Invictus
William Ernest Henley
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
12.08.2013
12.01.2013
“Christmas traffic”
Three, two, one, liftoff
Signals Mission Control. And off they go.
To the dark parts of the planets
In their pressurized spacesuits,
Cocooned in technology, the astronauts.
Mission control whispers in someone’s ear.
Yes, she says, I will. And in due time
A different traveler makes a quieter journey,
Arriving hungry, naked, but true to instructions,
Docking on Earth, taking the one small step.
U. A. Fanthorpe
U. A. Fanthorpe
"And forgive us our trespasses"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
As we cleanse
our temples
and rid
ourselves of
all the souvenirs
from the places
where we thought
we could find
unconditional love,
Lord,
please take them
away
along with our
desires for them.
And afterwards,
lead us
your rebellious children
in a service
of rededication.
11.17.2013
"Give us this day! "
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
Lord,
Give us this day
to live and share our love.
Lord,
Give us this day
to take delight in You.
Lord,
Give us this day
to be peacemakers in this hostile world.
Lord,
Give us this day
to be patient in this "me-first" world.
Lord,
Give us this day
to show kindness to strangers.
Lord,
Give us this day
to value our friendships.
Lord,
At the end of this day
may we surrender all back to You
and petition You,
our heavenly Father
to grant us one more day.
of the Lord's prayer)
Lord,
Give us this day
to live and share our love.
Lord,
Give us this day
to take delight in You.
Lord,
Give us this day
to be peacemakers in this hostile world.
Lord,
Give us this day
to be patient in this "me-first" world.
Lord,
Give us this day
to show kindness to strangers.
Lord,
Give us this day
to value our friendships.
Lord,
At the end of this day
may we surrender all back to You
and petition You,
our heavenly Father
to grant us one more day.
"Give us this day"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
The Hand You’re Dealt
Every day
God deals us
our hand
for the day.
Some of us
fold
in resignation.
Some of us
bluff
our way
through the day.
And the rest
play the game
the way the Master
taught them.
"...our daily bread"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
The people of the Empire
wonder why
the God of abundance
parcels out
His Providence
in daily packages,
while
the rest of the world
utters a
grateful
alleluia.
The Vast Ocean Begins Just Outside Our Church: The Eucharist
Something has happened
to the bread
and the wine.
They have been blessed.
What now?
The body leans forward
to receive the gift
from the priest’s hand,
then the chalice.
They are something else now
from what they were
before this began.
I want
to see Jesus,
maybe in the clouds
or on the shore,
just walking,
beautiful man
and clearly
someone else
besides.
On the hard days
I ask myself
if I ever will.
Also there are times
my body whispers to me
that I have.
Mary Oliver
11.10.2013
Happiness by Carl Sandburg
I asked the professors who teach the meaning of life to tell
me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.
me what is happiness.
And I went to famous executives who boss the work of
thousands of men.
They all shook their heads and gave me a smile as though
I was trying to fool with them
And then one Sunday afternoon I wandered out along
the Desplaines river
And I saw a crowd of Hungarians under the trees with
their women and children and a keg of beer and an
accordion.
“On earth as it is in heaven”
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
Christian Nation
How will the
people of the Empire
who value
freedom
and
individual rights
be able to
comprehend
an eternal life
under
the singular rule
of a
King
and
a world
based on
serving
community
rather than
self-interests?
"Be done"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
Why can't
Your will
be done
like mine?
Just
cross off
another
task from
the to do list.
Instead
Your will
is accomplished
by the faithful
doing its best
to follow
Your path
with their crosses
in an
eternal march
You lead.
"Thy will"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
I hate clichés.
But
where
there
is a
will,
there
is a
way.
And
we don't need
to search for direction.
For
You
declared:
I AM
the
Way.
Teaching us Your will
by
following You.
Lord,
may we
fulfill Your will
by
moving closer
to You
each day
in Word,
Work,
and Worship.
Amen.
11.06.2013
I'll Be Your Mirror
Songwriters: Reed, Lou / Lang, David
I'll be your mirror
Reflect what you are, in case you don't know
I'll be the wind, the rain and the sunset
The light on your door to show that you're home
When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside you're twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind
Please put down your hands
'Cause I see you
I find it hard to believe you don't know
The beauty that you are
But if you don't let me be your eyes
A hand in your darkness, so you won't be afraid
When you think the night has seen your mind
That inside you're twisted and unkind
Let me stand to show that you are blind
Please put down your hands
'Cause I see you
I'll be your mirror
I'll be your mirror
I'll be your mirror
"Come"
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
On the second Christmas,
When He comes.
Not as a baby
But as the King.
No star directing those to see Him
But He who is the Light in the darkness
Not escaping to Egypt
But reclaiming those who kept the faith.
No gifts from the wise men
But reviewing what the faithful and unfaithful
did with theirs.
On the second Christmas,
When He comes.
“Thy Kingdom”
(A meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
I agree.
This is Your kingdom.
Where Your Presence
permeates the
place like
a mustard tree
annihilates a
garden
or the
yeast that goes
throughout the
loaf.
A kingdom that
has a declaration
that every ruler
has dreamed of -
A kingdom that will
never end.
A kingdom
whose citizens are
the ones
who found the pearl
and knew its
true value.
The ones who
kept their hand
on the plow
without looking back
Where
good thieves
tax collectors
prostitutes
the childlike
are allowed in.
While the rich
desperately hope
for their
advocates
to show up.
10.27.2013
"Thy name"
(a meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
Your Name
which signifies omnipresence
in a land that
stares into
its self-absorbed screens.
Your Name
which signifies omnipotence
in a land that
fights over
scraps of power.
Your Name
which signifies omniscience
in a land that
hung Truth
on a cross.
The Bird With the Human Head
~ Anne Sexton
I went to the bird
with the human head,
and asked,
"Please Sir,
where is God?"
"God is too busy
to be here on earth,
His angels are like one thousand geese assembled
and always flapping.
But I can tell you where the well of God is."
"Is it on earth?"
I asked.
He replied,
"Yes. It was dragged down
from paradise by one of the geese."
I walked many days,
past witches that eat grandmothers knitting booties
as if they were collecting a debt.
Then, in the middle of the desert
I found the well,
it bubbled up and down like a litter of cats
and there was water,
and I drank,
and there was water,
and I drank.
Then the well spoke to me.
It said: "Abundance is scooped from abundance,
yet abundance remains."
Then I knew.
Irish Folk Tale
Once there was a poor and generous old man from Ballaghaderreen who has a dream. In it he is told to make a journey at the end of which he will find a pot of gold. In this case the old man has to leave Balla and travel a good way to Dublin and there, when he crosses one of the bridges over the River Liffy, he will find a pub, and there he will find his treasure.
The old man follows the dream map and when he sees the pub that was in his dream he looks around but there's no place he can dig for a hidden treasure, so he stands beside the door and waits. He waits all day and at nightfall the publican comes out and asks,
"What are you standing here for all day long?"
"I had a dream that told me to come here."
"A dream? I think you must be a daft old man to follow dreams. I, myself, had a dream a month ago and it told me to go to some poor old sod's cottage on the crossroads from French Park to Ballaghaderreen and if I did, I would find a pot of gold in his front yard. Do you think I would go traipsing all over the countryside because of a dream? It's cold. You should go home."
"Indeed I should and will," said the old man.
And when he got home he dug in his front yard and found the treasure and wasn't he himself and all the others the better for it.
And if he hasn't given it all away we might share a bit with them.
The old man follows the dream map and when he sees the pub that was in his dream he looks around but there's no place he can dig for a hidden treasure, so he stands beside the door and waits. He waits all day and at nightfall the publican comes out and asks,
"What are you standing here for all day long?"
"I had a dream that told me to come here."
"A dream? I think you must be a daft old man to follow dreams. I, myself, had a dream a month ago and it told me to go to some poor old sod's cottage on the crossroads from French Park to Ballaghaderreen and if I did, I would find a pot of gold in his front yard. Do you think I would go traipsing all over the countryside because of a dream? It's cold. You should go home."
"Indeed I should and will," said the old man.
And when he got home he dug in his front yard and found the treasure and wasn't he himself and all the others the better for it.
And if he hasn't given it all away we might share a bit with them.
10.21.2013
The Radical Priest on Luke 18:1-8
(Parable of the Persistent Widow)
Now most of
my brethren
will preach
that the lesson of
the text is
to be persistent in prayer.
To pray unceasingly
as St. Paul puts it.
However,
the problem I
have with this
message is
by extension
the unjust judge
is God.
Whom we
can badger
anything out of
Him
if we are
relentless in
our petitions.
Allow me
to turn the tables
on this parable.
God is the
widow.
Constantly
pleading
to the point of
being pushy
to get us
to see His way
is the best way.
And I can see
by the look in
some of your eyes
you sense
the implications
of this.
WE ARE THE UNJUST JUDGE!
Do we
don't care
what God thinks?
Do we
ignore
what God is pleading with
us about?
Do we worry
about
God upsetting
our apple cart
or worse?
(Aside: I never before noticed
in the text
that judge was afraid
of physical harm
by his continual
rejecting of her claims.)
So the
message I have for
you this
Sabbath
is this:
Yes,
be faithful in prayer.
Pray in the Spirit.
Pray in love and truth
and unceasingly.
But also
listen to
and contemplate
on the Father's
continual
prayers for you.
Now most of
my brethren
will preach
that the lesson of
the text is
to be persistent in prayer.
To pray unceasingly
as St. Paul puts it.
However,
the problem I
have with this
message is
by extension
the unjust judge
is God.
Whom we
can badger
anything out of
Him
if we are
relentless in
our petitions.
Allow me
to turn the tables
on this parable.
God is the
widow.
Constantly
pleading
to the point of
being pushy
to get us
to see His way
is the best way.
And I can see
by the look in
some of your eyes
you sense
the implications
of this.
WE ARE THE UNJUST JUDGE!
Do we
don't care
what God thinks?
Do we
ignore
what God is pleading with
us about?
Do we worry
about
God upsetting
our apple cart
or worse?
(Aside: I never before noticed
in the text
that judge was afraid
of physical harm
by his continual
rejecting of her claims.)
So the
message I have for
you this
Sabbath
is this:
Yes,
be faithful in prayer.
Pray in the Spirit.
Pray in love and truth
and unceasingly.
But also
listen to
and contemplate
on the Father's
continual
prayers for you.
Buddha on Matthew 6:25-34
An old farmer went to the Buddha
seeking help for his problems.
First, he had professional problems.
In his part of the world,
farming was extremely difficult
and his work completely vulnerable to weather.
Even though he loved his wife,
there were certain things
about her he wanted to change.
Similarly, he loved his children,
but they weren’t evolving
the way he had hoped and anticipated.
Listening carefully
as the man explained his frustrations with life,
the Buddha responded,
“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.”
“What do you mean?”
questioned the farmer.
“You’re a highly regarded great teacher
who has insight into all of life’s problems.”
“All human beings have eighty-three problems,”
the Buddha explained.
“A few problems may go away,
but soon enough others will arise.
So we’ll always have eighty-three problems.”
The farmer, both indignant and frustrated, asked,
“So what good is all of your teaching?”
To which the Buddha replied,
“My teaching can’t help with the eighty-three problems,
but perhaps it can help with the eighty-fourth problem.”
“What’s that?” the farmer asked with great curiosity.
“The eighty-fourth problem is that
we don’t want to have any problems.”
“Hallowed be”
(a meditation on each word(s)
of the Lord's prayer)
of the Lord's prayer)
I
Lord,
when I'm in a
church
that is in
more awe
of the preacher
than You,
I believe
I hear them
pray:
“...hollowed be thy Name”
II
The Beauty of His Holiness
You are
holy.
Compassionate before a person sins,
Compassionate after a person has sinned,
and
mighty in compassion
to give all creatures according to their need.
Merciful, that humankind may not be distressed;
Gracious if humankind is already in distress.
You are
slow to anger;
plenteous in mercy;
speaking in truth;
keeping mercy unto thousands;
forgiving
iniquity;
transgression;
and sin;
and pardoning
because
You are
holy.
10.13.2013
"in Heaven"
(a meditation on each word(s) of the Lord's prayer)
Your eternal address.
You
once sublet
the place
to that
nice couple
You created.
Unfortunately,
You had to
evict them
because they
broke
the
Lease.
And for
a long time
you let
the place go vacant.
Then
You decided
to
advertise
Kingdom Properties.
First
the prophets.
Then
Your Son.
Telling
all who
would listen
about
the new terms
of the Lease. 1
And revealing to people
the new name of the estate --
Graceland.
Note 1 - John 1:17
"Who Art"
(a meditation on each word(s) of the Lord's prayer)
I
A Mystery.
All
of the modern
versions of
the Book
have dropped
this line,
so why
do we pray
as if
Jesus
proclaimed
the Good News
in
Old English?
II
Jehovah-Shammah
"You are"
Jesus insists.
No ancestor
worship
of
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob.
You
are
the God
of the living.
You are
Presence.
Benediction
Rabindranath Tagore
Bless this little heart,
this white soul that has won the kiss of
heaven for our earth.
He loves the light of the sun,
he loves the sight of his
mother's face.
He has not learned to despise the dust,
and to hanker after gold.
Clasp him to your heart and bless him.
He has come into this land of an hundred cross-roads.
I know not how he chose you from the crowd, came to your door,
and grasped your hand to ask his way.
He will follow you, laughing while talking,
and not a doubt in his heart.
Keep his trust, lead him straight and bless him.
Lay your hand on his head, and pray that though the waves
underneath grow threatening, yet the breath from above may come
and fill his sails and waft him to the heaven of peace.
Forget him not in your hurry,
let him come to your heart and
bless him.
10.06.2013
Father
(meditation on each word(s) of the Lord's prayer)
You love us
unconditionally.
You desire
relationship.
Yet,
You allow us to wander
away.
No Amber alert.
No pictures on a milk carton.
Just
the confidence
that Your children will
repent their sins
and understand
there is no place like Home.
Meal Blessing
(From a prayer book)
Blessed are you, Father
who gives us
our daily bread.
Blessed is your only begotten Son,
who continually feeds us
with the word of life.
Blessed is the Holy Spirit,
who brings us together
at this table of love.
Blessed be God
now and forever.
Amen.
9.30.2013
Avarice and Usury and Precaution
When the accumulation of wealth
is no longer of high social importance,
there will be great changes in the code of morals.
We shall be able to rid ourselves
of many of the pseudo-moral principles
which have hag-ridden us for two hundred years,
by which we have exalted
some of the most distasteful of human qualities
into the position of the highest virtues.
We shall be able to afford
to dare to assess the money-motive
at its true value.
The love of money as a possession —
as distinguished from the love of money
as a means to the enjoyments and realities of life —
will be recognized for what it is,
a somewhat disgusting morbidity,
one of those semi-criminal,
semi-pathological propensities
which one hands over with a shudder
to the specialists in mental disease.
But beware!
The time for all this is not yet.
For at least another hundred years
we must pretend to ourselves
and to everyone
that fair is foul
and foul is fair;
for foul is useful and fair is not.
Avarice and usury and precaution
must be our gods for a little longer still.
For only they can lead us out of the tunnel of economic necessity into daylight.
John Maynard Keynes (1931)
The Radical Priest on Luke 16:19-31
Sometimes,
when I think of the afterlife
the question I have is:
“Will it be much different than now?”
(In other words: on earth as it is heaven (really?))
Consider this as
we read this parable of the
one percenter.
Does his world view change
with fires of Hades
lapping him?
To start, he still treats
those in power
with respect.
(Father Abraham)
And as usual,
the conversation
of the powerful turns to
how the 99ers can do their will.
(Send Lazarus to cool my tongue)
Next, there we hear
of a chasm.
Except the tables are turned.
The earthly who
amassed and stockpiled
the gains of the economy
and separated themselves
from the rest of society
now live in a gated community
that eternally faces an abyss.
(A physical and spiritual one)
And the last aspect of
this parable is the benefit
of those who have
power and influence:
inside information.
He pleads with
Father Abraham
to let his family know
to tell them
his story
of Breaking Bad
by sending Lazarus.
And Abraham
tells him,
“They just need to listen
to Moses and the Prophets.
They told the truth."
And the Patriarch concludes:
"Anyway, remember
where you came from!
Do you really think
Lazarus would be able to
ring your door bell?"
The Powwow at the End of the World
BY SHERMAN ALEXIE
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after an Indian woman puts her shoulder to the Grand Coulee Dam
and topples it.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after the floodwaters burst each successive dam
downriver from the Grand Coulee.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after the floodwaters find their way to the mouth of the Columbia River
as it enters the Pacific and causes all of it to rise.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after the first drop of floodwater is swallowed
by that salmon waiting in the Pacific.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after that salmon swims upstream, through the mouth of the Columbia
and then past the flooded cities, broken dams and abandoned reactors
of Hanford.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after that salmon swims through the mouth of the Spokane River
as it meets the Columbia, then upstream, until it arrives
in the shallows of a secret bay on the reservation where I wait alone.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after that salmon leaps into the night air above the water, throws
a lightning bolt at the brush near my feet, and starts the fire
which will lead all of the lost Indians home.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
after we Indians have gathered around the fire with that salmon
who has three stories it must tell before sunrise:
one story will teach us how to pray;
another story will make us laugh for hours;
the third story will give us reason to dance.
I am told by many of you that I must forgive and so I shall
when I am dancing with my tribe
during the powwow at the end of the world.
9.22.2013
A Sham Argument
Someone will say: "You have faith, I have works." (Vs 18)
This unidentified person
has wasted so much time
for Christians.
Debating whether
the gift of
eternal life rests on
faith,
works,
or both.
Yes,
God grants
all who believe
in the saving power
of the Cross
and Resurrection
eternal life.
But
Jesus gives
to all
who are
born from above,
born again,
saved,
slain in the Lamb
another gift.
The gift of the Holy Spirit.
And that gift
working
in a transformed life
will be evidence of
those who
will receive the
reward of
eternal life.
The sola fide
people
give the impression
that works
are a
checklist to go to heaven.
Instead, it is
God
(in the third person of the Trinity)
working
through
your weaknesses
so you
can do His will
on earth.
The works alone assembly
(a much smaller crowd)
work on their projects
as if they were going submit
their resume
to the Almighty.
All this talk
of work
and deeds
is making me tired.
Lord,
Thank you for
Your yoke is light.
Walk with me
the rest of
my days
as I do Your will.
Today on earth
and for eternity
in Paradise. Amen.
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