God Must Get Kind Of Dizzy

God must get kinda dizzy
As we shoot across the sky
As we arc across the galaxy
As the stars go spinning by

As we spin and twirl and wobble
As we swing around the sun
And that dang moon keeps on zipping past
Eyeing mankind can't be fun

And God's eyes must be real sharp
If he can pick our small selves out
Us who live in a thin film of gas,
On this rock that whirls about

I mean, we're not even one-tenth a mote
Some dust caught by the light
I couldn't pick us out from among the stars if I were to squint with all my might

And yet God loves us every one
Us mites perched on a flea
And cares for each and every one
However small we be

So let us try so show some care
For those flecks of life like us
Who dwell on this tiny blue-ish speck
Of cast off stellar dust

Space for Life and Love

For decades I have watched a mallard couple, dabbling in the reeds in a small swampy drainage channel near where I catch the train.

You may say "mallards don't live for decades!"

And you would be right. But there has always been a mated pair here. As soon as the ice is gone, and before the snow has fled, they appear, probing at the roots of the fragmities, swimming right up against each other, quacking gently.

Always two, the little, still stream is too small for three; always together, side by side, with eyes for each other, danger, and food.

There is a lot of beauty in their couple-hood, their seeking out of this spot, their inhabiting it and making it their home.

And there is something more to the fact that it has been a home to many duck-couples before them.

Here there is a niche, a special place where two birds rest and love and live together. Just enough for two small lovers to live, and feed, and make their home.

A space has been provided, and life has filled it.

May we also find blessed space in and for our lives, and keep it filled with life and love.

To Those Discussing Salvation

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

The text above is from the beginning to John, chapter 1. It speaks about Jesus as the effective Word of God - a part, facet, personality or form of God.

It speaks of God's creation of all things through this personalty, and of how through this personality comes the Light of Man.

Many came before we named The Word as Jesus, many who were blessed, beloved, and saved. Many also have come since and are still to come who don't know The Word as Jesus, but love the light and with whom God dwells.

Judgement is God's alone, and God will choose whom God will save. But I can tell you it will be more about faith than formulas, more about love than learning, and more about deeds than dogma.

So I say: stop chattering amongst yourselves about who is in or out, and roll up your sleeves, and put on your apron. Those who hunger and thirst have arrived, and it is ours to get busy to serve them.

A Vale of Sorrows?

The Christian Faith, The Bible, CS Lewis, and many other respected authorities seem to tell us that what we do today is just a prelude to the world to come.

CS Lewis speaks of this life as being like school, a period when we are learning and training. The Apostle Paul tells us how we cannot begin to know the wonders that are in store for the faithful, and John's Revelation speaks of the new City of God which the faithful will reside in.

I also believe that this is not the end, and that we are called to an eternal life of participation in the ongoing creation of God.

But the idea of this world as a prelude, an entryway, of this phase in history as just the portal to something larger concerns me, because I worry that it encourages us not to take it seriously. I worry that people will say 'this is too much for this age, and I will leave this for the next generation', or even the next world, to solve.

We are where we are, and if we cannot fix the world, perhaps we can find ways to make our corners of it places of blessing. I believe this is one of the calls of Christianity, to make our little corners places of blessing.

If we must live on the stoop of eternity, on the doorstep of the new age, in the entryway of the House of God, let us make our little spot as welcoming, as blessed as we can. This may be the morning of the new day, but there is much to do in the morning, even before the sun is up-no matter how dark it is.

This entryway is where we live and work today. Let's not treat it and each other with disrespect because we hope to be invited inside, to a better place with more exclusive company tomorrow.

So let's get to work. There is a lot to do here in the entryway. There are new arrivals, (many of them wounded, lost and hungry) to make welcome, food to serve, and water to bring to the thirsty. Roll up your sleeves, and put an apron on - the morning has broken, and God's house is open for the business of Life.

Five Tasks

Share truth

Create peace

Give space

Make time

Be good



Share truth, because truth is the coin of wisdom, the river that life swims in, and the raw material of civilization.

Create peace, because noise, enimity, and war are poison to thought, care, and life

Give space, because space is the dwelling place of dignity and honor, and food for the spirit.

Make time, because within moments of time are found infinities that can be turned powerfully to the service of light.

Be good, because in being good, you instantiate God.

Don't cause trouble.

Don't lay upon others,
What you woldn't want to lift yourself.

Don't act like a wolf,
And then blame the sheep for being weak.

Don't rely on the law,
To dictate your morality.
(Hell already has plenty of lawyers)

Do unto others as you would have done to you.

And ask how people like to be treated,
Because not everyone is the same.

It isn't clever to be mean,
And sometimes it's mean to be clever.

True wisdom is simple, kind, and fair.
It doesn't make trouble out of trifles,
It doesn't take offense,
It strives to help and support.

Be generous, broad-shouldered, and thick skinnned... ...If God is willing to forgive everyone's sins, certainly
you can forgive some yourself.

A Happy Mantra

Into the sweetest of souls, dark thoughts can come bubbling up, like blebs of oil from a forgotten shipwreck, rising in a clear tropical lagoon.

Sometimes it is easy to become focused on them. I think we recognise darkness when we see it, and we tend to know when thoughts are leading us astray, or when the thoughts are evil themselves.

For those who find themselves buffeted by negative messages about their worth, about other people's unworthiness, about appearance, all those negative messages that we find so common inside and out, I say, learn the lesson of the lagoon. Smother the negativity with love and life. Instead of focusing on the hateful, the denigrating, or the dark, express the light.

Find a happy mantra, or two to repeat and share.

I suggest 'Love' or 'Love as we wish to be Loved'.

It'll wash the dark away.

All my love to you.

-the bug chewer