I stopped today.
In the stillness
I find myself
Still here
No task at hand
Still, I am
No pace set
I am still
Happy meeting
Holy moment
Lingering still
Continue reading “Stillness”
Tag: God With Us
Eyes on the Manger
I.
in case you’re wondering why everyone is lonely
I used to wonder at the way
a crowd
could feel lonely
feeling reality
without explanation
some say it’s a matter of
technology, this recent
digital life, before that
the industrial revolution, maybe
Rome’s roads drove us apart
some say it’s a matter of
words, possibility against
a lack of truth, define
for yourself what means anything
or nothing to anyone
some say it’s a matter of
perspective, who really knows
the life you’ve lived inside
looking in through the window
of their own experience
some say it’s a matter of
physics, that matter
never touches, have you ever
really touched another object
much less a person
some say it’s a matter of
sin, of protective clothing
hiding the truth, shameful
parts too much to bear
before God and man
now I wonder how this crowd
of disciplines can explain the reality
of aloneness so impartially
while the poets just bleed
words that never mean the same thing twice
II.
in case you’re wondering what more there is to say Continue reading “Eyes on the Manger”
in case you’re wondering why everyone is lonely
I used to wonder at the way
a crowd
could feel lonely
feeling reality
without explanation
some say it’s a matter of
technology, this recent
digital life, before that
the industrial revolution, maybe
Rome’s roads drove us apart
some say it’s a matter of
words, possibility against
a lack of truth, define
for yourself what means anything
or nothing to anyone
some say it’s a matter of
perspective, who really knows
the life you’ve lived inside
looking in through the window
of their own experience
some say it’s a matter of
physics, that matter
never touches, have you ever
really touched another object
much less a person
some say it’s a matter of
sin, of protective clothing
hiding the truth, shameful
parts too much to bear
before God and man
now I wonder how this crowd
of disciplines can explain the reality
of aloneness so impartially
while the poets just bleed
words that never mean the same thing twice
II.
in case you’re wondering what more there is to say Continue reading “Eyes on the Manger”
give and give (a love letter)
give me your
meager muchness, your
scant significance, your
finite faith
I Am the One Who Makes
abundance, the kind
you only dream of
in some locked-away-tight
room of your soul
Continue reading “give and give (a love letter)”
Manger Song
When we find our wells of Peace running dry
The world, within and without, misaligned
Into despair, the Incarnate Child
Brings his Hope and his Way Continue reading “Manger Song”
Seen
Destitute.
Strung out?
Crouching on the curb
Bare feet, thin blanket
Still, quiet
People see, pass carefully
Afraid? Disgusted?
One gives pause
Passes by like everyone else
cry yes
Back in college, I read global news every day. I was hungry to know more about the world, to be engaged in humanity’s struggles. At some point, the number of problems got too huge for me to process, and now I’m pickier about what news I read. I don’t want to be bombarded with stories designed to put me in a spiral of despair, but at the same time I don’t want to be in ignorance!
These days, the news reminds me of our great need for a solid foundation on which to build a reconciled world. The work of reconciliation between persons and peoples and creation itself is too difficult to build on anything less than the rock of reconciliation with God! At the same time, we mustn’t sit around on the foundation singing nice songs and pretending the work is done.
I didn’t write this poem for Advent, but it seems appropriate somehow. As the darkness of winter reflects the darkness of a desperate world, so each little candle we light illuminates the One who brings light to otherwise impenetrable darkness.
Entering into our flood of pain and failed solutions, the Christ child is God’s great “Yes!” in a world of human “No”.
Continue reading “cry yes”Of Rainbows and Mud
(Part 4 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)
Why do we never enter
the dripping, wild woods
As the rain starts to fall?
We fear the wet, the mud
The fallen leaves’ decay
Never noticing the fragrance
of new life they exude.
In our concern for comfort
Our endless quest for beauty
We do not look in such a way
As to see the foundational
Workings of new life
Leaf litter on the damp clay
Fallen timber awash with rain Continue reading “Of Rainbows and Mud”
Be Gentle with Yourself in Grief
(Part 3 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)
Be gentle with yourself in grief
You cannot hurry it along by tackling it all at once
You cannot sweep it away without so much as a glance
You cannot dam it in an ever-increasing reservoir Continue reading “Be Gentle with Yourself in Grief”
Go in Peace
(Part 2 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)
How long, O Lord, will we live in fear of Pain
Wary of being weighed down forever by it
I want to arrive in the city of Hope and dwell in Joy
But Pain will not be left behind while I journey
It clings to my legs, refusing to be forgotten,
And becomes a stumbling block Continue reading “Go in Peace”
Grief in the Season of Joy
(Part 1 of 4 in the “Grief in a Season of Joy” series)
In this season of anticipation, I ought to be anticipating not only the birth of the Messiah, but also the halfway point of my fourth pregnancy. Instead, I find myself grieving loss, recognizing that grief is not always something you can defer to a ‘more opportune time’.
At an Advent retreat last week, I sensed an invitation to begin posting what I’ve written during my grief process, even though Christmas is nearly upon us.
So, for those of you who grieve your own losses in this season of joy, the next few weeks are for you! May you find the freedom to be present with grief as we remember the moment God came to dwell with us, pain and all.
To a Little One I may not get to meet Continue reading “Grief in the Season of Joy”
In Pursuit of More 