Reflections

Content Discontent

The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. – Genesis 1:2

A formless void. That’s what initiating this website feels like to me. You see, I’ve got a bad case of content discontent. I’m prone to posting heartdumps and other ponderings. While posting those things may be therapeutic for me, what do they offer anyone happening upon this site? Is the content meaningful or inspirational? Am I offering the world anything new or unique? Hmmm.

Does it really matter?

Here goes nothing. Look at me, overcoming an emotional hurdle. I have a gift to share. Whatever shape the content takes will be just fine. Let’s do this.

Poetry

Beyond Blur

Back in the day
Polaroids ruled
Instamatic cameras
A click
A flash
The whir of soon-to-be seen snapshot ejection
Wait
Look? Don’t look!
Just a peek? A glimpse
Darkroomless development
Right before your eyes
A 70’s miracle beheld by a corner between thumb and forefinger
Now these relics remain only in albums of yellowing, acidic, cellophane covered pages
Crammed in basement boxes
Fading with the passage of time
As memories do

In this day and age
Digital’s the default
Darkroomless, instantaneous development
Smile!
Point and shoot
Again.
Again.
Again. Again. Again.
Againagainagainagainagain
Until the tiny screen reveals perfectly posed and poised pixels
Keep or delete decisions deferred
Photoshop covers a multitude
Filters fix foibles
Malleable memories
Preserved not on self-adhesive cellophane
But in cyberclouds and on SD cards
Not fading, still fleeting

Our development
Not instamatic or instantaneous
Beheld in God’s hands
Forget filters
Foibles forgiven
Purposeful, pixelated perfection
Given glimpses of glory
What is now blurred
Shall become clear
Be patient, my child
All is developing as it should

Poetry

Abundant Hope Abounds

Restless, wandering hearts
Yearning to be led
Hungering, thirsting mouths
Longing to be fed

Life restoring God
Renew our weary souls
Shine your face on us
Save us from ourselves

Like rainfall on the grass
Watering the earth
Shower us in love
May our hearts be stirred

Watch over us, O God,
Upholder of the poor
Lift up those bowed down
That lives may be restored

In watches of the night
Glory-fill the earth
Stir up your might and save
With love in full measure

Peace be within each heart
Calming every storm
Abundant hope abounds
Now and forevermore

Reflections

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Can we talk about the hair thing? If you know me well, then you know of my love/hate relationship with my hair. I confess that it’s been mostly hate. Cut it off. Grow it out. Permed. Highlighted. Curled. Straightened. Layered. One length. You name it. I seriously considered calling a close friend before my haircut yesterday to ask if I’d ever said, “If I ever tell you I’m going to cut my hair off again, don’t let me do it.” Seriously. While I don’t recall ever making that pronouncement, it’s well within the realm of possibility.

So much mind clutter over this hair of mine. In trying to get to the root of the issue, I reflected on this conundrum.  Misperception and false thinking strike again: Not pretty enough. Not feminine enough. Not professional enough. Why can’t my hair be like so-and-so’s hair? Why can’t my hair be <insert ridiculous thought here>? Enough. I also noted a pattern. All the times I’ve chopped my hair off, I was letting go of something I’d been holding onto that definitely had to go. Hmmm.

Then it hit me: God knows every hair on my head.  God loves every fiber of my being, even when I continually try to fix some part of me that God created with tender care. Maybe, just maybe, I’m beginning to believe this deep in my heart. Maybe I’ve outgrown my hair. My hair wasn’t the broken part of me at all. My thinking was. Time to let that go.
Poetry

Peace in the Silence

My mind set adrift
Away from the sounds and the noise
Hushing the cacophony
Off to distant, quiet shores.
There is peace in the silence
Where you draw ever so near
No commotion or clamor
Only your voice I hear.
My spirit basks in the stillness
Where deep calls to deep.
All is well.
My soul is at peace.
Poetry Sermons

A Poem Sermon for Transfiguration

Transfiguration Sermon – March 3, 2019
Behold! The story begins.
The Beloved Son befriended brothers beside a lake.
Beckoned them to be fishers of people
He called. They followed.
Through many manifestations and miracles
They followed.  
Fishers of people are persons of prayer.
These men moved up a mountain to do just that. 
Mt. Hermon? Mt. Tabor?  Scholars debate.
A high mountain!
A sky kissing mountain!
Mountaineer missionaries
Visionaries
Ascending with psalms? Scaling with songs? I wonder.
Prayer at the peak was the plan.
Purposeful plodding
Set a course for the summit.
Step by step
Looking up and not looking back
Unknowns ahead
Worries behind
What once seemed insurmountable was now within reach.
Almost. There. To the place of prayer.
Pause. Persist. Pray.  Repeat.
Behold the Beloved Son!
Countenance curiously changed
Transfigured. Transformed.
Bedazzled!
Between Moses and Elijah
Gloriously glowing!
The Law. The Prophets. The Lord.
Dog-tired disciples. Alert enough.
Attentive
Awestruck 
Wait! Don’t depart!
Do we dare dwell together here in tents? Three!
We can build them. You will see.
How good to be here!
Kodak moment in the clouds
Momentary. Mystifying. Miraculous.
Beyond belief
Overshadowed.
Bewildered. Befogged. Befuddled.
Besieged by fear as a bellowing voice spoke from the sky, “This is my Son. My Chosen. Listen to him!”
We do listen! What did you say again? What just happened?
The Beloved Son.  Alone.
No longer amidst apparitions
No longer glowing in glory
Bystanders bestirred to silence.
Behold! Our story begins when the Beloved Son beckons.
He calls us by name.
Are we following, fellow fishers of people?  
Mountains
High mountains ahead
Sky kissing mountains!
Mountaineer missionaries
Visionaries
May we ascending with psalms and scale with songs.
Equipped for the journey
Purposefully plodding
Prayerfully plodding
Set a Spirit-led course for the summit!
Step by step 
Looking up and not looking back
Unknowns ahead
Worries behind
The insurmountable within reach
Only possible with God
The maker of mountains
The mover of mountains
Pause. Persist. Pray.  Repeat.
Dog-tired, disciples?
Arise. Attend. Awe awaits. 
How good to be here!
In this moment
Make way for mystifying, miraculous marvels in the mediocre. In the mundane.
Overshadow us, Lord.
When we become bewildered, befogged or befuddled
Speak.
We are listening.
Pause. Persist. Pray.  Repeat.
Believe.
Be discipled.
Be disciples.
Beyond church doors
Beyond walls and borders
Be the church.
Behold, beloveds.
Be alert.
Be attentive to the bestirring of the Spirit.
Transformation taking hold
Be stirred not to silence but to speak.
Be stirred to spread the good news.
Glimpses of God’s glory
Everywhere
Go forth in God’s grace.
Poetry

Immersed in Light


The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)


Deep darkness dwellers
Receive God’s shining light
Waking, walking wounded
May you be immersed in light tonight
Multiplier of the nation,
Increaser of its joy
Bring forth your kingdom
Manifest in an infant boy
Establish and uphold your throne
Reign now and evermore
With justice and with righteousness
Bring peace, o zealous Lord
Poetry

Taking Leave

The leaves are taking leave
The trees are letting go
Some leaves drift toward the ground
Others forcefully blown
Let go. Show your colors
Against the autumn skies
Give way to seasons change
As God’s creation sighs
Fallen leaves coat the ground
Crunching underneath feet
Leap into this pile!
A memory so sweet
Raked up. Swept up. Bagged up.
Or left in place on lawns
The leaves are taking leave
Until the springtime dawns