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
8.11.2012
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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