and guided them"

-Psalm 78:72

Lost?

"What you are seeking

is seeking you."

~Rumi

+

Apparent contradictions exist,

carefully pointed out

with our self-made scepters

our limited scope, 

based on our combined five minutes of experience we've had on this planet:

Contradictions in the Book of books,

The Word we follow,

even where God Himself is concerned....

In Reality,

There are no irreconcilable differences,

Only finite minds which cannot span Infinite Distances.

Enter the Way Himself,

the Truth,

the One who came to bridge the gap

Our Path Homeward is plotted through Paradox,

Soaked in Mystery;

So much depends on knowing the Unknowable,

Faith asks us to begin at the end, 

to find rest in the Final Analysis,

The Constant of our Equation:

that God Is.

that God is Good.

That God is Love.

If the factors you're currently considering

do not add up to this end,

keep seeking...

You will Find,

and in the finding,

You will be Found.

+

"May you be rooted deep in Love and founded securely on Love, that you may have the power to grasp what is the breadth and length and height and depth of Love; to know the Love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

-Ephesians 3:17-19

Mercy

"Deep calls to deep"

-Psalm 42:7

+

You carved and dug

Deep into me

Mercilessly

(or so it seemed)

And made of me

Your Well

in this desert

For all who are thirsty

For all who would drink

Deeply

of Your

Mercy

+

"They shall partake of the abundance of the seas,

and of treasures hidden in the sand."

-Deuteronomy 33:19

Wholehearted....

+

The Heart is enlarged in still small spaces

Multiplied in Solitide

Woven Wide across worlds when given to One…

Thus stretched

This canvas can hold multitudes,

and more Beauty 

than ever it held ashes…

When willing to wait at the empty table

For it to be filled

The heart becomes a feast

even its broken

loaves and fishes fragments

become food

and fill to the brim

the baskets

of His Beloved.

+

Calling all angels...

+

Standing on this precipice

between 

terror of Falling

and

the 

thinnest 

thread 

of 

hope 

for

Flight

.....Wish me Wings

+++

Calling all angels

Which Way...

"He made known His Ways to Moses,

His acts to the children of Israel."

-Psalm 103:7

+

The children of Israel saw the cart,

Moses saw the Horse;

The children of Israel witnessed the effect,

Moses knew the Cause

The children of Israel benefitted from second cause,

Moses interacted with the Primum Movens Himself.

We can settle for outer court living,

protected, certainly,

provided for, of course,

partaking of what has been parceled out to us in God's word

Experiencing Providence from a distance,

Or

We can Live

in intimate interaction

with God Himself

Knowing First hand the Word

which becomes what we see fleshed out all around us

We can become conduits of creation,

not just the beneficiaries of what has been created

There is More than we've been settling for

There is So Much More

We can settle for making a living, for making our way,

or we can Know The Way Himself.

+

"Show me your way that I may know You"

-Exodus 33:13

Held

+

no matter how many rugs are pulled out from under us, 

underneath,

Still,

are the Everlasting Arms.

+

"There is no one like God,

Who rides the heavens to help you...

The Eternal God is your Refuge,

and underneath are

the Everlasting Arms."

-Deuteronomy 33:26, 27

Matrix

+

It's not about how good we are, 

It's about how Loved we are.

And we are so very Very Loved.

+

"For God So Loved the world..."

John 3:16

Simple

+

We serve a Savior Who chose a stable for His birthplace,

A God Who preferred the company of Fisherman to that of Pharisees,

A Lord Who advised the rich young ruler,

not to follow hundreds of laws,

but instead, said simply, "Follow Me."

When offered a thousand rams, ten thousand rivers of oil, even His followers' first born in some twisted attempt to procure His favor,

He gently redirected their well-meaning but misguided efforts with the simple dictum,

Just Do Justly,

And Love Mercy,

And Walk Humbly With Your God.

There is no song and dance necessary to secure your salvation,

No hoops to jump through

that will make Him love you more

Jesus died an agonizing death

to forever join your heart to Heaven's,

He did the hard part

So you could keep it Simple.

+

"My yoke is easy, My burden is light."

-Jesus

Stable

+

God has a thing for stables

The frills seem lost on Him

The fancy-schmancy doesn't seem to float His boat

We have a God

Who digs

Raw and Real

Who would rather be up to His elbows

in the nitty-gritty of our lives,

than to have the wrapped-up-pretty version

we so often offer,

the one that obscures the Gift inside,

the complicated-messy-conundrum He's so crazy about.

He wants your Voice,

not your script

He wants your Heart

not an Excel spread sheet

He wants to confide

without having to cushion and clean it up

He wants to sit in silence

with one who hears anyway

When given the choice

between homogenized and humble

between white-washed and weathered

between the insulation of the inn

and the blood and sweat of the stable,

We have a God Who chooses the Stable,

Every time.

Who makes Himself at home there,

So we can make ourselves at home in Heaven.

+

"For now I have chosen and set apart this house, that my name may be there forever; 

My attention and my concern will be there always."

-2 Chronicles 7:16

Yet

"...Although my house is not so with God, 

Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,

Ordered in ALL things and Secure."

-2 Samuel 23:5

+

Yet

The Game Changing Word

The Difference between

serving The Living God

and any other god

This tiny word

contains the entire gospel,

contains All the Amazing Grace

we will ever need

Our Soundness,

Our Salvation,

Our Second and Forty-Second Chances

are Sealed and Secure,

 we are Covered and Kept,

Not because we so perfectly keep our promises,

But because He Always 

Always,

Always

Keeps His.

+

"...This is All my Salvation,

and all my desire."

-2 Samuel 23:5

Modus Operandi

~~

To Live

So that we Leave

A shadow of a doubt,

A wondering,

If we were,

Indeed,

Their angel

Sent From God

~~

"As He Is, so are we in this world."

-1 John 4:17

Finished?

"It is Finished."

-John 19:30

+

Finished.

Done For.

Down for the Count.

So was Jesus.

Hanging

Helpless

Bloodied and Beaten

The words, "It is Finished" on His lips.

And yet

And Yet,

That agonizing utterance precipitated

The Greatest Beginning

in History.

When we, too, are hanging,

When even that all-important Last Thread has snapped,

When the dreadful feeling fills our hearts,

the one in our terrified bewilderment that we barely dare to utter,

"My God! My God?!  Why have You forsaken me??!"

We may also be,

Paradoxically and Providentially,

At The Beginning.

...and this very paradox, agonizing as it is,

would dictate that when we, too, are Finished

what has been Authored can finally come to pass

In this Divine Economy,

Death sets the stage,

becomes the Doorway,

and is servant to,

Always

and Ever,

The Resurrection.

"Life comes back.  Life Always comes back."

+

"Death is swallowed up, utterly vanquished forever, in victory.  Oh death, where is your victory?  Oh grave, where is your sting?  Thanks be to God, Who gives us the victory and makes us Conquerors with and through the Lord Jesus Christ."

-1 Corinthians: 15:55-57

Soak

(Chincoteague Island, Virginia)

~~~

Soaking with You,

in You,

You in me...

Every cell, every synapse

engorged

in this ethereal effusion,

Heart, Mind,

Body, Spirit

Enjoined,

Beautifully,

One

Thus saturated,

Thus enmeshed,

I emerge,

Brimming withYour Being,

Your very Essence...

...Through me

Slake the thirst of thousands,

Let tears be traded

for the Torrent

of Your Presence

Into this desert, wring out the Deluge of You,

once again, drench dust with the Divine,

Quench the deepest place in every parched heart,

Rain out of me,

and Flood

Your Beloved.

~~~

"Passing through the Valley of Weeping, 

they make it a Place of Springs;

The Rain also covers it and fills the pools with blessings."

-Psalm 84:6

Flying Dreams...

~~

The Offering

"The people will come to your light,

and Kings to the brightness of your Rising"

-Isaiah 60:3

~~

Burned

Utterly Consumed

Ashes

Alter empty of All-that-was

The body that held

Life,

Love,

Breath

Fed, Mercifully,

to Flame

Now Spirit, Caught Fire,

Can Burn,

No longer suffocated,

starved of Air,

~~ It Rises ~~

Engulfed in this Gorgeous Fiery Light,

Flesh burns away in a few painful hours,

But Spirit is Fuel for Eternity,

Spent like the Sun,

For The Son

A Lamp

For All who are lost,

Lovely Luminary Shining

For Worlds upon Worlds,

Showing

Weary Warriors,

Languishing Lovers,

and Every Precious Prodigal,

The Way to go Home

~~

"Those who would be Light

Must endure Burning."

-Dr. Viktor Frankl

Out of the Woods.....

"Who is this, coming out of the wilderness,

leaning on her Beloved?"

-Song of Solomon 8:5

~~

Come Out of the Woods now, Beloved..

Just this Way...

You see the Light

begin to Flood your Path

from the Clearing up ahead.....

.....Just Up Ahead......

And you know

And you Realize

Afterall

After All,

That I AM,

Indeed,

The Good Shepherd

~~

...a little slice......

Blue Ridge Sunset from the top of Wintergreen...

...i.e. "Heaven"

Freedom

(Blue Ridge Mountains seen from the top of Wintergreen)

~~

"God gives Wings to those who are not content to ride an ass."

~Rumi

Beloved II .....

"In this union and communion with Him, love is brought to completion and consummation,

because as He is, so are we in this world."

-1 John 4:17

+

Equal parts

Humanity

and Divinity,

We move between the two,

marrying the two,

as He did,

Effortlessly,

Beautifully,

Between 

Groundedness

and Godliness,

A bridge from

Holy Ground

to Holy God,

Jacob's Ladder,

Living,

Lifting others

With Hinds Feet footing

in our own Belovedness

We become the way

to the High Places,

to their place,

as Chosen,

as Cherished,

as the Beloved

+

"He has made my feet like Hinds Feet,

He makes me walk in the High Places"

-Habakkuk 3:19

Lilies and Birds

~~

Blooming

Unfurling

Unfolding

Petals and Wings

Lilies and Birds,

Flowers and Flight...

Finally Found,

Opening,

to Love

and Light

and Lift

Beautiful

Long Awaited

Becoming...

~~

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

-Anais Nin

Quiet

"He will Quiet you in His Love"

-Zephaniah 3:17

~*

Storm Stilled,

We then Still,

and Soothe,

and become Shore

for others...

His Voice

Resonating

through our own

to fellow Travelers

on this restless sea...

We board their boats

as Jesus did,

and with that,

the waves bow down

the wind defers

and we give His incomparable Gift

of Quiet

~*

"And when He got into the boat, the storm ceased"

-Matthew 14:32

Epilogue...

(Pollak Vineyards, Greenwood, Virginia,

taken on 2/16/14)

Three months ago, I posted Hidden, illustrated with the photograph above.  The same post follows here, along with a photograph I took today, three months later, depicting the same vineyard....

Life comes back...Life always comes back...

* * *

...hard to believe they'll bloom,

much less bear fruit again,

this landscape of a thousand crucifixes

looking lifeless

and beaten...

but within each cross

flows the blood of beginnings,

perennial promise

of return...

of resurrection...

beneath the stillness,

this suspended animation,

are stirrings...

The scene which holds for the eye only death

belies unseen Life within...

welling up,

mustering,

and moving in ancient circadian concert 

with all of Creation,

as it readies itself,

for

 The Reveal.

"To everything there is a season, 

a time for every purpose under heaven"

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

* * *

(Pollak Vineyards, Greenwood, Virginia,

taken on 6/3/14)

Life Comes Back...Life Always Comes Back.

See

+

When I focus on what

i was

I lose sight of 

I AM

When I fixate only on the middle of the story

I become frightened

and forgetful

of

The Author

and

The Finisher

When I freeze-frame

on my grievous failings

on the heart-rending moments I wish I could undo,

fix,

re-frame,

I forego perspective of

The Big Picture...

...Framed in my Father's Arms

Seen through His Eyes

His Loving Lens

which Sees

Me

not my mistakes,

not my mishaps,

not my downright disastrous moves

and missed turns at Albuquerque...

but Me

His Child

His Beloved

His Precious One

"Be Thou my vision" I pray through the tears,

And He, with His trademark Tenderness,

with a knowing "you'll see" smile,

Gently lifts me to His lookout

Shares with me His view

Quiets the ferocious waves

Stills my self-flagellation

and Shows me

Hinds Feet

High Places

A Heart after His

Hope

a Future...

...and many blind,

who also need to see themselves as they really are,

as the apple of His eye....

...Hand in hand,

We Begin Again...

From His vantage point this time...

+

"Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,

that saved a wretch like me,

I once was lost, but now I'm found,

was blind,

but now,

I see."

-John Newton

David

"Rise, Take up your bed, and Walk"
-John 5:8

+

He could've stayed there, you know...

In sackcloth,
In Ashes,
In Mourning,
In Grief...

And no one would have thought it strange

Indeed, they thought it strange when he arose,
when he ended his vigil
and took his place again
in the Land of the Living

The Child was Dead.
Remaining in the heart-rending remorse,
the regret,
the weeping, the wailing,
perhaps even wanting to die himself
would not bring back to life
the precious thing lost.

Still,
He could've chosen to stay

in the sorrow,
in the suffering,
in the sadness,
in the Ending...

and it might have been easier
it might have felt safer
and everyone would've understood...

...and Solomon and his Wisdom
Would have been Lost to the World
Forever

David chose to Get Up,
David chose to Live Again,
to Love Again,
to Try Again,
to Trust Again,

In God's Amazing Grace
In Second Chances
In Big Time Do-Overs...

And God Delivered...

...Big Time.

+

"Behold, I AM doing a New Thing;
Now it Springs forth,
don't you perceive it?"
-Isaiah 43:19

Fish

"Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah.  And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."

-Jonah 1:17

+

God is God of the Light and the Darkness....

He created Both;

Make no mistake,

Both serve His Purpose:

The thing that engulfs us in Night
becomes the vehicle God uses to

Deliver us to New Day

That which entombs us 

becomes the scene of Salvation,

of stones rolled away

The great fish

becomes the Ark

that transports us to High Ground

The event that deals the leveling blow

may very well be the burial

which precipitates Birth

When our compasses are spinning

God encompasses us,

God carries us,

God commands the "fish"

and the thing that swallowed us whole,
that dragged us to depths previously unfathomed,

suddenly serves as a segue,

Death defers

and we are given back

to Life.

+

"You have brought up my life from the pit...

Salvation is of the LORD."

-Jonah 2:6,9

Emergence - a haiku

+

The Kingdom of God

Spilling out, Flooding the earth.....

She's burst her cocoon

+

"Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard,

nor have entered into the heart of man

the things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

-1 Corinthians 2:9

Hineni

+

Subjection to Trials is a Sacred Trust

With Isaiah, we say, "Here am I" to God,

and He takes us up on that.

It is not when we live in Ivory Towers

that our testimony is meaningful

to those in despair,

But when we, too, have been lost

When we know the bitterness of endings

When we've waded through 'Which-Way-Is-Up?'

and Not Knowing

When we've stood in the Painful,

Excruciating Pause

Between

Authored

and

Finished...

That place, my friends, that Sacred Ground

is where Trials are Transmuted into Meaningful Testimony

Into the Sustenance our Sovereign meant our lives to be

Into very Bread of Life

and Living Water,

For all who are thirsty,

For whosoever will...

Here am I, my Lord, Send me.

+

"Do not be afraid; I am He Who Lives...

Death will be swallowed up in Victory."

-Rev. 1:17-18, 1 Cor 15:54