7.28.2013

Jerusalem


Yehuda Amichai (1959)

On a roof in the Old City
Laundry hanging in the late afternoon sunlight:
The white sheet of a woman who is my enemy,
The towel of a man who is my enemy,
To wipe off the sweat of his brow

In the sky of the Old City
A kite.
At the other end of the string,
A child
I can’t see
because of the wall.

We have put up many flags
They have put up many flags
To make us think that they’re happy
To make them think that we’re happy.

An Arab Shepherd

Yehuda Amichai (1980)

An Arab shepherd is searching for his goat on Mount Zion
And on the opposite mountain I am searching.
For my little boy
An Arab shepherd and a Jewish father
Both in their temporary failure…

Afterwards we found them among the bushes
And our voices came back inside us, laughing and crying
Searching for a goat or a son
Has always been the beginning
of a new religion in these mountains.

7.21.2013

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins


Soren Kierkegaard

The scribes and Pharisees
soon discovered her guilt,
which was indeed easy
since her sin was open.

They also discovered
a new sin,
one of which 
they made themselves guilty,
when they artfully laid snares 
for the Lord.

But Jesus bowed down
and wrote with His finger
upon the ground.

Why,
did He bow down?
I wonder.

Why, 
did he write  
with His finger
upon the ground?
I wonder.

Did He sit there
like a judge
who listens attentively
to the story of the accusers
and then
jots down the principal points
so he may not forget them,
and may judge strictly.

Was the woman's guilt 
the only thing 
noted by the Lord?

Or
did He write it down
in order to erase it
and forget it?

There stood the sinner,
surrounded perhaps by
those more guilty,
who loudly accused her.

But Love bowed down
and did not hear 
the accusation,
which passed over His head
into the air.

He wrote with His finger
in order to blot out
what He himself knew.

For sin discovers 
a multitude of sins
but love covers
the multitude of sins.

For by one word
from the Master
the Pharisees and the scribes
were struck dumb.

There was no longer 
an accuser.
No one who condemned her.

But Jesus said to her,
"Neither do I condemn you,
go and sin no more."

For the punishment of sins
breeds new sins
but love covers
a multitude of sins.

7.14.2013

The Greatest Question


In the Synoptics,
the faithful ask
Jesus:
"What are the greatest commands
God has given?"

And in a rare instance,
He responds with a direct answer:
"Love God with all your being
and love neighbor as yourself."

In Matthew, 
He concludes by saying:
"The Law and 
the words of the Prophets
all hang on this."

In Mark,
the questioner
whole-heartedly
agrees with Him
and Jesus states
he is not far
from the Kingdom of God.

In Luke,
the lawyer
follows up
with a question about 
the meaning of neighbor.
Jesus responds with
a story we all know.

But in John,
after the Cross
and
after the Tomb,
the tables are turned.

It is Christ asking 
the question repeatedly.
Calling you by name 
and asking
the greatest question:
"Do you love Me?"

7.07.2013

God goes subprime


I always thought Church of the Morally Bankrupt God
would be a great name for a payday loan shop.

Rule Number One

I

God waited for Abraham
to finish with
his pleading for Sodom.

And as He heard
his repeated requests,
He wished mortals
knew the 
number one rule of the gods:
A god got to do
what a god got to do.

II
God waited for the scribes
and other disciples
to finish with
their excuses.

And as He heard
their explanations,
He wished mortals
knew the 
number one rule of the gods:
A god got to do
what a god got to do.

6.30.2013

Independence Day Manifesto

The stakes are too great-
an America gone mad with materialism, 
a police-state America, 
a sexless and soulless America 
prepared to battle the world 
in defense of a false image of its authority. 

Not the wild and beautiful America
of the comrades of Walt Whitman, 
not the historic America 
of William Blake and Henry David Thoreau 
where the spiritual independence of each individual was an America, 
a universe, 
more huge and awesome than 
all the abstract bureaucracies and authoritative officialdoms 
of the world combined.

Only those who have entered the world of spirit 
know what a vast laugh there is 
in the illusory appearance of worldly authority. 
And all men at one time or other enter that Spirit, 
whether in life or death.

How many hypocrites are there in America? 
How many trembling lambs, fearful of discovery? 
What authority have we set up over ourselves, 
that we are not as we are? 
Who shall prohibit an art from being published to the world? 
What conspirators have power to determine our mode of consciousness, 
our sexual enjoyments, our different labors and our loves? 
What fiends determine our wars?

When will we discover an America
that will not deny its own God? 
Who takes up 
arms, money, police, and a million hands 
to murder the consciousness of God? 

Who spits in the beautiful face of poetry 
which sings of the glory of God 
and weeps in the dust of the world?

Alan Ginsberg, 2000

Amber Alert



Sometimes the Church
Sometimes the World
are like the Psalmist.

When some tragedy occurs
they ask the Other,
"Where were You?"

And when we discern
the response
 is the same 
as what
Mary and Joseph heard,
“I AM where I AM 
supposed to be.” 

So,
the quandary arises: 
Do we
like Mary place
the answer in our hearts
or silently wonder 
as Joseph:
“What is Your
Father’s business?”

6.23.2013

The Impossible Takes a Little Longer




We hear the words,
and wonder
if Jesus is
exaggerating
to make His point.

And afterwards
we browse
the bulletin board
of the world
and read of 
who 
makes us
wonder
if we have
any faith
at all.


6.16.2013

The Other Guy


On the TV
Jesus said to Peter,
"I've come to bring you new life."
And Peter replied,
"Who says I need one?"

And we 
who drag
our baggage
around
each day, 
hear the gospel warning:
"forgiven little
loves little"
and think 
He is talking 
to someone else.

6.09.2013

867-5309

The President said,
“All we are doing
is making a log  
of your 
phone calls.”

And all of us 
terrorists
breathed
 a sigh
of relief.

We’re glad 
our cover
hasn't been blown,
as we
 gossip 
about some poor soul.

Talk to our mistresses
and tell the beloved
you have to
 work late tonight.

Get a hot stock tip
from your brother-in-law
at Goldmans.

Thank God
that
our freedoms
and privacy
are not being harmed.

While the 
recording angels
scribble frantically 
in the 
Book of Life.

6.02.2013

Christian President

"I wish we had a Christian President,"
she said.

"Yes," I replied.

"Imagine weapons 
turned into
ploughshares.

Our debts
cancelled
for a fresh start.

The blind 
lame and
sick
won't worry 
about
pre-existing conditions.

And a new beginning
of the last 
becoming
 first."

"No, no, no," she said.

"All I meant,
 he would go to church every 
Sunday."

5.26.2013

Kill the Buddha


The Buddhists have a saying:
“If the Buddha approaches you
on the road,
Kill him.
Because you are seeing the
Buddha
you have made
in your own image.”

When the Christ
approaches us 
on the road,
we have three
options.

We can run away
as the disciples
in the garden.

We can maim
and waylay
Him on the 
side of the road,
as in the traveler story
He told.

Or we can
discern who He is,
stop,
leave
the path we’re on,
and
Follow Him.

5.19.2013

The First Pentecost




On this spring Sabbath,
we wear the red,
feel the breeze,
and imagine 
the Spirit
blowing through
the house
and 
setting us afire
as it happened
to the followers
in Jerusalem.


But didn't the 
first Pentecost 
 occur,
when
the Advocate
 descended 
on a
carpenter's son
to reveal
what it means
to walk 
in the
Spirit?



5.12.2013

MOTHER PICKING PRODUCE


Richard Blanco

She scratches the oranges then smells the peel,
presses an avocado just enough to judge its ripeness,
polishes the Macintoshes searching for bruises.

She selects with hands that have thickened, fingers
that have swollen with history around the white gold
of a wedding ring she now wears as a widow.

Unlike the archived photos of young, slender digits
captive around black and white orange blossoms,
her spotted hands now reaching into the colors.

I see all the folklore of her childhood, the fields,
the fruit she once picked from the very tree,
the wiry roots she pulled out of the very ground.

And now, among the collapsed boxes of yucca,
through crumbling pyramids of golden mangos,
she moves with the same instinct and skill.

This is how she survives death and her son,
on these humble duties that will never change,
on those habits of living which keep a life a life.

She holds up red grapes to ask me what I think,
and what I think is this, a new poem about her--
the grapes look like dusty rubies in her hands,

what I say is this: they look sweet, very sweet.

Eyes Wide Shut



How could he miss it?

The miracles.
The teachings.
The answers He gave.

How could he not recognize
who was in his midst?

As we drive by the homeless.
Criticize the poor.
Fill our prisons to excess.

5.05.2013

A Short Meditation on Giving



I understand
the motive
of keeping
the left hand
in the dark
of what the
right hand is doing.

All things done
for the glory of God
and all that good
Sunday School stuff.

But there is 
one more point
to be made 
of what happens
if silence is broken
on one's charity.

Half the assholes 
in the world 
will scream,
"Why did you give it to them?"

And the rest 
will whine
"Why didn't you give it to me?"

4.29.2013

Christian Zen


“All the way to heaven is heaven, 

because Jesus said, "I am the way.” 
 St. Catherine of Siena

4.28.2013

A Tough Crowd


Sometimes he thought,
I'm like an aging rock star,
where the fans don't want
to hear my latest songs.

"Just give us the hits,”
they scream.

As he approaches the assembly,
he decides
on what his Sabbath 
playlist is.

He begins,
striking a chord to
a faithful 
that learned by heart 
the Sunday School equation
of Easter
divided by Christmas
yields Life Eternal.

4.21.2013

Big Blind


I'm sure
there are
a lot of 
people
thinking:
"What were
those people
thinking?"

Placing 
schools,
old folks' homes,
houses
right next
to a plant.

Gambling 
with their lives.

Especially
when they
can't see the

This Week (Boston/Baghdad)


The Iraqi 
police sergeant
wished
he had the 
luck that
occurred
this week
in the Empire.

A brother
ran over
by his sibling
in a car theft.

The boy
later found 
in a boat
in a water town.

And as he looked
at his current 
he sighed
his request
“Bless those you
have received in 
Paradise.
And make me 
an instrument 
of your
Justice.”

4.14.2013

Bread of Life



The child asked,
"Why is the bread so dry?"

 I told her the ancient story
of a people who had 
to rush out of the
land of slavery.

They couldn't wait to 
for the baked bread
to rise.

So they prepared 
their bread
without yeast.

So when we 
eat the bread
we remember
the people
God rescued.

Then I told her
another story.
A tale of a lifetime ago.

When there was 
no SPF-50
no carcinomas
where the beach was
a place
where some got
the glow of a tan
and some suffered
the pain of sunburn.

And some of us
who endured the hurt
would strip the skin
and taste it.

Seasoned with
sand
and salted with 
the ocean
and sweat.

And when we
got home,
we bathe
and lie in our
beds  as still
as we could manage.

Every now and then
we would
spot a piece
of dead washed
flesh.

We placed it
our mouths
and  recall
the taste of
the wafer
on Sunday morning.

And the words
the priest said,
"This is My flesh.
Do this in remembrance of Me."

4.08.2013

Gasp


(When is the last time you said, "I love You."?)

Two pews behind me
I heard 
her gasp,
"My God, my God,
I love You!
My God,
I love You!"

And her prayer,
disturbed
the equilibrium of
my relationship
with the
Other.

A content,
comfortable 
bond
between us.

No passion.
Words not
spoken
but 
believed to be
understood.

O, 
unembarrassed
God 
with
arms wide open
on the cross
and
when we meet.

Embrace
my heart.
And may
my prayers always
begin:
"My God, my God,
I love You!
My God,
I love You!"

4.01.2013

Three Men on the Hill


(Good Friday)
(Matthew 27:38, Mark 15:27-28, Luke 23:33, John 19:18)

Three men went up the hill
to receive what
the Law 
had dealt them.

When they reached
the top,
the Law
applied their
 pain bombs
upon them.
Then
 left them
hanging
on their trees
to die.

And the one
on the
left
was like
any of us.

And when
 he stared at
the cross
next to him
and saw 
Truth,
he 
(like any of us)
 screamed,
"GET ME THE FUCK 
OFF THIS CROSS!"

But the one
on the
right
was a 
con-man.

And when
 he stared at
the cross
next to him
and saw 
Truth,
he
knew 
exactly
what it was.

The pure
200-proof
incorruptible
substance
he could not
fool or deceive.

So,
for the first time
in his life,
he spoke 
from his 
heart
and not his lips,
and said,
"Take me with You."

3.24.2013

Rock of Ages





O Lord!
If we could 
be your disciples!

We would struggle
against those
who want to
use us
in their cause of
justice.

We would praise You
as a brother -
the mistakenly, rejected 
cornerstone.

Use us.

Transform 
the rock
of Easter
into an 
altar in 
Your Kingdom. 


3.16.2013

Good Friday Meditation



Which is more
incredible?

That we
murdered 
God?

Or

He
dropped 
the charges
against us?

3.10.2013

No Experience Required



In His economy 
there are
always
these rehires.

And with Him
there 
is no
such thing as a
probation period.

Full pay
and
benefits
from
day one.

And we
who never left
the reservation,
understand
this principle.

Although
like the eldest son
we
silently long 
for a
closed shop.

3.04.2013

Reflection on the Beatitudes



Blessed are the poor in spirit.
    Lord, break my spirit.

Blessed are those who mourn.
    Lord, forgive my sins, 
that cause pain to You and others

Blessed are the meek.
    Lord, I need to take myself 
less seriously, 
and 
You more seriously.
  
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
    Lord, help me avoid the temptation of indifference.
  
Blessed are the merciful.
    Lord, may the grace you grant me, 
be shared with all.

Blessed are the pure in heart.
    Lord, mold me into a person of integrity. 

Blessed are the peacemakers.
    Lord, give me the wisdom to know Your way.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness.
    Lord, give me courage when I am afraid. 

2.24.2013

It is often easier to fight for a principle than to live up to it (Wisdom 2)


12: "Let us lie in wait for the righteous man, because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions; he reproaches us for sins against the law, and accuses us of sins against our training. 13: He professes to have knowledge of God, and calls himself a child of the Lord. 14: He became to us a reproof of our thoughts; 15: the very sight of him is a burden to us, because his manner of life is unlike that of others, and his ways are strange. 16: We are considered by him as something base, and he avoids our ways as unclean; he calls the last end of the righteous happy, and boasts that God is his father. 17: Let us see if his words are true, and let us test what will happen at the end of his life; 18: for if the righteous man is God's son, he will help him, and will deliver him from the hand of his adversaries. 19: Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and make trial of his forbearance. 20: Let us condemn him to a shameful death, for, according to what he says, he will be protected."  Book of Wisdom 2:12-20


How can I hear
this inconvenient Truth? 

Who says my way
is not the Way He taught?

Who says the those
who do not take
personal responsibility
will be experience His joy?

Who says He is 
the Messiah,
the Christ,
God’s Son?

There is only one solution: 
A public death.

We will test him
with pain and derision
and afterwards
clean up
by placing Him
in a tomb
that God only knows 
its location. 

2.17.2013

Meditation on Matthew 6:12


And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive them that trespass against us. 
Anglican Book of Common Prayer, 1662

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Matthew 6:12 (KJV)

Forgive us our trespasses,
Sounds like we wandered
on someone's
property.
"Oh, my bad"


As we forgive them that trespass against us.
As we tell others
to get off our front lawn.

But we live in
a debt ridden
world.

A world of
In God we trust
all others pay cash.
A world of big winners
in their swimming pools
and losers
drowning in their underwater
mortgages.

Imagine in
corporate worship
asking
God
and
each other
to forget the debts
between us.

To be forgiven
with all the paperwork
not to be put back
in the filing cabinet.

Not to placed in a box
to be sent to Iron Mountain.

But
watching it all
being placed in
the shredder
of grace.

A free fresh start.

2.10.2013

His First Sermon


Luke 4:14-30

He just said
eight words
in his first sermon.

But like any
first time preacher,
He couldn't leave
well enough alone.

And instead of
being invited
to Sunday dinner,
He had to escape
the wrath of
His hometown
congregation.

2.03.2013

Ash Wednesday (2013)


Ashes made
from the
palms
of a
short-lived
victory march

Are now
recycled
to mark
the heads
of those
who
long
for the
King's
return.

1.31.2013

Apparition


An eighty degree
afternoon
in January
should not be wasted.
I thought

And at the beach,
amongst the
Euros
still on vacation
and the pasty
white Canadians
I see
a Brazilian couple
walking in the surf.

And stamped
on her
gym shaped
bicep
was a tat
of the Madonna

Not  a Virgin
at the stable
Madonna.

Not a Mary
standing above
the votive candles
Madonna

But
a Madonna
who had a
I can't stand this anymore
expression.

My trance was broken
by  French kids
coming back from a swim
but not waking their
parents from their nap.

And down the beach
went
the couple
babbling in
a language
only they
could know.

1.21.2013

Wedding Crashers


(Wedding at Cana)
“Here's to alcohol: the cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems.”
Homer Simpson

I wonder 
if Mary had to
drag Jesus
to this affair.

And to make
it more 
tolerable
for Him
add the disciples 
to the guest list.

As the wedding
went on,
He watched
from His table,
the honored couple,
the happy families,
His date
dancing with 
Peter and Andrew,
He hears 
Mary come up
behind Him
and whisper,
“They have no wine.”

And in His
selfishness
He tells her
“That‘s not my problem.”

But His divinity
 sees the bigger
picture.

So the first 
miracle is recorded.

No shame
to the wedding
couple.

No blame
assigned
to the
uninvited
disciples.

1.13.2013

Thanks for forgetting


Psalm 103:12 NIV

If God is
omniscient
but
does not
remember
our
confessed
sins,
is He
omniscient?

I
guess
He
would say,
“My child,
there are
things
not worth
remembering.”

1.08.2013

7089


Mugshot -7089

I
wonder
why
someone
had to
scrawl
his death date
on the mug shot.

Was he
thinking
like
Pilate and Caiaphas
that
life would
return back
to the way
it was?

I love thee with a love I seemed to lose


Matthew 1-2/Luke1-2

Christmas
is a
season
of losing and
discovering.

Zechariah
lost his voice
arguing
with an angel.

He regains
his voice
filled with
the Holy Spirit.

Elizabeth
lost her
shame
of childlessness.

Her joy
is multiplied
when
meeting Mary
(and Jesus)

Joseph
decides to
lose Mary
quietly.

But through
a dream
he lets
Love
come to town
(and the world)

The Magi were
lost
despite following
the star.

After hearing
the Prophets,
they rediscovered
the star
that lead them
to the King.


May this
new year
reveal
the lost gifts
in your life.

12.30.2012

Psalm 11 Meditation


1. How can You say,
“It’s closing time.”?


2. Are you aware of all
the stupid that’s going on?



3. Honor and life are disposable.
What has value anymore?

4. From your heavenly suite
You see
the externals and internals
of us all.

5. You consider all of us.
The plumb line on the righteous

For the evil ones,
You rummage in Your tool box.

6. You will wield your hammer
of justice.
Your breath on them
will be sweet
but sear their skin.

7. May we remember that
You will sort this all out
(despite our vain attempts
of correction)

It's not the way that you say it



Jesus asked, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”
Luke 10:26
(Based on this video)


We asked a beautiful woman,
"If you could make a new law,
what would it be?"

She answered,
"I think that any laws
(there are in Constitution or in life,)
are already made.

I think that we should have,
a straight way to go
in our similar
or,
in our lives as is this.

For example, I'm a surfer,
and I think
that the best wave
that I can take
is the wave
that I wait for it.

So please do
our only law
that we can do.

Thank you Vegas!"

And Vegas
(and as well as ourselves)
wished
we could enter
her mind
of endless summer.

12.16.2012

Jesus Ruins Christmas!


David Wilcox 

Jesus ruins Christmas 
That's what the headlines said
"Jesus" in quotation marks
Cause then the man was dead

Jesus in the parking lot
talking to the poor
He gathered up a crowd of us
and he walked into that store

So Jesus stood in Bloomingdales
A rebel with a cause
He stepped up on the platform
Right next to Santa Claus

Jesus tore the wrappings
The presents on display
These boxes are all empty
They've always been that way

Now your eyes they can deceive you 
Let your soul look through this store
It's all shiny empty boxes
But I've come to bring you more

The presence that I offer is infinite joy
Free for the asking but you have to make your choice

Well, first came security
then came the police,
destroying private property,
disturbing the peace

They hauled him off in shackles
With billy clubs and guns
But when the cops saw the angry crowd
They said, "Let 'em have their fun"

They wrapped him up in ribbons
They dragged him through the mall
They lashed him to a Christmas tree
and they plugged it in the wall
With a strand of broken Christmas lights 
wrapped around his head

They had killed him off by Easter, but they could not keep him dead

Jesus Ruins Christmas, that's what the headlines said

Coming soon…


Every valley shall be raised up, 
every mountain and hill made low…
And the glory of the LORD will be revealed
Isaiah 40:4-5/Luke3:5-6


Revealed
in a manger
in parables
in the Bread
and the Cup.

In a prayer
on the cross
and
an empty tomb.


Not exactly
what we were
expecting
after hearing
this
Advent announcement
of
coming attractions.












12.08.2012

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
stuck in their
austerity pit.

The rich
on their private
beaches
claiming

And while
I was reading
a story
about
the
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?”

12.02.2012

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.

11.26.2012

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





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.