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

A Revised Our Father

Dearest God And Holy Father Of All,
Who Surrounds Us With Love,
Glorify Your Sacred Name,
Complete Your Holy Kingdom Here On Earth,
And Establish Your Will On Earth, As It Is In Heaven.
Increase Our Faith And Bless Us With The Holy Spirit,
Satisfy Our True Needs,
And Forgive Us Our Sins;
As We Forgive Those Who Have Harmed Us.
Shield Us From Temptation
And Save Us From Evil,
For All Power And Glory Descend From You,
Who Is Deserving Of Eternal Praise.
Amen

-LE

Slightly revised from a version written and published online by me in 2001

Antiphon: God knows the fish of the sea, and the stars of the sky, every one by its own name.

I like this.

Perhaps related: A worn courderoy kind of life

GoD and DoG

This afternoon I found a wonderful video by Wendy Francisco entitled: GoD and DoG.


Wendy's website is Here, and her blog is Here.

Go in Peace to Love and Serve the Lord!

LE

p.s. Problems with displaying video properly made it clear blog template was out of step with YouTube and also with normal screen widths - so behold a wider blog. :)

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)

I am a poor steward

I am a poor steward.
I fail to go.
And when I do,
I go too slow.

I am a poor steward,
I have not done much.
I have not helped
I did not touch.

I am a poor steward,
It was not enough
I did not volunteer
When things got tough.

I am a poor steward,
I whine and moan
To help is hard
I trudge, I groan.

I play dumb games,
I waste my time,
I forget names,
I make up rhymes.

I am a poor steward,
And much I waste.
I don’t do good,
I am less ‘salt’ than ‘paste’.

I will be a poor steward,
But still I’ll go.
Please, forgive me, Lord,
That I go slow.

The House With The Broken Door

You decided against the same old thing
You turned right, instead of your usual left

And you saw a brightly lit house
Its door hanging open
A broken door – Askew, Unworkable.
Like it was no longer something that people closed
From inside the voices came
Laughing, singing, and debating

Smells rolled down to you too
Fresh-baked bread
Apple pie
Roast chicken
New wine

A smiling face appeared at the door
And a friendly body hurried down to take your arm
“Oh!” “You’re Here!” “We were so hoping you’d come today!”
And they were all there
Old friends and new
Their names and faces filled with joy
Filling you with joy
Hugging and kissing
Slapping your back
Welcoming you in

Silly, Silly, So Foolish
How long you walked that lonely road
The house had been waiting for you
The friends had been waiting for you
But no matter
The time was paid for
And the time is at hand for you to be honored

“But I did nothing!” you said…
“I went the wrong way!”
“I did the wrong things, again and again!”

No matter, no matter
On your way you did much good,
More than you could have known
And your mistakes,

See!

They have all been redeemed-
Turned about like an engine at a roundhouse
Like a lump of clay on a wheel
Like the sun breaking through the rain
Like a starfish regrowing its arms

The journey is over
And you are home
What was forgotten has been recalled
What was stolen has been restored
What was lost has been found

There was always room for you here
You were always wanted and needed
Always wanted at our table
Always present in our prayers
If it was not so, would we not have told you?
Welcome Back!
Welcome Back Home!

Something Interesting to Look At

I love it when creative people colaborate, and here is a wonderful example - Enjoy:

A peaceful Lent to you -

LE

Carnival or Shrove Tuesday?

Carnival has arrived this year wrapped in gauze.

Lent is early this year, arriving almost as early as it can, and today is Carnival.

And I don't feel festive.

Instead I feel in need of blankets and bandages.

Comfort and quiet.

Time to heal life's wounds.

Time to grow and seek quietly.

And so today's fog, the wet quietness of the day, the muffled shapes and sounds seem in tune with my mood.

A gauzey bandage over a bruised life.

A chance to heal.

A time of peace.

Today for me will be more of the 'Shrove Tuesday' than 'Carnival'.

Shrove Tuesday, when we confess our sins before our Lenten fast.

A time to confess and be healed.

May your Lent also start with the kind of day that you need.

LE

All Lenten Thoughts

ps: I am returning to rotating the meditation or antiphon that appears in this blog's description. I never intended to stop rotating it, but life got busy, and the one I had up seemed so appropriate; 'For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.'

pps: And look at the meditation that was up next: "I'm giving up being angry.". Great for the start of Lent, and great to follow my post 'The Others'. I think I smell the Holy Spirit in this...

Peace,
LE

The Grace of Baptism

I like baptism
I like the gathering of the community
I like the approach, the welcoming of the candidates
I like the blessing of the water
I like the vows taken by and for the candidates
I like the ritual of washing
I like the symbolism of immersion
I like the unity of the body of Christ in the church.

But baptism is a peculiar thing
We do it once
We do it for others
And not for ourselves

Baptism is the Rubicon of Christianity
Once done, we have crossed over
We belong
We are sealed as belonging to Christ

Baptism is a sacrament to many Christians

An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

The sign is the wetting, the bathing, the annointing, ...and the grace?

The grace is the forgiveness of sins available to the repentant Christian through Jesus Christ.

And perhaps this is the forgotten beauty of baptism: not its celebration of becoming a member of the body, not the spiritual vows made to actively seek to turn from evil, -these are outward signs- but the initial recognition that we are all in need of perfection, that we all have stumbled, that we all need forgiveness, and that in particular the candidate is recognizing his or her errors, and is formally repenting and seeking forgiveness.

And perhaps this is what Jesus brought to baptism that it did not have before: the authority to say:

"Rise and walk, for your sins are forgiven you."

Rise and walk, and if you stumble, pick yourself up, and walk again.

May you, dear reader, also Rise and Walk

Peace,
LE

Are you Saved?

Are you saved... ...when were you saved?
People used to ask a lot.
We do speak of salvation sometimes now,
But more often not.

Is saving what happens in this life?
Or does it happen when we die?
Can it happen a long time later,
When in the grave we lie?

Can we be saved in both,
Can we be saved again?
Do we know what saving is?
Can you please explain?

Is saving like pickling,
Or like a photo that we take?
Or is saving like a change
Like love or when hearts break?

And did Jesus save us long ago,
Or does he save today?
And when we say our God came down to save us,
What do we mean? What way?

And if the saved can fall, can they fall from grace in death?
Can you still fall from grace when you can't draw a breath?

Are these important questions,
or do we all just need
to hear God's word and do it?
That would be good indeed!

The Unseen Tree

I have a maple tree in my back yard.

Or so I discover.

It was there all along, among the small trees growing behind the forsythia.

But the last couple days have been quite brisk,

And this morning,

As I made my mind up to apologize to someone,

The sun caught it just so;

And its leaves previously unremarkable,

Burst into flame.

And all the angels sang.

Peace,
LE

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

Outrageous Easter

In my dream we were planning the funeral of a good friend, someone we loved a lot.

We were just getting started, gathering around a large table.

Family and friends were there, and around the table there were several who did not feel wlecome, or worthy to sit, and we were encouraging them to do so.

There was room for all.

And once we settled, and had started discussing, we realized a funny man was behind us...
...painting huge Easter eggs on the picture window that was there.

Even funnier, he didn't paint from his imagination, which you might think he would with such a simple subject. Instead, he had a friend who was arranging and holding large colorful Easter eggs so that he could paint them 'from life', draping fabric about them, and positioning them just so.

We talked about the two of them, and thought they were just a bit crazy.

But upon waking, I am not so sure.

In your times of mourning may you find moments of outrageous Easter.

LE

After 2 Timothy 2

Remember Jesus in your sufferings, and if you are chained, remember that the word of God cannot be chained. Endure for the sake of the world, that the world may also obtain salvation, for if we die with Jesus, we will rise with Christ, and if we endure we will also reign with him.

Jesus cannot save us while we deny him, but he remains faithful to us, seeking us and consoling us when we despair. Even in our denial, in our guilt and sin, Jesus must remain faithful to us, because he cannot deny himself, and there is great hope in that. Jesus is our redeemer, and seeks our redemption, so seek to return to, and keep true to Jesus, even as he keeps true to you.

Yours in Faith
LE

A Remarkable Accounting

How much do I owe you?
Someone asked me today;
I said not to worry
And sent them away

I am glad that they asked
I'm glad I can share
I am glad that I'm able
To be more than fair

And maybe I'll find
When I'm called to account
That my debts are reduced
By an equal amount

Or even forgiven
Of me, every one
By a remarkable accountant
That we call God's Son

And so in good faith
Let us each forgive
Following our God's example
Of how we should live

Peace,
LE

SB responded in verse:

Nothing for something
A holy exchange
The commerce of kindness
Beautifully strange

Very nice, thanks.

When We Fall

Hurtful things
Done again and again
Maybe not intentionally to hurt
But not avoided
And returned to
And repeated.

Things we shouldn't do
Things we should do in moderation
That we do to extreme
Things that harm ourselves
Things that harm others

We all make mistakes
We all do things that are wrong
And we often, too often repeat them
Minor addictions
Bad habits
Sins and crimes

Sometimes they sneak up on you
You don't realize you are slipping
Sliding
Falling into sin

Try to keep God first
Keep God in your mind and make sure what you are doing is good.
And when you slip
Apologize
Try to make things right
And start anew

"I Will, With God's Help"

LE

You Don't Need Words

A friend forwarded me a sermon recently, that had among its cuter quotes a comment from Annie Lamott, who claims that you only need to know two words to pray; 'Thanks' and 'Help'.

This is a great quote; amusing and directive, showing us how accessible God is and how simple to reach God.

But like many of my little words of wisdom, I don't think it goes far enough, or expresses the true wonder of God's love.

True, it encourages us all to pray, no matter how simple our prayers.

But we don't always have words for our prayers: God does not need words - just for us to try to walk with him.

And if you look at The Lord's Prayer, you will see that it asks for help and forgiveness *before* promising forgiveness in turn.

So you don't need words - all of creation can pray - and it is ok if you ask for help first and say thanks later.

And that's just like God:
Hearing our needs first,
Even when we don't know what they are.

Peace,
LE

"They'll Take Anyone"

Jesus stands at the door and knocks,
But not just at your door,
You'll find him knocking along every street
Mine, and theirs, and yours

This feast that we are called to
Is open to all who'll come;
And it's our job to welcome
Each and every one

We must mean it when we say that
Our sins belong to God;
Jesus himself has told us
We may find the guest list odd.

Forgiveness is for sinners,
For us sinners, every one;
And a mixed lot of repentant sinners,
Will make our feasting much more fun.

So may we be among the guilty;
Told: "You'll take anyone",
And be numbered with those oddball saints,
When at last our lives are done.

Peace,
LE

Restoration Prayer

Gracious God, Hear my Cry
To my aid I beg you fly
Restore my soul and make me strong
Help to keep me from all wrong
Break my chains and free my heart
Help me a renewed life to start
Forgive me for my sinful ways
And bless us all with joyful days