Though it lies before you it always connects
To where you came from
The road falls behind you
Looking back so fondly, gazing back so fondly
Knowing that the past is us
Looking back so fondly, gazing back so fondly
Knowing that the past is part of us
As you look ahead, as you look to the past
Rest a while, rest a while. Be quiet weary ones.
Rest a while, rest a while. Be quiet weary ones.
Feel the heart stirring up with a new peace
Feel the heart, feel your new peace, and be now lifted up
So many people speak sarcastically the words "Whatever"
Tend to them and give them the opposite words speaking of
My "forever and forever"
Why do you ask why?
From what place do your questions spring?
Springing from a place of a desire
To be right and self-justified
Or falling from a place
of knowing that you know
that my answer will give tender mercies
And plant you in a new spring of wisdom.
Can
we plumb the
depths of the glory of God?On the high seas in a glory storm.
Can we even cast an anchor?
Or can we ever even sink beneath the weight of glory?
There You are even in the depths
Why do You laugh with a deep laugh?
Nothing is caught in my dry throat
For from my belly
I laugh with You.
We gather hear to share stories
Good sto ries shared around a camp fire
The fire rises
The light rises
The warmth rises
Up: arching over all
Stretching the Heavens
A morning stretch around the safe
Circumference of the light of the campfire
Stretched until the heavens were opened
And wrent
And You descended to us
Your substance is so thick no matter how stretched
It is not stretched thin.
Each universe of You contains innumerable worlds.
As you cast your fears upon Jesus
So too cast off all your sickness.
For He is able to take all cursed things
And turn them inside out to blessings.
From darkness to light
He is able
To transform by the power of the Holy Spirit
He is able to loose all love
Where there was only negativity and hate
And by so doing bring the beautiful
Divine intervention that
Creates a
New and Perfect Way of Being
That is Holy and Healthy and Right
Come to the table
Do not sit alone at your own table
Feeling sad and uninvited
You hear the laughing voices -
The heart-felt laughter
Come to the table
and all the gifts are yours
Ask your now dear friends
Pass the good things
from the other end of the table
They are your good friends
and they will include you
And not hesitate to pass every
And anything that is good.
Lord
I love you with all of my heartI cannot stand just still without moving with You.
Lord You say "I am that I am"
Well I might say "I am what You are"
Oh my Lord and my Savior
Make me what You are.
Form me. Cast me.
The irony of love is that
We create masks
For others to seem Lovable
But David danced naked before the Lord
To worship in spirit and in truth
"God did You see what holy things I did "
This too is a mask.
I never want to make a mask
Even if I look like a super-hero.
Father, I am not what I do
I am not what I have
I am not what others say about me
I am Your child whom You love.
Fasting -- it is staying fast
Fastened on what will last
It is being satisfied -- not satiated
It is not feeling deprived that your Lord
Does not have enough.
The Lord will give you food in Good time.
His Good time is so Good.
Taste and See.
He will fill you now as you fast.
The angels, as they pass,
Carry sweet aromas that can be savored
Like the best food.
Lord, I am a visitor to this place
I call my home
You say, "Come and visit me"
"I have a bed for you to rest your head"
It is just a short visit what you call your lifetime
Then you shall come and join me for eternity
I save the best for last
The best for last in eternity
And the last shall be first in eternity
As a Man
Oh Lord,You have made me in your image
How often my man thoughts spoil your creation
I hear the insistent drum beat
Urging and creating a soulless violence
I hear challenges to my man image
Where there are none
I desire to be applauded and lauded
For victories carrying my name
I desire power to extinguish any light that is not mine
None of this is of you
I confess
Not to give glory to the hideous undercurrent
But to expose it to your glorious light
Where it will burn smolder and fall away.
You have created in me a pure heart
A heart that longs to see your works
Invisible and visible fully present
A heart that thrills at victories
you orchestrate like a beautiful symphony
You have created a man spirit that relates
to your Father love
As a man would
A man wearing nothing
As naked as Adam
Clothed only in the armor of your protection
An armor that does not bristle expecting attack
Or gleam with an insolent pride
But is supple - a fine gold mesh
Breathing in and out
Breathing the sweetness of Your love.
On Intimacy
Ever since I was little I could not be small.Ever since I was small I could not be weak
No Way, No How, said I to myself
Cause I’m the Man in total control.
When faced with occasions to admit I was wrong
It made me squirm to admit I wasn’t strong
Stand tall, Stand firm, said I to myself
Being Number One is how to get along.
Then along came God and I wanted to know him
I wanted his presence I knew I could, I’d show him
By square, be fair, said I to myself
If you do these things You’ll be not far below him.
I was good, even better
Ten commandments to the letter
Stay strong, no wrongs, said I to myself
And your feet now in clay will finally be untethered
Every day I asked God, every day I prayed
But still I felt lonely and still I felt afraid
Where is God? Where’s his presence said I to myself
What’s wrong with me now? Aren’t I spiritually made?
My very worst fears came to roost one day
I couldn’t stand, couldn't walk, I could hardly pray.
Where is God? Where’s his presence said I to myself
What wrong have I done? Has he nothing to say?
In the still of the night as I lay awake
I was lost in pain. I felt God was a fake.
I felt something stir I felt hurt begin to loose
My mind said “Get a grip.” I knew I had to choose
To listen to my conscious thoughts, to listen to my brain
With all its problem solving skills the “You can do it” refrain
Or to listen to a smaller voice beyond my control
That whispered in my inner ear “without me you’re not whole”.
I cried out to the Lord “My God You take the reigns”
I surrender myself to you I give you my pain
I give you my vanity. I give you my heart.
I am only a broken jar. I am only a shard.
In that moment of grace a moment so real.
No pretenses and no shame - there came a time to heal.
I was shaken by his loving words caressed by his hands
Filled by the Holy Spirit so God’s presence I feel.
By your intimate love I am filled overflowing
I surrender my plans to You the all-knowing.
I am still but a broken vessel pieces scattered on the ground
But in you Lord, You make me whole. In you I am found.
On Grief
I did not ask for this.I did not ask to bear this burden.
To look at the bare facts of cruelty or of sickness
and feel the immediacy of pain.
I asked to escape - to see only good
To catch but a glimpse of road kill in the bend of the road.
I did not ask to continually cry out for brothers
Who lie paralyzed unable to move or talk.
I did not ask.
But You asked.
You asked and I could not stop my ears.
You asked and no shouts could distract me
No fancy airs could deceive me
You asked.
So it came to pass
that I am filled with holy grief
A grief that fills me with spirit tears
That floods and drowns
With total surrender
I cast myself adrift on that torrential river
I see no sign posted which ocean this river leads to
But I know by faith.
As I am swept along in this current of emotion
I see many clinging to the shores
Claiming possession of a parcel of solid ground
Tethered to the bank.
The speed of this voyage is exhilarating.
This inland passage to the great unknown
An unknown that by faith is known
This river of blood - it is still my grief.
Poured out because you asked
Pored out because I know
You are an ocean of love
An ocean so vast
that all grief will be swallowed whole
So vast
That your joy cannot be diluted
So vast
That your kingdom is now
and for ever more.
On humility
In a viscous circle of false pride
that is proud of humility
I spin and grow dizzy.
Collapsing of my own mind’s weight
I lie face down in the dirt
I notice my fallen limbs are
streaked with wonderful life
In every beat of heart
I hear the sound of vitality marshaling forces
The intricate exquisite patterns of your design
Miniature in each cell
Magnificent in every way
When I am so low
Your creation lives on so beautiful.
Functional form that matches a
Perfect fusion of purpose
Matter and energy
Posed in precarious balance
Author of my life
Engineer of my inner workings
Conductor of my flailing desires
Teacher of the tempest
Tamer of the lion
Healer of the broken
As I lie in all humility
You raise up my glory
You sing to me
Saying my name in your love song
As I lie in all weakness
You bind. You place your hands
Like a cool breeze
You face me forward
And say, “Go. There is your home”
It is not too far”.
I called myself “Poor Boy”
But you call me by my true name
A name born on your lips long ago
A name calling me forward
A name not known to others
Not famous or marked, but humble.
Looking Forward
We have heard it saidthat this too shall pass.
That with time our grief will subside.
There is wisdom in this truth or in the opposite of this
If we take this promise
If we take this promise to heart
Fixing our hope on the journey, on the journey through our grief
There will be a struggle, there will be a fight
healing will eventually come.
Healing, comfort will be ours
It shall at last come to pass, to pass
Come to pass, to pass.
If instead we freeze, want nothing more than tears
To become an emblem of all our grief
Mere time can do nothing, but melt our frozen faces.
So the choice is ours, to seek our peace.
Let healing begin, let healing begin.
We are His saints
Each of us has been given a crown
Each crown is lit and glows with His light
And our crowd of crowns creates a great light
And then each saint is given a white robe of righteousness
We gather with hands outstretched and hold hands
We walk forward in a procession
In small groups we split off to find the lost
We find them fallen on the ground
Gathering around one who has fallen
Looking down with love - holding hands
We say "Look up"
We were sent by our Lord for you
Stand up and join the gathering"
You are voyaging in your life on a ship - a son ship
A ship that is carried from wave top to wave top
From glory to glory
No giant angry sea can keep this sonship from cresting the wave
This sonship flies the flag of honor
A honorary degree for those who are children of the Son of God
You wear the honorary robes given with your degree.
You wear a gold tassel on your graduation cap
Your name has a new distinction
Your name has power now given to it by the name of Jesus
Your ship now flies thru the air
You see many other ships gathering in the air and join them
Together the ships dip suddenly and playfully into the water below
Creating a joyful sound and a babbling froth full of life
You are a lover of beautiful vistas
Vistas that capture your imagination
of the eagles view of the great canyon below
Vistas that sing that the world is good and well made
In these wide open spaces you feel small enough
to be part of a grand design a master plan
Look now inward and you will find beauty there too
A world of beauty lies even in the smallest cell
So too a world of true understanding lies deep in you
An understanding of your part in the grand design
Admit your desire for beauty and design
and then you shall at last know God
Your dedication to be a good man
Is amazing and wonderful to God
Your determination to be fierce
In a new way
Not fierce with aggressive violence
But fiercely strong in the face of trouble
To do and be your best- To live each day
According to all the commandments.
Obedient.
And still God may say -
Lay this burden down
Lay this burden down so you can listen
To my voice
My voice is for you - for you uniquely
For each one who loves me I will give
Their own task and
Their place in the kingdom
And so for you I give a task to create
With your mind, with your hands
And with the love I placed in you.
Others have said they see angels
Angels among us
Bringing good things from heaven
Speaking to us with words we do not hear
Breathing to us - caressing - healing
Saying words and prayers to
Lift us up to the most high God
I ask to know - to see these very ones
These beautiful spirit beings
To be called from one place to another
By seeing where the angels are gathering
To know who among us can receive
Miraculous healing
I am ready to quit my solitary habits
My private chambers
I am ready to be surrounded
By Your heavenly host
Your many messengers
I am ready to cry out
Holy, Holy, Holy to You my Lord
And to hear many voices
The voices of angels