Jacob's Ladder, Reprise

On Genesis 28:10-19

Antiphon: Mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos

In the desert all alone
beneath his head he laid a stone
the stars looked down upon his face
in this dark desolate place.

In his dreams a ladder shone
let down from heaven to his stone
beside him holy voices spoke
out of fire and out of smoke.

"Where you go there I am too
I will always be with you"
-every place, a place of God
if floored with sand, gold, wood, or sod.

Original Post

Jacob's Ladder

On Genesis 28:10-19:

In the desert all alone
beneath his head he laid a stone
the stars looked down upon his face
in this dark desolate place.

In his dreams a ladder shone
let down from heaven to his stone
beside him holy voices spoke
out of fire and out of smoke.

"Where you go there I am too
I will always be with you"
-every place, a place of God
if floored with sand, gold, wood, or sod.

-LE

An All-Encompassing Love

Sometime about half a century ago, a mathematician proved that for any mathematical system, there will be some problems that cannot be solved, which can be solved by other mathematical systems.

Isn't that remarkable? By extension, any one way of thinking will have areas it cannot address well - that require other approaches.

And further; the world is not comprehensible to any one way of thinking.

And any one theology will similarly have certain flaws that only others can address.

And I wonder if this is not another reason for the strange plurality of the Godhead, and the very different character of its elements: Spirit, God and Son. Because perhaps the one solution to our often troubled world requires more than one approach:

A creative force; our parent who calls us to be and grow.

A redemptive force; our friend and brother who challenges us to be true and intervenes with and for us, who shares our humanity.

A supportive force; a spirit that whispers in our ear and fills our hearts with love, guiding us back to God

No one approach could suffice, and perhaps no two was yet enough. To truly love the world in the all encompassing way, three were needed.

And if God IS love, perhaps it is useful to consider the Trinity in terms of love;

Parental Love,
Fraternal Love,
....and Passion

Filled with the threefold love of God, may we be wise in our own lives to see when new approaches are needed, hear when others point out our blindness, and act in God's will.

-Peace and Love to you in the Trinitarian God of Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and God our Parent,

LE

When you Wake in the Night

When you wake in the night
Think to greet your God
Who is there in the quiet
To ignore him seems odd

Perhaps in the dim
Is a good time to pray
When the loud and the din
Are all put away

Raise a word to the Lord
With the small and the meek
With the chirping of crickets
With the little bat's squeak

Perhaps God will hear you
A bit better at night
And bless you, and heal you
And make things all right

And I pray that each person
Who finds they awake
Is blessed and healed
From trouble and ache

And I thank you, dear Lord
For answering my prayers
In the few minutes I sat up
And told you my cares

And now to my nest
I retire again
Bid Adeu to the night
And turn off my brain

Peace and Love to You who Know the Wee Hours as Well as Those who Greet the Day

LE

An Issue of Scope

I was going to post for tomorrow a poem by Gail of Scribal Terror entitled 'Double [Ptero]Dactyl' as part of my theme that spirit exists in all creatures and that all are loved by, inhabited by God.

A theme expressed in my poem/post We Didn't Fall - We Climbed.

But then I heard via Tobias at In A Godward Direction that Madeline L'Engle had been released from this mortal realm, and felt that my post should honor the spirituality of this woman who saw...

...spirituality in our mitochondria, in our very atoms, and in the song of the universe...

...and as I thought about it, 'Double [Ptero]Dactyl' seemed a very appropriate poem for honoring this marvolous woman, who saw the scope of God as so very much broader.

And so here is Gail's poem, with the same artwork (above) as on Gail's original post:

Double [Ptero]Dactyl

copyright Gail Hapke 2005, 2006, used with permission

Flippity-flappity

Phantasmagorical,

Furry and bug-eyed and

Batty as hell,

Whatever became of these

Unprehistorical

Pteromarsupials

No one can tell.

Thank you Gail, and thank you Madeline.

We will miss you.

Yours,

LE

Tobias's post on Madeline is here.

Gail's post on Madeline is here.

The NY Times on Madeline's pasing is here.

What Is A Miracle?

What is a miracle?
Does it have to be supernatural,
Or will 'unlikely' do?
Is whatever God does a miracle?

What about a rescue worker's efforts?
The emergancy room doctor?
The stranger who helps when you are lost?
Or the person who listens and helps when you are upset?

Perhaps miracles are like blessings, like sacraments - outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace;

And perhaps we walk in the midst of miracles of life, miracles of light, every day. Little ones and big ones.

Recently I was at a weekend celebration, and one of the guests of honor was worried that there would not be enough beer, although it seemed to me that few people there were beer drinkers. So a little beer was bought.

Over the course of the weekend, it seemed to me that whenever I looked, there was more beer, some varieties I didn't recognize.

...I sampled some, and it was good. We ended up bringing a healthy amount back from the weekend.

There was more than enough.

...Probably, probably people at the celebration bought and brought the overabundance. No supernatural power need be invoked. But the image of that beer stuck with me.

A silly miracle, I suppose.

But it occurs to me that it *was* a wedding celebration; 50 years of wedded bliss in this case.

And again, is it less of a miracle if it has a practical explanation?

Isn't the miracle the spiritual part of the event? The blessing of it happening, no matter if in Cana almost 2000 years ago, or last week?

God does get involved, I think, in the mundane things in our lives;

No, even more; God lives, I think, in the mundane, as well as the obviously transcendant.

Everything IS Illuminated.

After Psalm 33

...
Praise and thank God for our many blessings, because we are truly blessed.
Thank God with music, with dance, and with art
Proclaim your love and praise God loudly, so all can hear and see - because God is good and God's every deed is done in faithfulness.

God loves Mercy and Justice; the world is full of the steadfast love of the Lord;
God spoke and the universe was created, and God's breath lives within all life. God knows the fish of the sea, and the stars of the sky, every one by its own name.

God is awesome; God stands before time and also after; God was concerned with the events of your life before your eldest ancestor crept from the sea, and lovingly contemplates the echo of your features in the descendants of generations to come.

There is nothing that is hidden from God, and each of us is in God's sight. God knows us from the inside out, in our most shameful secrets and our hidden joys.

Nations, leaders and movements plot and plan, and seek to own the world, but the world is in God's hands, and God frustrates their plans. God's direction is clear and unchanged. Judgment and time belong to God, and from God no wealth, no power, and no physical strength can save you.

Happy are the people who follow in God's footsteps, who enter into God's labors. God watches over the faithful, who find eternal life in his steadfast love, and manna in the midst of want.

We wait upon the love of God, who is our help and protector. In God we find our joy and in God's name renewal. O Lord, be with us and bless us, even as we hope in you.

Peace,
Locust Eater

The Voice of Evil

The voice of evil calls to us
Wherever it can reach us
It delights in death, despair and destruction
It raises up sin after sin before our eyes
Look! It says; Humans (even you) are hopelessly corrupt!
There is no use in building,
Everything will be swept away!
Everything you create is already dying, falling apart, will be destroyed!
Your neighbors are criminals, rapists, even pedophiles!
Everyone wants to steal from you!
Your very identity is at risk!
Cancer, murder, terrorism, death and loss!
Darkness, addiction, corruption and evil!

The voice of evil shouts at you from your TV, your radio, the newspaper and the internet. It repeats it's message of death and hopelessness over and over, and good honest people start repeating it themselves.

But there is a reason that the voice of evil must be so strident, and so unceasing, and that is because it is trying to drown out another voice; A voice that permeates all creation, that comes from every thing; A quiet voice, a humbler melody - that whispers to everything from everywhere;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

And in the end, the voice of evil is only a counterpoint to the one voice.
Nothing it said ever mattered in the first place.
It is forever on the outside,
Forever trying to obscure what is true,
Forever living in lies;
There is nothing permanent there,
It lies outside of the truth;
It is darkness and distraction;
It is cloud and mist;
It will burn away in the sun;
It will be swept away by joy.

Listen to the voice of joy;

Live
Love
Share
Give
Help
Grow
Build
You are beloved
You are wonderful
You are beautiful
You are wanted
You are needed
You can help
You make a difference
You are One

Peace to you who are One with Love

It Moves Silently

Almost hidden, glinting faintly below the trees, under the bar-berry bush and the rabbits-foot fern, the still stream glistens, small wildflower-petals dotting its surface.

It moves silently through the marshy woods, its bed richly robed in the blackened leaves of last season, each leaf in turn covered with a fuzzy-looking blanket of light brown decay.

No noise makes the stream in this part of its journey, as its waters glide very slowly along. Nothing moves this quiet morning to stir its bed.

Each place in this world has its own peculiar beauty. Every spot is filled with Light. Each small place finds its own way to show forth the awe we share.

Take some time to worship in the silent manner of this stream.

May we may find many such moments of peace in our lives.

Where is God?

...
Where is God?

Is God in the orange-y sun that rose through the trees this morning?
Is God in the sparrow chirping from somewhere inside the juniper?
Is God in the smile I exchange with a stranger?
Is God in the snow that whirls off the railbed, as a train goes by?
Is God below the ice of the swamp, amongst the muck, sleeping turtles and cattail roots?

Yes, God is there.
Creation shines with God.

The busy-ness of God

Is God busy now?
Certainly God is busy.
Even as the Devil is always to and fro among us.
Even more so is God,
And God's Angels,
And their apprentices.
God is busy in his vinyard.
He is at work with us.