Testimony

Stephen Dunn (2012)

The Lord woke me in the middle of the night,

and there stood Jesus with a huge tray,

and the tray was heaped with cookies,

and He said, Stephen, have a cookie,

and that's when I knew for sure the Lord

is the real deal, the Man of all men,

because at that very moment

I was thinking of cookies, Vanilla Wafers

to be exact, and there were two

Vanilla Wafers in among the chocolate

chips and the lemon ices, and one

had a big S on it, and I knew it was for me,

and Jesus took it off the tray and put it

in my mouth, as if He were giving me

communication, or whatever they call it.

Then He said, Have another,

and I tell you I thought a long time before I

refused, because I knew it was a test

to see if I was a Christian, which means

a man like Christ, not a big ole hog.

Hands-off Policy

Robert Capon

 God still insists on running the world

 without running it at all. 

The question is put loud and clear: 

Why in God’s Name won’t You show up? 

And the response comes back 

as supremely unsatisfying as ever. 

To show up would be

 to come in your name, 

not Mine. 

No show, 

therefore. 

And, of course, 

no answer.

Corporate

Numbers 20:1-13/ Matthew 16:13-23 / Isaiah 55:8-9

The underlings protested

to Moses

about their circumstances.

Specifically,

the lack of food

and drink.

So, Moses stepped out

to talk it over with 

his Boss,

and returned

with His instructions.

And as Moses came back

to the assembly,

he became increasingly

fed up about

the situation.

He got on his podium,

he raised his voice,

and said,

"You want water!

HERE'S YOUR WATER!"

The ungrateful 

slurped it up

without a thank you.

And 

Moses received 

a memo from Corporate

stating his project

was suspended

indefinitely. 

II

The Boss

saw that 

Peter had 

management potential

and gave him the

keys to the Kingdom

and the powers of

loosening

and binding.

And then,

Jesus gave

the executive summary

of how it was all

going to go down,

complete with 

murder and

resurrection.

After hearing this,

the newly minted executive

said the words

a manager should never verbalize,

“Have you really thought this through?”

So after hearing this,

Corporate does

what Corporate does,

and shamed him

in front of his peers

for not being in favor 

of the Plan.

Daydream #852

Luke 12:13-21

Sometimes

I think I could

write

a best selling

self-help book.

It would be an

old-fashioned 

budget spreadsheet

with the categories

already filled in:

Love

Faith

Friends

Health

Generosity

Justice

Forgiveness

Change

Hope

And written 

to the

right

of each item is:

How much can I budget of this today?

Working title: Life Budget

But that can change 

if you come up with 

a big enough advance

and an endorsement

from Joel Osteen.

Loaves and Fishes

 David Whyte

This is not

the age of information.

This is not

the age of information.

Forget the news,

and the radio,

and the blurred screen.

This is the time

of loaves 

and fishes.

People are hungry

and one good word is bread

for a thousand.

Idiot Psalm 12

Scott Cairns

A psalm of Isaak, amid uncommon darkness

O Being both far distant and most near,
             O Lover embracing all unlovable, O Tender
             Tether binding us together, and binding, yea
             and tenderly, Your Person to ourselves,

Being both beyond our ken, and kindred, One
             whose dire energies invest such clay as ours
             with patent animation, O Secret One secreting
             life anew into our every tissue moribund,
             afresh unto our stale and stalling craft,

grant in this obscurity a little light.

help me.....

Mark 10:13-15

in trouble

in peace

in pain

in health

in the noise

in silence

in doubt

in faith

Father, 

help me

your child. 

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.

Love Covers a Multitude of Sins

Soren Kierkegaard

John 8:1-11 / 1 Peter 4:8

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.

The Greatest Question

Matthew 22:34-40 / Mark 12:28-34 / Luke 10:25-37 / 

John 21:15-17

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?"

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

Genesis 18:16-33

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

Matthew 8:18-22

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.

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

Luke 2:41-51 / Psalm 44:23-24

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?”

The Impossible Takes a Little Longer

Matthew 17:17-20

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 

a saint

who 

makes us

wonder

if we have

any faith

at all.

(h/t Naked Pastor)

The Other Guy

Luke 7:36-50

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.

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.

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."

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.

The First Pentecost

Luke 3:21-22 / Mark 1:9-12 / Gal 5:16

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?

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

John 14:7-9 / Mt 25:42-44

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.

A Short Meditation on Giving

Mt 6:1-4 / Luke 21:1-4

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?"

Christian Zen

“All the way to heaven is heaven, 

because Jesus said, "I am the way.” 

―

 St. Catherine of Siena

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.

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

hole cards.

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 

list,

he sighed

his request

to al-Malik:

“Bless those you

have received in 

Paradise.

And make me 

an instrument 

of your

Justice.”

Bread of Life

Ex 12:17-20 /John 6:51-59

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."

Gasp

Mt. 22:37

(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!"

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."

Rock of Ages

Rock Of Ages

Luke 19:39-40 /Mark 12:10

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. 

Good Friday Meditation

Luke 23:34

Which is more

incredible?

That we

murdered 

God?

Or

He

dropped 

the charges

against us?

No Experience Required

Mt 20:1-16 /Luke 15:28-30

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.

Reflection on the Beatitudes

MT 5:1-12

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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.