I heard that God lived in the forest

Proposed Antiphon:  Deep in the forest, if you listen, You can hear faint hymns of joy among the trees

I heard that God lived in the forest

And I built a fence around it

Every day, I chopped down as many trees as I could

One day the forest was gone

And I felt very free and alone

The next day a robber showed up and took everything I had

And he laughed at me

I brought him to a court of law

And the judge said that it was all relative

My children said to me ‘why have you lied to us?’

And they abandoned me to seek pleasure

My spouse said ‘what does my vow mean now?’

And left with a richer, perhaps wiser man

I heard that God lived in the forest

And I built a fence around it

Every day, I chopped down as many trees as I could

One day the forest was gone

And I felt very alone

Do You See the Children?

Proposed Antiphon:  Use your gifts wisely.

Children move among the aisles;

I say children, but they are not that young;

Some are old;

Some are young adults;

Some are middle-aged.

Children move among the aisles;

Their job is to sort;

To adjust;

To make things neat;

To make it easy for things to sell.

Fancy clothes;

Fancy bags;

Fancy shoes;

Shoes that cost the earth;

Clothes that cost the sky;

Bags that cost the sun, the moon, and the stars.

The children work in their best clothes;

Which are sad and worn.

In their best shoes;

Which sometimes are worse than no shoes at all.

They carry no bags;

Bags are for leisure, for shopping, for preening.

Children move among the aisles;

Adjusting things they cannot own;

Wearing broken clothes;

And living broken lives.

Do you see the children in the aisles? 

We Wander in the Wilderness

Proposed Antiphon: Creation starts with chaos

We wander in the wilderness

And all our stars are out of place

We hide in holes and in ditches

And the wind passes over where we lie

We have little

And what we have is taken from us

Once our counsel was sought after

But now we are counted as fools and idiots

Once we spoke and others leapt to obey

Now we speak and only the beasts answer

Friends are struck down

And family members suffer and die

We persist in our prayers

And call out to our God

Where is the path of truth?

Where is the way that leads through this desert?

We wander in the wilderness

And all our stars are out of place

The King Awoke

Proposed Antiphon: 'How wonderful and encouraging that you can serve God as an Angel'

The King Awoke;

And the over-servant shouted; ‘The King Awakens! The Great and Powerful King! We Worship the King!’

And the under-servant arose from tending the fire and brought him a steaming cup of spiced wine.

The King put on his riding cloak;

And the over-servant shouted; ‘The King Rides Forth! Praise the King! We Worship the King!’

And the under-servant arose from his seat at the doorway and brought forth the King’s horse.

The King rode out into the city;

And the over-servant shouted; ‘Way! Way! Make Way for the Great and Powerful King! Praise the King!’

And the under-servant steadied the King’s horse as the King rode out into the crowded streets.

An old seamstress fell as she tried to make way for the King, and a young boy ran out from the crowd to help her up.

And the over-servant shouted at them; ‘Praise the King! Make Way for the Great and Powerful King!’

And the under-servant lifted the old woman to her feet.

And the King stopped;

And he said to the over-servant: “I believe that this seamstress needs your help more than I do. Go and serve her from this day forward.”

And he said to the under-servant: “Good and faithful servant, you have served me well. Please continue to do so as my over-servant.”

And he said to the boy: “You have shown yourself worthy of my service. Please join me as an under-servant.”

And the boy bowed in assent.

And the King rode on;

And the old over-servant was silent.

And the new over-servant ran beside the King to steady his horse, with the new under-servant beside him.

And for a moment everyone was silent, and you could hear the clip-clopping of the horse's hooves;

And then the people all shouted:

‘Make Way! Make Way for the Glorious King! Praise the Beloved King!’

I like this.

Perhaps related: A worn courderoy kind of life

Strange Fish Who Seek The Fisherman

God draws us in.
We are always moving
Always hiding, always shifting
But God knows where we are
and God draws us in.

God draws us in like an angler
Playing a strong fish with a weak line
Gently tugging
Pulling and drawing.

We go other ways
We dart this way and that
Sometimes we circle slowly in
And sometimes we break the line and charge away
And God must cast for us again, and again.

God is a patient fisherman
God’s nets are wide and can enclose us all
And yet we can slip out if we will;

God can land his lures over us,
Wherever we hide
But we can ignore them
Or we can break the line and escape.

We must be fish who want to be caught
Who allow ourselves to be drawn;
Fish who seek the fisher.

Because the day will come
When the fisher packs up his gear
And there is no more time
No time for playing the difficult fish
Who wants to go its own way.

A day when the fisherman will take his catch
To the eternal river
Where they will forever
Swim in the holy water of God.

You Are Given Now

We have only a moment
Not an hour
Or a day
Or a week
Or a month
Or years, decades, centuries, millennia

We have only a moment to trust
A moment to love
A moment to care
A moment to believe

Who that was who came before
- you cannot know
And who comes after
- you cannot see

But you have now
Use it to believe the best
To do the best
And be as much
As fun
As awesome
As inspired
As you can

You are given now

Use it

Balance

Balance
Is not perching on a balance-beam
Is not standing beneath a cliff, or on its edge
Is not building your house on the sand
Is not mortgaging your tomorrows to pay for today

Today you live and breathe
Tomorrow may be very different
Take care of the world, the neighbors and the self you have been given today
Do not sell their or your tomorrows
The world wants you to do this-
Selling your tomorrows can make your todays very comfortable

But when tomorrow comes
With storm
And wind
And earthquake
And chaos
And you find you have mortgaged your future
To pay for a pretty today that is gone
You may regret
Not having taken the slow route

Find a less dynamic way to balance
Plant your feet on the level path
And go in through the straight gate

-LE

How Long?

How long should a sermon be?
Sixty minutes? Forty? Three?

Should it explain ancient words?
Touch on Darfur, or the Kurds?

Should it tell a faith-filled story
Through anecdote or allegory?

How should it move the ones who listen?
Should they laugh, or should tears glisten?

Should it touch the heart, or brain?
Or remind us of the cross again?

A sermon should engage, not bore;
So we don’t drift off, or snore.

Doing all these things takes time;
Just look how it fills out my rhyme.

I hope the sermon’s short today;
I want to go outside, and play.

Post topic suggested in comment on prior post.

What to Wear?

When we go a feasting
We wonder what to wear
Which shoes go on our feet
If we should 'do' our hair

Is this a time for white
Or should we all wear black
Should we buff our buttons bright
Or could we wear a sack

When we enter in
If we aren't like the rest
We might feel singled out
The cuckoo in the nest

But some don't have the means
To buy a fancy suit
For them 'What to Wear'
The question is quite moot

So when we gather in
And hope that all will come
I'd like if we dressed humbly
Both rich and poor as one

And maybe the Lord God
Who forgives our sinfulness
Will value every single soul
No matter how we dress


Peace
LE

Against Virtual (((Hugs))):

Note: In case you haven't seen, 'virtual' hugs are signified electronically with parenthesis of various sorts: So if I think 'Tom' needs a hug, I might post the following as a response to him in a blog or message:

{{{Tom}}} or (((Tom))).

More parens apparently mean tighter or longer hugs. I bet there is even a whole systematics of meaning for different numbers and types of parentheses.

Well, the whole thing bothers me - it seems fake, distant, and makes me feel like us hairless apes with keyboards are substituting virtual, safe, distant friends for real, close, messy and troublesome friends. Add to that the fact that we tend not to hug people anymore in real life (too likely to be 'bad touch' perhaps). All of which seems in a direction away from goodness...

So without further ado, I bring you:

"Locust Eater: Against Virtual Hugs"



Parenthesis upon a screen
Aren't extra nice,
nor are they mean;

Don't warm you up
Don't make you frown
Won't cheer you up
Won't make you down

Don't bump your glass
Don't muss your hair
Don't grab your ass
Don't make you glare

Don't squeeze you tight
Or hold you wide
Don't light a fire
In your inside

Can't pass a germ
Or make you love
Less warm than handshakes
Wearing gloves

Like fake kisses in the air;
Closeness, they say, we do not dare

I s'pose they're nicer than a sneer,
But I'd prefer...

...you drank my beer

And spilled the stew
Stepped on my foot
Played pranks with glue

Made a stink and stole my watch
Poured some ink onto my crotch

Burned the toast
Drank up the milk
Ate the whole roast
And stained my silk

Threw up on my bedroom floor
Bashed a big hole in the door

Woke me up at half past three
Made me laugh so hard I peed

Kicked my cat, then broke a chair, Ruined my hat -I'd know you're there.

No, hugs of text don't satisfy;
Hug someone real, who is nearby.



...If you come by and ask, I'll ACTUALLY hug you...

-LE

After Isaiah 2:

(Subverted lightly from the NRSV)

It will come to pass that the Lord will establish his house among the nations, it shall be raised above the hills and all the world shall see it's light. Many peoples will say; ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,  to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths,’ So all nations shall stream to the house of the Lord, and out of Zion shall go forth instruction,  and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they study war any more.

My brothers and sisters, let us walk again in the light of the Lord! For we have forsaken God's ways and wander in foolishness.

The Impossible Dream

Saw this the other day, and had to share it:





Some things speak to us inside. I think this little video does.

Peace,
LE

Pente-Caust

This Pentecost I was made humble
This Pentecost I was made small
This Pentecost I was shown foolish
Perhaps the most foolish of all

On Pentecost we spoke as our brothers
Not in words known just to the elite
We spoke in tongues that were humble
Like the savior who washes our feet

Fire fell on us from heaven
Fire not of anger but of love
Fire made us one with our brethren
Fire fell on us from above

So next time we feel we are better
Next time we judge our way best
Let's remember the fire from heaven
That marks us all equally blest

And laugh at me that I am foolish
And laugh that we are all so weak
And laugh with the joy of the spirit
Who stands with the humble and meek

My Lover Speaks to Me

My lover speaks while asleep,
And what is said makes no sense.

Sometimes it is questions about myself, things I am thinking, things I will or should do.

And sometimes it is about what I have done.

And what is said makes no sense, because my lover, the one to whom I am so happily married, is asleep, and it is not a conscious mind that speaks to me.

So the things said and often the words mean nothing.

But what is said is said with great caring and love. I am clearly very important to the person who is speaking; -I am beloved.

May we, every one of us, also always be speaking love -even when we are not making sense.