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

Good Grief

'Good Grief' seems to be a catchword for me lately. This piece is inspired by the passing of a great man, who we mourn. Certainly this is 'good grief'; to remember and miss those who have gone on to their reward, to honor their place with us, and share our memories:

They push off from here most every day
And for the farther shore
The saints sail onward to the place
Where head those Christ adores
The journey there is not so long
The river is not wide
They do not suffer on the trip
To Jordan’s other side

We wish them peace
And pray their souls
Into our Maker’s care
We will miss their presence here
And the all they used to share
A goodly crew sets off each day
From ports around the globe
To take up crowns and find their place
Beneath God’s mighty robe

We miss them all, so very much
And this grief is good.
Our lives are short and worth a lot
In death it’s understood.
So shed your tears and hold your friends
As tightly as you may
Because this world is not a place
That we may always stay.

And wait for joy, for it will come
Least on the other side
When all our hard day’s work is done
And we with the saints abide.
And there with our beloved saints
We’ll see the Lamb upraised
And cast our crowns upon the ground
May Jesus Christ be praised!

For Frank, and the great company of all the saints,

LE

Ten for Life

In our dreams we oft can tell;
What from heaven, what from hell;

But in a cloud we have our days;
And oft should curse what garners praise;

Fair is foul and foul is fair;
Lies and half-truths cloud the air.

This world so fickle and so oft wrong;
Honors the glib, the fake, the strong;

Honors false over the true;
Honors words, not those who do.

If we find honors at our feet,
Perhaps we'd best be in retreat;

And seeing people raised up high;
On piles of honors, to the sky;

Hope not that they might fall this day;
But stand well clear and well away.

Tho' honor's given where it should not;
Yet we can judge by what is wrought:

And by their fruit do judge them still-
Doing wrong or naught, then find them ill.

Let God's commandments be your guide;
Mark them well -mark them inside:

Love the Lord and love your foe;
And often to your neighbors go:

And bring them gifts and help in need;
And be to them good friends indeed.

Worship not nor be obsessed
With this world; In God be blessed.

Nor worship any man-made lie.
Worship not the earth or sky;

Don't worship spirits of the air;
They cannot save nor do they care.

Don't make God's name a joke or worse,
Don't use God's name within a curse.

Do six days work, take one day rest;
Give it to heaven- you will be blest.

And let your helpers all rest too;
It is the Godly thing to do.

To your parents give your care;
See they can eat, have clothes to wear;

And give some mind to what they say;
You may be just like them someday.

Do not kill your fellow man;
But seek to save; do what you can.

Don't want or take what is not yours;
But work for that your heart adores.

And as this sin causes so much pain,
Let me emphasize again:

Take not from others save what they share;
Lest you cause them pain and care;

God will hear their suffering call;
May judge you ill, may let you fall.

And if you have ill gotten gain;
Pay it back, and twice again.

God will bless you and forgive;
And in your house the Lord will live.

Do not take another's spouse;
You'll bring a curse down on your house.

Honor your spouse, treat with great care;
Those who love you, and with them share.

Say nothing false, but what is true;
And give your lips a rest or two.

Seek out the good things you can do;
Treating others as they were you.

Keep these precepts in your heart;
If you'd be blessed, they're a good start.

Peace
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

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

Finding God In Our Moments

I saw the girl-fox again today
She went dancing overhead
While I was sitting in traffic.
She on a railroad trestle
Me on the road
She in the wild that is so closely knit
With the roads and parking-lots and shops of suburbia.

Knowing foxes, I know her schedule.
I know that when I was rolling over for another 30 'Z's, another 20 winks,
She had already been up for an hour and a half.

I used to keep a schedule like hers, you see,
And daily meet one of her cousins a couple hours before sunrise.
At another railroad crossing,
Many miles from here.

Funnily enough, my train will take me in the direction she was headed,
As she set off for perhaps her third time already this morning.

But I still had to wait for my train;
The rails heating up and expanding in the warm sun,
The wooden ties creaking and clicking in response,
While song-birds fill the air with their music,
And the breeze shifts the grasses.

Today the train is late.
And that's just fine.

Together

Together
We are together;
We do things together.
We want to be together.
Sometimes we do things apart,
Even things that our partners don’t understand or like,
But we like to do things together.
We eat together;
We pray together;
We are together.

We think differently about a lot of things;
We discuss, argue even, but at the end of the day;
We are together.
There is no physical chain that holds us;
There is no law that compels us;
There is no force that prevents us from leaving;
We can go separate ways if we like;
And sometimes we will go separate ways;
But we like being together;
And we will come back together;
We are together.

May God bless us with many relationships like this;
In our relationships with God;
In our relationships with each other;
And in our corporate relationships;
May we be always
Together

Rest, Worthy Servant.

You can't be always churning
Rockets always burning

You can't always be running
Can't always look stunning

You won't be tip top always
And that's why we like Fridays

When the race is done
And hopefully won

We head home to rest,
To sleep late, in our nest.

Well done, Be Blessed.

For those of you seeking the source of the phrase 'well done good and worthy servant', it can be found in 'the parable of the talents' which begins at Matthew 25:14 -
“Well done, good and trustworthy [servant]; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.”