The Other Parts of Our Hearts

Meditation:  We must listen for God speaking through each other


The problem is:
In order to speak to you;
For you to understand;
It seems like I must speak as an adult.

But for me to tell you the truth;
For us to truly communicate;
For your heart to hear me;
I must speak as a child.

And it may very well be
that there are no words at all
that express what we feel.

In which case
I ask that you imagine
the tears in my eyes
and the way my face crumples
and bends.

Somewhere
the other parts of our hearts
are hidden

Today we can only
try and hope
to remember.

On The Inside of St. Patrick's Breastplate

Meditation:  My Shepherd Is The Lord

Christ be with you, Christ within you,

Christ behind you, Christ before you,

Christ beside you, Christ to win you,

Christ to comfort and restore you.

Christ beneath you, Christ above you,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love you,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

   -Amen

Finding Joy -or- A Light In Dark Places

Meditations:

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.


Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.


John 14:23 Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.


John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

 For many, these are hard times.  Times when we find it hard to do the next thing, hard to move ahead, when we perhaps wish that there was just some way to give up.  Times when we remember joyful times and wish for them again, when we miss our loved ones who are gone from us, when we feel we cannot move on.

If someone could show us a way back to joy from these hard, sad, dark places, would we not seize it and follow it, like a lover follows his or her beloved, like a bee follows the scent of nectar, like a bird or squirrel following a trail of seeds?

I have the way, but it means giving something up.  Here it is, in six steps.  Think of it as a half-price twelve-step program:   

1. Give Up
2. Smile
3. Love
4. Make Do
5. Help Others
6. Start Over

Give Up:  Give up your hurts and pains, your feelings of being subject to injustice and cruelty, your need to nurse your injuries, your sense that your rights and entitlements have been crushed.  Forgive whomever you need to, and put these wrongs out of your mind.  They are not helping you.  Give them up, new and old.  Many more hurts will come, and you will have to give them up in turn. 

Smile:  Because you are in God’s hands, and because it will give you courage, and encourage those who are with you.  This is a battle, and if we fight it with courage, we are assured of our victory.  Smile for courage, for yourself and others.

Love:  Because when you love, you invite God into your life, and love reminds you of how much you care for others. Remember, our care for each other is a good part of why we are here.  Love each other, and remember to love those who are difficult to love.  Remember that you have been unlovable yourself at times, and others have loved you anyway.  Honor that love by multiplying it.

Make Do:  Decide what you really need, and make do with that, and try and be smart with your time and abilities.  Find the best way forward you can for now, and keep your eyes open for the next practical and healthy opportunity.  ‘Make Do’ means no wallowing in self-pity, no giving in to despair.  It means you step forward and say ‘Here I Am’ and ‘What Can I Do Now.’

Help Others:  No matter how little you have, you can help others.  Sometimes helping is as little as a smile, or an ‘I Care’ said (or written) with feeling, or a listening ear - sometimes it is much, much more.  Everyone can give.  Figure out how much giving you can reasonably do, and do it.  Make time to touch other people’s lives.  Seek out those in need, and make a difference.  Do this faithfully, carefully, lovingly, practically, and with a smile, and you will find joy in your heart.  This is the joy of Christ.  Cherish it.

Start Over:  Start over in a better place, emotionally and spiritually.  Reset your needs, and your attitudes.  Let go of desires for things that are high-maintenance and expensive, and latch onto the practical and reasonable.  And in that spirit, start over at the beginning of this list, happily, prayerfully, thoughtfully, and with care for yourself and others.  

And if you do these things, you will be truly blessed.


   With Love,
          LE

Something to look at when times are hard;

In Life’s Cycle, Lessons

Meditation:  Provision for charity

God brings forth his bounty

Fruit hangs on the vines

In preparation for winter

For much colder times

Go, pick and eat

Harvest and store

It’s a blessing from God

When the earth brings forth more

In kitchens and pantries

Ferment and preserve

In store-rooms and barns

God’s bounty conserve

In life’s cycle, lessons;

Plant, harvest, store

Setting aside in the light;

So when the dark comes, there’s more

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

These Broken Parts (Reprise)

I have many topics to write about and yet today this previous post is inspiring me in my life of broken parts.

Proposed Antiphon: Push Towards The Light!

Today a little person
Was trying to re-make her bed
She thought she must have been doing it wrong all week
Because the sheets wouldn’t lie flat
And tended to come off

But really her bed
Was made this week with sheets that weren’t quite right
They were an odd size
Big enough
Workable
But not perfect
And she thought it was her fault
I laughed and explained the problem to her

And thought
That life is like that
Funny but functional
Wrong but workable
Makeshift and marvelous
And that we are forever filling the cracks
And jumping the gaps
And thinking we must be doing something wrong
When in fact, we are doing marvelously
With what we have
Which is enough
Which is workable
Which is a blessing

Perfect is some other world
Not the one we live in
No, we are surrounded by
Appendices of errata
Panda’s thumbs and horse’s toes
Scars and defects
Duct tape and bailing wire

See, in a perfect world
Where everything works well
You would already be at the goal
And that’s not what we’re about
We’re about the next thing
The thing you can barely imagine from here

The thing that you can make if you cobble together
These broken parts
With the contents of the junk drawer
And some duct tape
And bailing wire
And whatever else happens to be lying around

And when we get close to that barely imagined thing
We’ll mostly make it work
But not perfectly
Because we are already busy
Working on the next thing
The thing you can barely imagine from there

And I think God meant us to be this way
Always a little broken
Always working on that next thing
That we can barely imagine from here

I am a jumble of broken parts that know nothing of each other.

Antiphon: We Will Meet Again, The Wolves, The Fire, And I.


I am a jumble of broken parts that know nothing of each other.

It is as if a farmer opened his seed bin and found;
An acorn,
Seventeen rusty machine screws of unmatched sizes, some covered in tar,
Three quarters of an inch of bailing wire,
Half of a stale cookie,
Four ants,
And a dead mouse.

Or maybe it is as if a householder planted squash in the garden;
and watched the plants sprout, and grow and put forth leaves,
and blossom, and begin to set fruit;
only to come out one day and find them all blackened and shriveled with a blight.

Or maybe it is like a merchant who plotted a trading route;
And built a ship and set out;
And travelled for leagues and leagues,
Only to look through the glass and find his destination laid waste.
And planned a new route, a new destination,
And travelled to within sight of shore,
Only to be driven off by pirates.
But being unwearied and unbowed, he plotted yet another course
To a new destination, and sailed strange waters,
Only to be halted by impassible reefs and inhospitable masses of land.

So I sit with the fragments of the lives I have lived,
And wonder what to do, and where to go;
And I remember not long ago,
When these mismatched parts,
Somehow lined up and made a perfect and remarkable machine.

A plan of goodness;
A pathway to a new place;
The seeds of a new life.

And today
With my water running low
And my sails ragged
And my options limited;
I pray for inspiration to God;
Who knows how these broken, jumbled parts
Are remarkable, and
Can made to work together
Once again

-LE

Be Strong

by Maltbe D. Babcock 1858-1901

Be Strong!
We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;
We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;
Shun not the struggle-face it; 'tis God's gift.

Be Strong!
Say not, "The days are evil. Who's to blame?"
And fold the hands and acquiesce-oh shame!
Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's name.

Be Strong!
It matters not how deep intrenched the wrong,
How hard the battle goes, the day how long;
Faint not-fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.

My Shepherd Is The Lord (Reprise)

My shepherd is the Lord
For nothing shall I want
In pastures green I rest
From waters still I drink

My soul my God restores
In fear God gives me strength
When lost God leads me home
And keeps me as God's own

God names me as his child
My sins for me forgives
With oil anoints my head
And sees to all my needs

My home is with the Lord
With God I'll always be
In joy God leads me out
With love God leads me home

In dark I have no fear
In trouble I have peace
In God I put my trust
For God is always near

In faith I have my life
and rise when life is done
The Lord keeps me each day
In life eternaly

(prior entry)

Answer

Did you think
That all you had to do was read
That all you had to do was pray
That all you had to do was recognize me?

I am sorry
that the answer is not so simple
and that this is not all that is required

But in truth
what is required of you is much more

When everyone else is aligned with evil
You must speak of good

When the evil are dying
You must save them, and

When you are dying
You must speak of life

Did you notice the special deference allocated my son
And his disciples?

Know that they are not alone
And that you will share with them
The rewards of my kingdom

If you can gird yourself
with the word.

Nothing comes for free

And your sacriifice

Is not wasted

But the reward

Is also

Not visible

In this world

The peace of God

Such as it is

Be with you.



In response to 'Unclean'.

God’s Sheep are Confused

God’s sheep are confused;
Stubbornly, we have wandered astray;
We wander in the wilderness;
And know not where we go.

Where is our Lord?
Where is His staff, that keeps harm at bay?
Where is His hand, that comforts us?

We follow His footsteps, and we find food.
We listen for His voice, and it leads us to fresh water.

But the food here is strange and sparse.
And the times of plenty have gone.
At night we lie down where we may,
We are grateful to be able to sleep,
And are grateful to be able to rise to follow the Lord again.

Will the hard times end?
Will we see the land joyful again?
Will we drink the wine of plenty,
And be anointed with blessings once more?

Help us to repent our stubbornness;
Help us to find wisdom, and remember your lessons;
Help us to follow you more closely;
And live within the warmth of your bosom.

God’s sheep are confused;
Stubbornly, we have wandered astray;
We wander in the wilderness;
And know not where we go.

These Broken Parts

Today a little person
Was trying to re-make her bed
She thought she must have been doing it wrong all week
Because the sheets wouldn’t lie flat
And tended to come off

But really her bed
Was made this week with sheets that weren’t quite right
They were an odd size
Big enough
Workable
But not perfect
And she thought it was her fault
I laughed and explained the problem to her

And thought
That life is like that
Funny but functional
Wrong but workable
Makeshift and marvelous
And that we are forever filling the cracks
And jumping the gaps
And thinking we must be doing something wrong
When in fact, we are doing marvelously
With what we have
Which is enough
Which is workable
Which is a blessing

Perfect is some other world
Not the one we live in
No, we are surrounded by
Appendices of errata
Panda’s thumbs and horse’s toes
Scars and defects
Duct tape and bailing wire

See, in a perfect world
Where everything works well
You would already be at the goal
And that’s not what we’re about
We’re about the next thing
The thing you can barely imagine from here

The thing that you can make if you cobble together
These broken parts
With the contents of the junk drawer
And some duct tape
And bailing wire
And whatever else happens to be lying around

And when we get close to that barely imagined thing
We’ll mostly make it work
But not perfectly
Because we are already busy
Working on the next thing
The thing you can barely imagine from there

And I think God meant us to be this way
Always a little broken
Always working on that next thing
That we can barely imagine from here

Seek Her

Wisdom tires of being mocked
She tires of chasing you down twisting alleys of lies
She tires of calling and having you run instead away
Of stretching out her hand and being rebuffed
Of having her counsel ignored

Attend, lest She abandon you
And laugh at your calamity
Lest She mocks when panic strikes you
When the storm sweeps you away
When you find yourself and all you hold dear
Lost in pain and anguish.

Call upon Her now
having trampled Her word
having ignored Her histories
having spat on Her offerings
having scoffed at Her reproof
and She may not answer

She may leave you to your own devices
Twisting on a gibbet of your own design
Trapped in a cage of metal and spikes
Food for the carrion birds
A warning to others

Should you not eat the fruit of your way?
Should you not find yourself at the end of the road you have chosen?

Wisdom still calls - but you are far from Her
Her voice is faint - but can be heard

Perhaps you can return, retrace your steps
Do not listen to the loud voices around you
Hustling you onward to bad ends
Resist the pushing and jostling of those around you
You still need not be lost

You still, perhaps, can be found.
I write this for you, you yourself

Seek Her!

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

On Palm Sunday

It’s the King!

The King is at the gates!

The King is just down the street!

The King claims He is One with God!

Blind people see!

Deaf people hear!

Run, Run and find him!

Praise him! Praise him!

Save! Jesus Save Us!

Save us from hunger!

Save us from oppression!

Save us from hardship!

Save us from pain!

Save us from difficulty!

Save Us!

Lead Us!

Be our King!

Topple the Government!

We will rise!

We will march!

We will fight!

Wait, he slips away…

He will not fight…

He will not confront…

He is… …he is arrested…

He goes meekly, like a lamb…

His disciples run like frightened children…

We are betrayed…

We remain oppressed…

We remain in hunger…

We remain in desperation…

But he said he was the One!

Jesus?

What to DO with Jesus?

The one who dashed our hopes?

The one who pretended to be the King?

The one who pretended to be GOD?

Crucify!

Crucify Him!

Crucify Him!

Crucify Him!

My Shepherd Is The Lord

My shepherd is the Lord
For nothing shall I want
In pastures green I rest
From waters still I drink

My soul my God restores
In fear God gives me strength
When lost God leads me home
And keeps me as God's own

God names me as his child
My sins for me forgives
With oil anoints my head
And sees to all my needs

My home is with the Lord
With God I'll always be
In joy God leads me out
With love God leads me home

In dark I have no fear
In trouble I have peace
In God I put my trust
For God is always near

In faith I have my life
and rise when life is done
The Lord keeps me each day
In life eternaly

Inspired by The 23rd Psalm.

Peace to you;

LE

This Painful Journey

We are born in pain, and its sharp claws prod us throughout our lives. They are never far away. Pain helps us to learn how to stay healthy, how to avoid harm. But at the end of our journey, pain seems worthless. When there is nothing to be done, when no cure will suffice, pain can be an unbearable burden that must be carried anyway. And so we bear it. We share it with Christ, whose capacity for pain knows no bounds, we distract ourselves, we hang on for one more moment. Perhaps we yell, pound our fists, even go a little mad.

Soon, soon, the cool waters will come, the baptismal waters will return, lapping higher, taking away the pain, washing you clean, submerging you in the comfort of Christ. And you will rise, dry, and clothed in white robes of love, ready to join the feast of the lamb.

Today is painful, today is hard, today there is still a race to run, a struggle to be finished; but tomorrow is swiftly coming, when the bridegroom will take your hand and lead you to the great city where you will join in the great marriage feast, where you will dine on true food, and quench your thirst with living waters.

And then, together with those who have gone before and those who come after, you will take up the great song, the masterwork that creates, encourages and binds. And you will have true joy as you have never known it.

May you find your peace in the Lamb

Job Was A Good Man From Uz

Job was a good man from Uz,
Whose life caused a biblical buzz.
He was good as can be,
Steadfast as a tree.
And blessed in all things that he does.

His faith was quite pleasing to God,
But the Devil said ‘Isn’t it Odd?’
I think Job does what he should
‘Cuz his luck is all good.
If things went real sour, he’d curse God.

Well God said “I hear what you say,
That Job’s heart is as pliant as clay.
I think you are wrong
Job’s faith is quite strong
Go ahead, take Job’s blessings away.

Horrid Satan, that very same day
Took Job’s children and riches away.
But Job, though distraught,
Had faith, and he thought;
“The Lord giveth, and taketh away”.

Now the Devil got kind of hot
Things did not turn out like he thought.
But he thought he might
Still prove he was right
And prove ill Job whom Our Lord had wrought.

So Later - inside of a year,
Satan said to God; “Isn’t it queer
How to save their own skin,
The most righteous will sin -
Even Job whom you hold so dear.”

So God said “I see you imply,
That if Job thought that he might just die,
He would sin a whole lot,
-I think he would not,
But go on and give it a try.”

So Satan made Job really sick
Inflicted him with wounds, sores and ick.
From his foot to his head
Job wished he was dead
He was so sorely tried by ‘Ol Nick

Job’s wife didn’t do him much good
She said that she thought that he should
Curse his cruel God
That traitorous clod,
And if Job fell over dead, it’d be good.

But Job with a pious ‘Aum’
Uttered a brief Hebrew poem:
“God can’t only give good,
As you think he should,
Depart from me – with my Shalom.”

Then three friends of Job came to see
How Job still managed to be;
Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar
Came from near and from far
And sat next to Job, knee to knee.

They sat quiet with Job a long while
In true friendship – they showed some real style.
They said not a word,
They looked quite absurd,
With Job they were walking a mile.

Then Job spoke - cursed the day he was born.
His life he treated with scorn,
He wished he was dead,
Or died in birth instead,
His comfortable life was so torn.

Eliphaz, Zophar and Bildad
Gave the best advice that they had -
“Confess all your sin!
-This trouble you’re in,
Must be because you were bad.”

Then God showed up in a cloud,
With a wind and some thunder real loud;
Poor Job and his friends,
Feared that this was the end;
By the Almighty they were all quite cowed.

And God said; “This is not a dig;
But you all forget I’m quite big
Though I’m with you each day,
And I won’t go away,
For piety there is no ‘vig’.

By this speech faithful Job was impressed
Though his friends were rather distressed,
They’d all learned quite well,
That life can be like hell,
And the faithful are not always blessed.

Now Job, who had lost quite a lot,
Was restored – new children he got,
He got back his health,
And twice as much wealth,
And lots of grandkids to besot.

Now I hope that Job’s lesson is clear -
Not to hold things in this world too dear -
Don’t be quick to blame sin,
When folks fail to win.
Because trouble is always quite near.