In Our Distress

Meditation: angelus est nomen officii

In my extremity, I called out to the Lord;
I cried out in the congregation in my distress.
I was answered with love;
I was restored and removed to a better place;
With the love of the Lord with me, how can I be cut down?

Place your trust in the Lord;
Seek the Almighty where he waits upon his beloved;
Though your enemies surround you;
Though you find yourself at fault and unworthy;
Though you see no escape, there is help and hope for you;
The Lord is our strength and right arm;
His servants listen for the cry of the oppressed;
They wait upon the word of the Lord.

The Lord is our salvation and our help;
Though we may be chastised,
we are not condemned;
Though we find ourselves in distress;
even at the end of our lives and beyond;
We are enfolded and comforted;
In the Lord we find our true labor;
In the Lord we truly find ourselves.

-distantly after Ps 118

At The Naming of a Hindu Child

Meditation:  We share the Word


Since it has pleased the Almighty to bestow upon N1 and N2
the gift of a child, N3, let us now give thanks:

Heavenly Father, you have blessed us with your presence in  this world.
We thank you for the life of this child, N3, entrusted to our care.
Help us to remember that we are all your children, and so to
love and nurture him, that he may attain to that full stature
intended for him in your eternal wisdom.

Lord, you have taught us that whoever receives a little child
in your name receives you.  We give you thanks for the blessing
you have bestowed upon N1 and N2 in giving them a child. Confirm
their joy by a lively sense of your presence with them, and give them
calm strength and patient wisdom as they seek to bring this child to
love all that is true and noble, just and pure, lovable and gracious,
excellent and admirable, following the example of all who are blessed.

- Modified from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer: Thanksgiving for a Child

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.

Who Is It?

Meditation:  Bring your sins to God's throne, and you will receive the peace of God.

Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved?
Who is this that cometh up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers?
Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?
-This that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?
Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass?
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us:
this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.


Songs 8,
Jeremiah 46,
Songs 3,
Isaiah 63,
Lamentations 3,
Isaiah 25

In the Path of the Cat

Meditation:  And I think God meant us to be this way

This day was grey;

A thin layer of snow lay over the sidewalks and flagstones of the little city. 

I printed it as I walked along;

Feeling the slightly raw cold of the late Lenten winter.

Not many snows left in it, I suppose;

But rain, oh yes, there would be rain.

Looking down I saw that other feet, little feet had come this way. 

Critter feet, cat feet, planted carefully;

Back feet falling in the same prints as the front feet;

Darkly pressing through to the sidewalk, with no details showing. 

The snow was damp, and I imagine those little feet were wet;

Yet they wandered from side to side on the sidewalk, with curiosity;

Investigating a postal box on one side, peering down an alley on the other.

Until finally they started to be filled, more and more with snow.  

The snow must have been falling as the cat walked, and he, or she,

Had been walking in the opposite direction from the direction I was walking.

I wondered by how much we had missed each other,

Me going, and the cat coming;

Did the cat pause, and watch me as I set out?

Eyeing me as I adjusted my bag over my shoulder and zipped my coat?

Or was the cat well past, with only me aware of our passing;

Inches away from each other in space, but more distant in time?

The cat’s journey was certainly a series of moments lived for themselves;

Whiskers a-tingle, damp feet getting the occasional shake,

Eyeing a bird, pausing to let a car slide by….

But for me it was more contemplative.  

What was the cat doing where the prints moved just so? 

Was this near the beginning or the end of its journey?

Ah, look how it moved!   

Like with us, the cat’s life is lived forwards,

But can only be contemplated properly in reverse.

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

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

The Word 'Love'

Antiphon:  Break my chains and free my heart

We have only one word for love,

And I think that we need more.

We say we ‘love’ coffee, and we say we ‘love’ donuts;

And we ‘love’ chocolate and we ‘love’ caramel;

We ‘love’ ice cream and custard.

We ‘love’ going for walks;

And we ‘love’ going out;

And we ‘love’ wearing nice things.

We ‘love’ cars, and we ‘love’ houses;

We ‘love’ movies, and we ‘love’ art;

We ‘love’ books, and we ‘love’ sunsets;

But these are not the same Love;

As what one feels for a spouse or a friend;

Or a brother, or a sister;

Or a child, or a stranger.

These are not relational loves.

And they don’t deserve the same word.

If I had my way, they would be cast off;

Left to find another word;

A word appropriate to the world of things that don’t feel;

Things that don’t answer back;

Things that don’t know love;

Things that cannot feel hurt.

Love is too strong for them;

They cannot know it;

And it is not about them.

I Believe

Antiphon:   Love rejoices in the truth

I believe in God the Creator,
Who gives us breath and life,
Maker of all that is.

I believe in Jesus the Christ;
Wholly God and Wholly Man,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
And was born to a maid named Mary,

Who was tormented by Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was entombed.
Who ministered to the dead,
And whom the gates of hell and death cannot restrain.

Three days after his death, he arose,
And ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of God the Creator.
He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Church, the Body of Christ,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.

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? 

The Wonder of Naming

Proposed Antiphon: Take time to understand

The men and women sit around on plastic chairs
They wear boots held together with packing tape
Their socks mostly don’t match

Their pants are dark and worn, but not torn.
You won’t get sent out, if your pants are torn.
They are washed and clean shaven
You won’t get sent out, if you are scrufty.
The bosses don’t like it.
There is soap and razors if you need them.
Soap and razors for those who can’t afford them.

One or two of them will talk – will talk a lot
These are the new ones, the ‘I have a dream’ ones
The egotists, the scammers, the ‘cover-it-with talk’ ones
The rest say only what they must
They are silent, and mostly still
They are here to work

They sit around and wait for someone to call their name
It may be the only time they hear their name all day
Unless someone at home speaks it
Whatever home is for them
Wherever they go at night

Other than that, they are nameless

It is bad to make attachments
A waste of time to litter your mind with names
Names of people who don’t want to be here
Names of people who don’t want to be remembered here
Names of people who will go, and you will never see again
Names of lost people, people like you

Oh they have names
Names that are important to the bosses
Names that are called out sometimes to go work
Names that must appear on checks or vouchers
And in reports and tax forms
And sometimes in legal documents
That take what little they earn

But mostly they have bodies
Legs and arms to lift and carry
Hands to grasp and open and close
Brains are not required
And names are just labels anyway
They could just as well be numbers

But sometimes life breaks through;
Someone stops, and smiles, and the smile is returned
Someone speaks a name
A name for no reason
A name that shows someone remembered
A name that shows that someone cared
Enough to add your name to the list
To their personal litany of remembrance

Whether you are lost, or not.

I Help and Stand Back (Reprise)

I am reprising this post to honor Maple Leaf Lutheran Church of Seattle who voted overwhelmingly yesterday to host Tent City 3 against not insignificant opposition.

Proposed Antiphon: We are all one in God's great scheme, in God no lonely ways. ; But myriads of blessings over an infinity of days.

I help and stand back
I open the door and get out of the way
I show you those in need and you reach out to them
I whisper a question in your ear and you find a solution
I find you a little cash and you donate it
Some food, and you share it
A moment of peace...
An ounce of grace...
I am a silent helping presence while you work
You invoke me and credit me
But I was just a signpost and a prop
You pushed to your feet
You stepped in harm's way
You tangled with hardship
You struggled with need
You made do with little
You loved in the midst of carelessness and hate
You do not stand without help, it is true...
But you stand
And I love you

Bless you, each and every one

Original post here.

Throw Me Away

Proposed antiphon: God blesses us and keeps us, and hereafter will make us new

Sometime in late spring
The pansies were discarded
Dumped in the common area
Behind the houses
Where the blackberries grow
And the morning glories dance
Twisting from cane to cane

There the soil is rich,
Full of grass cuttings and bits of bark
Discarded potting soil
Leaf mould and pine needles -
The detritus of years past

There the essence of green life
Spirals up like slow flame
Through the stems and leaves
Through the curling growing tips
And into the air

You can smell it, see it
Wafting from the full petals
And shining from the generous faces
Of the pansy blooms that grew there
Burgeoning with beauty and life

Throw me away
Cast me aside
Into the dung-heap of creation
Let the sun beat down
And the wild rains fall
Let me bloom

Get More Signs, Dreams and Visions...

More of the inspiration that you came here for - in a 132 page book available in paperback via Amazon's CreateSpace (here), and in 'e-book' form on Kindle (here).

A great way to give the gift of inspiration, or to take a little bit of the spirit wherever you go!

I'm also pleased to share on this blog the publication of my 'Gospels in Parallel' - a great bible-study and preaching resource that not only shows you parallels between the gospels, but also parallels and prefigurings from the Old Testament. Available via Amazon's CreateSpace (here) and on Kindle (here).

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

That's Still Nuttin - 8,000

As of today, this blog swept past eight thousand visitors.

That's quite a few folks wandering by since December 9th, 2006, and with me posting less lately, due to the interesting nature of my life, it seems like a milestone I should mark by reprising my poem 'That's Nuttin!'

...And thank you for dropping by, all eight thousands of you. See, there was plenty of room after all...


That's Still Nuttin:

Eight thousand folks came knocking
Eight thousand at the door
Eight thousand people searching
Eight thousand, and now more

Eight thousand hidden smiles
Eight thousand who came by
Eight thousand from all countries
Eight thousand who drew nigh

Eight thousand quiet moments
Eight thousand friends to tea
Eight thousand 'I understand's
Eight thousand friends for me

Eight thousand people questing
Eight thousand asking why
Eight thousand gleaming stars
Eight thousand in the sky

Eight thousand cups of coffee
Eight thousand bits of toast
Eight thousand hands held in comfort
Eight thousand times a host

Eight thousand questions answered
Eight thousand, more or less
Eight thousand joined in prayer
Eight thousand joined to bless

Eight thousand is so little
Eight thousand is so small
Eight thousand is not many
I have space for one and all

So come in off the doorstep
Come in, come through the door
Come into my guest room
There's room for many more

Thanks to each of you for coming
I'm sad when your visits end
And please do come back often
And please do bring a friend

I'll be waiting by the doorstep
I'll have the kettle on for tea
Come by whenever you want to
And spend more time with me

-LE