becoming Awake

 

I want to float on the fog,

Surrounded by the opaqueness,

Upheld by the hands of God.

 

I want to step onto a cloud at sunrise,

And be bathed in

That glorious Light.

 

I want to be like the sparrow,

Lifting my wings in the sky’s soft skirt,

Enveloped by all that is Holy.

 

I want to dance in my dreams

And awaken to delight in this day.

Thanks be to God.

Inspired by "Awake Awhile" by Hafiz

trust

 Trust in the heart's courage to 
rest
     rest in love

to know 

     all things shall be well. 

Trust in the power of

love

     love that has no end

& to believe

     that fear is a liar.

Trust in the sweetness of 

Grace

     grace abounding

     grace waiting

     grace present

in the valleys of illusion.

Trust in the letting go

and come to Heaven's realm

     here on earth.

Based on Nan Merrill's Psalms for Praying ~ Psalm 27:11-14

connection

Even as babies

before we can talk
we stretch out our arms & hands
and reach for what we desire.

In lockdown

with technology: electricity to computer

over wires

over phone lines

through the vast emptiness of the air

and in ways I cannot understand

we reach out, 

see and hear each other.

But at any time, in every time,

the connections of the heart,

not needing electricity or phone lines

or a 5G network,

need only love ~ 

a space in my heart for you

one in yours for me. 

And, Jesus, that baby in the stable,

reaches out for us all

connecting us with love.

written 12-30-20

Do You Not Know?

Have you not heard?
Heard about the Lord?

Even the birds know
the little house finch, who

flies by my window and 

alights on the railing ~

poised just so...

just so I can see him through the slated blinds. 

Does he want to soar like an eagle?

Higher and farther than he can go now

strengthened by God to expand his horizons.

I am like the house finch

with a limited territory

I grow tired of my boundaries

I would like to soar like an eagle,

perhaps to ride on a dragon

for if all things are possible with God ~

why not?

I will close my eyes and soar

soar like an eagle

like an angel

opening my heart & soul to God

so that I may be strengthened

in turn to strengthen others.

Given hope, I will walk

I will walk with my sisters and brothers

and they with me, we will not faint.

I have heard

Heard about the Lord

and I am blessed.

Based on Isaiah 40:28-31

Love Reigns

 Oh this world in these times
   so many warring factions
have we lost our humanity?

our sameness?

Right now it seems "me"

is more important than "we" ...

this group, that group, another

group

All think they are the only way

tension, fear,

injustice ~ real or perceived

becomes their only truth

until one - emboldened & inflamed

raises an arm

slinging death from the end of a gun

Death does not arrive this time

lives are altered

Mercy floods forth

Love reigns in humanity's desolation

written after the ambush shooting of two LASD deputies on 9-12-20

a reflection on Psalm 46:8-11, from Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill

Strengthened I Rise

It creeps on you

    this life

        this new world

it creeps until you can't ignore

    the unease

        the out of ordinary

it creeps and obscures

    the way the fog closes in and hides things

        usually seen.

Day by day, moment by moment, 

    we live our lives

    barely seeing the

    toll that is being paid

    somewhere, somehow.

I go to my knees

    depleted

        but knowing that the One True God,

        the one who knows all

        who sees all, 

    knows me

    sees me, 

I listen...

And She says, "Arise, child of mine,

for I give you strength of 

body and heart and soul.

Arise and step into this new day, 

this new moment, 

knowing I am with you, always.

Arise."

Based on Ephesians 3: 14-17

July 29, 2020

Speak the Message

But Balaam replied, "I will speak only the message the Lord puts in my mouth."

   -Numbers 23:12   (NLT)

Oh how I wish my tongue only spoke the Lord's message. My heart longs to do so, but when the words come out, they are often not of the Lord. They are more of me and about me. Sometimes I think the Lord's message is obscured by my focus on the daily reality I live in. Like a dusty window, or the shadows that form even in the light, the Lord's message is cloaked & hidden. 

Paul writes in Romans 7:14-15, "The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for I want to do (speak) what is right, but I don't do it." His view is it is the sin living within us that causes us to do wrong. But the cure, the answer, the antidote, is Jesus Christ. The Lord. The same Lord who will put the love in my heart, on my tongue, and who will give me the message I am to speak.

I look through the dust and shadow and difficulty of this day and wish I was on the other side ~ the side of light and love. How do I get there? Perhaps it is as simple as walking through the doorway presented. As simple as taking a breath in silence to listen. As simple as stopping to offer a short prayer or thanksgiving. As simple as taking a deliberate step in a new direction. That of others, not self ~ a step toward love. It is through my faith in Jesus Christ that I can take that step to speak the Lord's message today and all days. 

Thanks be to God.