Getting Caught Up

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with ...the anxieties of life,”

 Luke 21:34a

I was gonna ask

Jesus

a question.

And before

I knocked

on His door,

I picked

up

the

newspaper

from the

welcome mat.

Started reading

about the

Greeks

stuck in their

austerity pit.

The rich

on their private

beaches

claiming

poverty.

And while

I was reading

a story

about

the

fiscal cliff,

I felt a

hand on my

shoulder.

“What do you want?”

He asked.

“Believe it or not,

I was gonna

ask You

the same question.”

Postscript

After reading the poem,

my fundamentalist friends

who have let

their

poetic licenses

expire

years ago,

ask me

the same question:

“Tell me,

why

would

an

omniscient

God

have the

newspaper

delivered?”

To become a person

(Adapted from a prayer book)

To become a person
one must
affirm
and
deny
himself.

One
involves
the other.

If we cling to
self-assertion
that’s
inglorious madness.

If we insist on
pure self-sacrifice
that’s
glorious madness.

We must
embrace
and
surrender
in
equal measures
to discover
our
full
humanity.
**Rufus Jones - 20th century Quaker

Silly Little Xmas Poem

Luke 2:1-21

Come to my party
behind the holiday inn.

We’re gonna  have
angels
animals
and
kings.

Come to my party
behind the holiday inn.

My mom
will tell you
the amazing story.

Come to my party
behind the holiday inn.

RSVP by
asking for the
manger.

What kind of actions of leaders do you think God blesses?

Psalm 106:3/ Psalm 118:9/Matthew 5:1-12

I suppose the answer is

an action

that serves

the common good

of all.

As the psalmist wrote:

“Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right.”

But can a God

who is uncompromising

in His love

of the world

and

His expectation

of His people

to return His love

with

all their being

bless

a political act

that requires a

dance of egos

agendas

and

the give and take of

compromise?

As the psalmist wrote,

“It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to trust in princes.”

O Lord,

on the mount

You told us

who were

to be blessed.

The meek.

Those seeking righteousness.

The pure of heart.

The peacemakers

and

the persecuted.

Help me

understand

the actions

of Your Kingdom.

The Bramble King

 

Parable of the Trees

Judges 9:7-15 NIV

The trees hoped

they could be

ruled

with honor

by the olive tree.

Or

with the sweetness

of good times

by the fig tree.

Or

comforted

by

the strength of

the vine.

But to

the olive tree,

the fig tree,

and

the vine,

governing

the forest

was

beneath them.

It was

effortless

for them

to produce

what

the world wanted.

But to

deal with

their community

with its

petty squabbles,

their

problems,

and

divisive

politics,

they worried

it would

sap all

their strength.

　

　

　

So,

after being rejected by

the olive tree,

the fig tree,

and

the vine,

the trees of the forest asked

the bramble

“Why should you be our leader?”

“First,”

the bramble said,

“Unlike

the olive tree,

the fig tree

and

the vine,

I produce nothing.

I must rely on your support.

“Next,

unlike

the olive tree,

the fig tree

and

the vine,

whose roots grow deep and stubborn,

my roots are shallow.

You must allow me to

compromise

so we can survive.”

“And finally,

unlike

the olive tree,

the fig tree

and

the vine,

you can

live under

my thorns.”

“And if push comes to shove,

let my branches

become the

tinder

to start

the fires of war.”

So began the reign

of the Bramble King.

　

Justice versus Mercy

2 Esdras 8:37-45 CEB

The angel said:

A farmer sows

many seeds

in the ground,

yet not all that

was sown

will take root

or be harvested.

So all that were

sown to the world

will not be saved.

Ezra replied:

If a seed does not come up

because of drought

or deluge

it perishes.

But Lord,

people are created by Your hands

and are made in Your image.

The question I ask is:

Have You made them

like the farmer’s seed?

Please, Lord!

Surely not!

Spare Your people!

Please have mercy

on Your own creation.

James, John and Bartimaeus

Mark 10:35-52 NIV

They drew close to Jesus

to make their request.

He shouted at Jesus

to make his request.

They drew close to Jesus

so the others couldn’t hear.

He shouted at Jesus

and didn’t care about those

trying to silence him.

They addressed Him

as Teacher.

He called Him

Son of David.

They asked their question

in confidence that it would be answered.

He asked only

to have mercy on him.

And Jesus asked the same question
to each of them:

“What do you want me to do for you?”

They asked for glory.

He asked for his sight.

Jesus answered James and John,

“Even though you will follow Me

till the end,

Remember:

The greatest of you must be a slave.”

Jesus answered Bartimaeus,

(one of the least of the town)

“Through your faith

you will see.”

James and John endured

the others

giving them the business.

And the crowd

at Jericho

wondered

what kind of business

Jesus was in.

“What do you want me to do for you?”

2 Samuel 21:1-14

I

What do you want me to do for you?”,

David asked the Gibeonites.

“Saul who has destroyed our people,

has left us homeless in the midst of famine.”

“So, what do you want me to do for you?”,

David asked again.

“Give us seven of Saul’s descendants.

We will kill them and leave their bodies

in the sight of Saul’s God.”

And David selected the men

and allowed them to be killed

and to be left hanging on a cross.

Rizpah

the mother of two of the men,

came up the hill.

Spread out a sackcloth for herself

and protected all the bodies

from the birds of the air

and the beasts of the land.

And while the festival of harvest

was going on below,

God saw what was happening

on the hill

and

answered the prayer of land

by opening a cloud

of His tears.

　

　

(continued)

　

　

　

II

Mark10:32-45

“What do you want me to do for you?”,

Jesus answered their request.

“We want to be next to You

when You come in glory.”

“Can you follow the path

I AM going to take?”

“No problem.

So how about those seats in the suite?”

“You will follow Me

this is true.

However those places

have already been reserved.”

And before the rest

of the followers

could start speculating

on who would have

those great seats

The Master said,

“The weak that move against

the powerful

in their own small ways,

They will see the Kingdom of God.”

Learning How to Kneel

On my knees,

beads in hand

for the last six weeks

reciting the old prayers

of childhood.

Sometimes

remembering things

forgotten.

Recalling people

of the past.

And

meditating on the

mysteries

of Jesus

and my life.

This should be

boring as hell,

repetitively stating

my status as a sinner.

Asking the Father

for my forgiveness

as well as others.

Requesting Mary

fifty-three times

to intercede for us sinners.

Instead when finished

I sense

an unrecognizable boredom,

not because I’ve practiced it

many times before,

because I haven’t;

not because it’s old hat,

but because it’s still too new.

Lot’s Daughters

Genesis 19:30-38(NIV)

 

If we could text,

We’re sure we would type:

WTF! WTF! WTF!

If any of our friends,

were still alive.

Mom’s dead.

Dad didn’t like the new town.

Instead we

headed for the hills.

and are living in a cave.

WTF! WTF! WTF!

And we’re wondering

about Dad’s uncle and aunt

Abram and Sarai.

It appears from here,

we three are the last of the tribe.

WTF! WTF! WTF!

And remembering how they

went on and on

how our tribe was going be

as numerous as the

grains of sand

at the beach.

Yeah, sis.

As many as the

stars in the sky.

WTF! WTF! WTF!

What were they thinking?

That Hagar scheme didn’t

work out at all.

And even though

Old Aunt Sarai is a hottie,

(Can’t imagine Abe pawning her off

to a king twice)

Two words: Ancient Sex

OMG! OMG! OMG!

Eew! Eew! Eew!

So sis,

It looks like it’s up to us.

Good thing we grabbed

the bottle

from Mom’s purse.

The double neat for Dad

and small one for us

I’ll go first

and you can follow me.

What?

No sloppy seconds for you!

WTF! WTF!! WTF!!!

OK

You can have him tomorrow.

OK sis,

A toast before we start.

May the one God of

Great Uncle Abram

and Great Aunt Sarai

remember us

in His book of Life.

Caveat Emptor

God said,

“Eat from the tree and

you will be separated from Me.”

The serpent said,

“You and Him will not be strangers.

There is no danger.

Eat from the tree and

you will be an image of God.”

And the greatest con job on Man

was a done deal.

Selling to someone

a perfect, precious thing

that they already possessed.

God doesn’t do Legal

When creating our part of the universe,

You spoke and it appeared.

Except for us -

You personally formed

and breathed life into us

using Yourself as the blueprint.

Then what is so strange to some

You didn’t patent us.

You gave us the code.

An open source of

just four proteins -

A and T

C and G.

And we began

to recreate and multiply.

No one exactly like You.

No one exactly like anyone else.

So we copyrighted ourselves

into separate tribes, nations and religions.

And You were transformed into a legend.

So to erase the ©

from the end of Your name,

You sent your Son

to tell us to remove

the labels we place on

God,

ourselves,

and

others

and to start living the abundant life

You always had wanted for us.

God Is In The Roses

Artist:  Rosanne Cash Link to song Album: Black Cadillac

God is in the roses
The petals and the thorns
Storms out on the oceans
The souls who will be born
And every drop of rain that falls
Falls for those who mourn
God is in the roses and the thorns

The sun is on the cemetery
Leaves are on the stones
There never was a place on earth
That felt so much like home
We're falling like the velvet petals
We're bleeding and we're torn
But God is in the roses and the thorns

I love you like a brother
A father and a son
It may not last forever and ever
But it never will be done
My whole world fits inside the moment
I saw you be reborn
God is in the roses
And that day was filled with roses
God is in the roses and the thorns

The Only Journey -M Morford

Sometimes I spend too much
And enjoy it too little,
And find myself with people
Who remind me who I never was
And I wonder what it takes
To find my own people
And walk my own way,
And I remember the term ‘spiritual path’
And wonder how I could ever believe
That I would walk a well-worn trail
And it would take me anywhere
Never explored, or left behind by others.
It’s a ‘spiritual journey’ I’m on
One never traveled before,
Never to be followed
And with an end beyond my knowing.

It’s a journey like no other;
With no final destination,
At least in the usual sense.
My guide posts may never be yours,
And your burdens might seem light,
Or unbearably heavy to me,
But they are never mine,
And I’ll never know the weight you carry in silence.

And our journeys end
With work undone,
Words unsaid,
And dreams abandoned
Like a stranger’s lost baggage.

We usually imagine
That the spiritual journey ends
When the physical one does
And it might,
But I’ve seen too many people
Stop growing in their souls.
Their spiritual vital signs flat-lined years ago,
But they keep breathing
And talk as if they have nothing left to learn
And I know there is nothing more dead
Than the one who keeps talking
When he has nothing left to say.

Communion

John 6:53-56

53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat

the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.

55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me,

and I in them.

Isaiah 55:2 (KJV)

… [L]et your soul delight itself in fatness.

Communion

The meal of bread and wine

transformed into

His body and blood

which changes us

from sinners to saints.

And we wonder

which is the bigger miracle:

Eating the flesh of Christ?

or

The Fallen are redeemed?

Prayer of Ruth

Lord,
In the midst of this ruthless world
we live in:

Help us bond with the disconsolate Naomi.

Hear our prayers for the homeward bound Orpah.

Bless today’s gleaning
so it is enough for our daily bread.

And may we never forget
our eternal kinsman-redeemer.
Amen.

Like Father, Like Son (Family Tradition)

Exodus 16/John 6:1-15; 22-42

Just like His Dad did
in the wilderness,
Out of love and compassion
The Son fed the people.

And just like His Dad did
in the wilderness.
The food came out of nothing
and from nowhere.

In the wilderness,
The Father’s manna was only good
for the day.
And all that was left of the Son’s meal
were baskets of bones and crumbs.

And just like His Dad
The Son learned as well
Miracles don’t generate faith
They get requests for encores.

“More food!”
The Chosen complained.
“More miracles!”
The Gentiles pleaded.

So the holy kitchens shut their doors.
The Select wandered around
Searching for the Land of Milk and Honey.
And the World wonders about
the Bread which satisfies every hunger.

Ruth 3:5

All that thou sayest unto me I will do.
Ruth 3:5

The story's strange.
For once, God wasn't talking,
Busy with some sacrifice or slaughter
Somewhere else. No plague, cloud, gushing water,
Dream, omen, whirlwind. Just two women, walking
The dusty road from Moab to Judea,
One, the younger, having told the other
(Not her own, but her dead husband's mother)
That she would never leave her. But they flee a
Famine for what, at first, seems something worse:
To come as widows to a crowded city,
To men’s appraising stares, and women’s pity.
Ruth, the pagan, heard Naomi curse,
Cringed and scanned the sky. No fire or stone
Came crashing downward. They were on their own.
Catherine Tufariello’s No Angel

Boaz Asleep

Boaz, overcome with weariness, by torchlight
made his pallet on the threshing floor
where all day he had worked, and now he slept
among the bushels of threshed wheat.

The old man owned wheatfields and barley,
and though he was rich, he was still fair-minded.
No filth soured the sweetness of his well.
No hot iron of torture whitened in his forge.

His beard was silver as a brook in April.
He bound sheaves without the strain of hate
or envy. He saw gleaners pass, and said,
Let handfuls of the fat ears fall to them.

The man's mind, clear of untoward feeling,
clothed itself in candor. He wore clean robes.
His heaped granaries spilled over always
toward the poor, no less than public fountains.

Boaz did well by his workers and by kinsmen.
He was generous, and moderate. Women held him
worthier than younger men, for youth is handsome,
but to him in his old age came greatness.

An old man, nearing his first source, may find
the timelessness beyond times of trouble.
And though fire burned in young men's eyes,
to Ruth the eyes of Boaz shone clear light.
**Victor Hugo (translator unknown)

What a Wonderful World

(Genesis 1)

The noise of the animals is a low roar.
The waves continually kissing the shore.
The breezes making the trees dance.
The humans are inventing romance.
There’s no such thing as zombies.
Creation is a just a big ole party.


The light of the stars are set on low.
The night creatures come late to the show.
The birds are singing with Eve.
God looks at all He achieved.
That’s the first Saturday night story.
Creation is a just a big ole party.

Asher Yatzar / Blessing for the Body

(Blessing upon going to the bathroom.)

Blessed are You, Adonai, source of all being,
who formed the human body with wisdom
and created within us various openings and closings.

It is known before Your throne of glory
that if one of these were to be open where it should be closed,
or closed where it should be opened,
we would not be able to stand before You and offer praise.

Blessed are You, Adonai,
healer of all flesh and worker of miracles!

Found at: Velveteen Rabbi

Percy Speaks While I am Doing Taxes

First of all, I do not want to be doing this.


Second of all, Percy does not want me
to be doing this.
Hanging over my desk like a besieged person
with a dull pencil and innumerable lists of numbers.

Outside the water is blue, the sky is clear,
the tide rising.

Percy, I say, this has to be done. This is essential.
I'll be finished eventually.

Keep me in your thoughts, he replies.
Just because I can't count to ten doesn't mean
I don't remember yesterday, or anticipate today.

I give you one more hour, then we step out
into the beautiful, money-deaf gift of the world
and run.

**Mary Oliver

Kindling

By Susan Osborn

If I am deaf and cannot hear
And if I am blind and cannot see
If I am mute and cannot speak
If all of my senses are numb and dull
Will I be saved?

Is the soul impoverished in any way?
Or does the utter silence ring
with the Truth?
Does Love care
what the words are
that lead us home?

God retreats

In the beginning
it was sudden --
the world

that wasn't
yet
all at once

emerging
out of formless void --
space

of the infinite
broken
into pieces -- God

retreating
to make way
for perfect human

imperfection...

**Rachel Tzvia Back

I've looked at love from both sides now (I really don't know love at all)

Love your neighbor
          Love your enemies ¹

If you love those who love you, ²
           Any run-of-the-mill sinner can do that. ³

Anyone who loves their son or daughter
                     more than Me
                                 is not worthy of Me. ⁴

Whoever has been forgiven little
            loves little. ⁵

Anyone who loves Me
               will obey my teaching.
                           My Father will love them,
                                 and we will come to them
                                          and make our home with them.⁶
References:
1- Matthew 5:43-44
2- Matthew 5:46
3- Matthew 5:47 (Message)
4- Matthew 10:37
5- Luke 7:47b
6- John 14:23

Sportscenter (At the Hunger Games)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness,
 faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Galatians 5:22-23
Coming up on Sportscenter …..

Porn defeated love
Misery destroyed joy
War handed peace another loss
Rush to judgment shut down patience

Selfishness beat kindness
Evil had its way with goodness
Indifference upset faithfulness
Gentleness was manhandled by violence
And Decadence laughed self-control off the field.

Later, our panel will discuss the question:
“When will these fruit of the Spirit teams
mature into winners?”
It’s all coming up next.

Blown by the Spirit… We Know Not Where

***Walter Brueggemann Prayers for a Privileged People


We hear the story of the wind at Pentecost,
Holy wind that dismantles what was,
Holy wind that evokes what is to be,
Holy wind that overrides barriers and causes communication,
Holy wind that signals your rule even among us.

We are dazzled, but then – reverting to type -
We wonder how to harness the wind,
how to manage the wind by our technology,
how to turn the wind to our usefulness,
how to make ourselves managers of the wind

Partly we do not believe such an odd tale
because we are not religious freaks;
Partly we resist such a story,
because it surges beyond our categories;
Partly we had imagined you to be more ordered
and reliable than that.

So we listen, depart, and return to our ordered existence:
we depart with only a little curiosity
But not yielding;
we return to how it was before,
unconvinced but wistful, slightly praying for wind,
craving for newness,
wishing to have it all available to us.
We pray toward the wind and wait, unconvinced but wistful.

An Anxious World

An anxious world seeks moments of happiness
instead of a life of joy.

An anxious world desires an understandable calm
instead of a peace that surpasses understanding.

An anxious world can’t wait for the next big thing
instead of patiently enduring the situation at hand

An anxious world wants to destroy those who disagree
instead of being kind to the ungrateful and wicked. (Luke 6:35)

An anxious world anticipates integrity to be corrupted
instead of goodness as our unblemished standard.

An anxious world searches everywhere for answers
instead of being true to the ones taught by the Master.

An anxious world believes might makes right
instead of a gentleness that brings righteousness.

An anxious world is chained in excess
instead of being free in disciplines
of prayer, charity and worship.

O anxious world!
Abandon what the world is selling.
Embrace what the Lord has given -
The Holy Spirit.

Prodigal

And after it rains
There's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black
It's not that the colors aren't there
It's just imagination they lack
Everything's the same
Back in my little town
**Paul Simon

Luke 4:16-30

Oh Jesus!
You can have a baptism.
like no other.
Deal with devil
on your terms.
Heal the
troubled, bleeding and hurting.

But back home
You’re…
The carpenter’s kid.
The undiscipled Rabbi.
None of the other kids
are like You.

You became like the prodigal.
Left your town behind
and
began to reveal who God is.

Then came home
to
a people who
wanted to have a feast and celebrate.
Bring us the Lamb and kill it.
For His own good.
(and ours as well)

Hell

By Billy Collins
I have a feeling that it is much worse
than shopping for a mattress at a mall,
of greater duration without question,
and there is no random pitch forking here,
no licking flames to fear,
only this cavernous store with its maze of bedding.

Yet wandering past the jovial kings,
the more sensible queens,
and the cheerless singles
no scarlet sheet will ever cover,

I am thinking of a passage from the Inferno
which I could fully bring to mind
and recite in English or even Italian

if the salesman who has been following us—
a crumpled pack of Newports
visible in the pocket of his short sleeve shirt—
would stop insisting for a moment
that we test this one, then this softer one,

which we do by lying down side by side,
arms rigid, figures on a tomb,
powerless to imagine what it would be like
to sleep or love this way
under the punishing rows of fluorescent lights,
which Dante might have included
had he been able to lie on his back between us here today.

“If I confide my secrets to you in a bar…”

Omar Khayyam
Rubaiyat (262)

If I confide my secrets
to you in a bar,
it is far better than to pray
without you in
a house of worship.

You are the alpha and omega;
without you everything is nothing.
If you wish, you can
sentence us to hell,
and if you wish, you can
decide to cherish us.

Translated by Juan Cole

Remove the chains

Mark 5

Set him free

from his madness.

Hear his plea.

Speak the word.

Remove the chains

and

set him free.

　

Set her free

from her disease.

Feel her faith,

Locate the touch.

Remove the chains

and

set her free.

 

 

 

I am so used to my chains.

Comfortable but binding.

I have no need to change.

There’s no reason to cry out in distress.

or care about anybody else’s shackles.

 

 

I don’t have to lunge

for the hem of His garment

here in the land of the free.

I Hear the Rolling Thunder

Mark 4:35-41

If it’s true that the gods do not sleep,

perhaps it was Jesus’ most fully human condition.

Remembering Eve, Abraham and Israel

Dreaming of angels, Abba and peace

A blessed rest after doing His Father’s will.

 

 

But in the midst of Nirvana

He was hijacked to

the world He created.

Drenched in water and the screams of

“Don’t you care if we drown?”

Maybe

He thought

He was having His first nightmare.

So He played the hero.

He spoke to the cosmic snooze button.

Calmed the wind.

Stopped the waves.

And then

mumbled to the crew

before going back to sleep:

“Why so little faith,

when you’re traveling with the King?”

Spirit Twins ** Henri Nouwen

Spirit Twins ** Henri Nouwen
Two babies are in uterus confined to the wall of their mother’s womb, and they are having a conversation. For the sake of clarity we’ll call these twins Soul and Spirit.

Spirit says to Soul, “I know you are going to find this difficult to accept, but I truly believe there is life after birth.”

Soul responds, “Don’t be ridiculous. Look around you. This is all there is. Why must you always be thinking about something beyond this reality? Accept your lot in life. Make yourself comfortable and forget about all this life-after-birth nonsense.”

Spirit quiets down for a while, but her inner voice won’t allow her to remain silent any longer. “Soul, now don’t get mad, but I have something else to say. I also believe that there is a Mother.”

“A Mother!” Soul guffaws. “How can you be so absurd? You’ve never seen a Mother. Why can’t you accept that this is all there is? The idea of a Mother is crazy. You are here alone with me. This is your reality. Now grab hold of that cord. Go into your corner and stop being so silly. Trust me, there is no Mother.”

Spirit reluctantly stops her conversation with Soul, but her restlessness soon gets the better of her. “Soul,” she implores, “please listen without rejecting my idea. Somehow I think that those constant pressures we both feel, those movements that make us so uncomfortable at times, that continual repositioning and all of that closing in that seems to be taking place as we keep growing, is getting us ready for a place of glowing light, and we will experience it very soon.”

“Now I know you are absolutely insane,” replies Soul. “All you’ve ever known is darkness. You’ve never seen the light. How can you even contemplate such an idea? Those movements and pressures you feel are your reality. You are a distinct separate being. This is your journey and you’re on your own. Darkness and pressures and a closed-in feeling are what life is all about. You’ll have to fight it as long as you live. Now grab your cord and please stay still.

Spirit relaxes for a while, but finally she can contain herself no longer. “Soul, I have only one more thing to say, and then I’ll never bother you again.”

“Go ahead,” Soul responds impatiently.

“I believe all of these pressures and all of this discomfort is not only going to bring us to a new celestial light, but when we experience it, we are going to meet Mother face-to-face and know an ecstasy that is beyond anything we have ever experienced up until now.”

“You really are crazy, Spirit. Now I’m truly convinced of it.”

　

Our trust in the high-heaped table

Matthew VIII,28 ff.

Rabbi, we Gadarenes
Are not ascetics; we are fond of wealth and possessions.
Love, as You call it, we obviate by means
Of the planned release of aggressions.

We have deep faith in prosperity.
Soon, it is hoped, we will reach our full potential.
In the light of our gross product, the practice of charity
Is palpably non-essential.

It is true that we go insane;
That for no good reason we are possessed by devils;
That we suffer, despite the amenities which obtain
At all but the lowest levels.

We shall not, however, resign
Our trust in the high-heaped table and the full trough.
If You cannot cure us without destroying our swine,
We had rather You shoved off.

Richard Wilbur

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.
Perhaps I am even afraid of my strength,

and turn it against myself, thus making myself weak.
Making myself secure. Making myself guilty.
Perhaps I am most afraid of the strength of God in me.
Perhaps I would rather be guilty and weak in myself,
than strong in Him whom I cannot understand.

- Thomas Merton