7.31.2011

A place Mapquest can't find

(1 Kings 19)

God saw Elijah‘s little world falling apart,
and asked
“What are you doing here?"
And
God in His mercy
fed and sheltered Elijah
and
waited as a breeze
waited as a tremor
waited as an inferno
then
repeated His question
in a small voice

“What are you doing here?”



And today
God in His infinite mercy
feeds and shelters His children
who are worrying about
their little worlds falling apart.

And He waits
sometimes as a brook
sometimes as a cloud
sometimes as a flood
and
repeats His question
in a small voice
“What are you doing here?”

7.23.2011

How do you sleep while your bed is burning?


(Deuteronomy 28)


This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you
that I have set before you
life and death, blessings and curses. (Deut. 30:19)





God gave his answer
to his people:
Follow me and be peaceful.
(14 verses of peace, love and understanding.)
or
Be ready to inflicted with My cancer.
(54 verses of pain, hate and misunderstanding.)


There will be blessings when you go in.
There will be blessings when you go out.
There will be blessings for your next of kin.
There will be blessings for all of the devout.


But woe to the one
who places anything ahead of Me or My Son.
This is not a theological abstraction.
This is the real fatal attraction.


You will build your dream house
However, the contractor will move in with your spouse.
Your children will leave the nation.
Your broken heart will lack medication.


You will turn to the gods of the moment.
However, none of them are potent
against My wrath.
Please child, do the math -
I AM the One.

You will borrow from your foes
It’s a matter of time before they foreclose.
In your world, they are the new boss,
They ain’t the same as the old Boss.


First comes drought,
Then follows famine without a doubt.
In a while, you and the old lady
fight to see who eats the baby.


For the rest of your lives
The goal is to survive.
The total strangers you beg from
give you the finger.
(And it ain’t the thumb.)
WELCOME TO THE EXILE!

7.17.2011

Only drowning men can see Him

(Matthew 14:22-33)
 
Peter asked:
“If it’s You,
can I do this too?”
“Come,” He said as the wind blew
And
Out of the boat came apostle from Judah
And ending up standing on aqua firma.


Peter so much wanted to be the ally
of his beloved Rabbi.
Anything the Teacher excelled
was something he wanted do as well.


But the Eleven screamed
“This must a dream!”
Peter heard them through the gales
and realized one little detail:
“I think I’m going to fail!”


Jesus pulled him out
and asked, “Why did you doubt?”
But the Rabbi also learned something that night,
Shortcuts never work out exactly right.

 

 

7.10.2011

Love’s Choice

This bread is light, dissolving, almost air,
A little visitation on my tongue,
A wafer-thin sensation, hardly there.
This taste of wine is brief in flavour, flung
A moment to the palate’s roof and fled,
Even its aftertaste a memory.
Yet this is how He comes. Through wine and bread
Love chooses to be emptied into me.
He does not come in unimagined light
Too bright to be denied, too absolute
For consciousness, too strong for sight,
Leaving the seer blind, the poet mute,
Chooses instead to seep into each sense,
To dye himself into experience.

The Nativity and Adoration of the Shepherds


Meditation on the painting in the Sugar Land FUMC chapel
(first painting)


Who’s that lurking
around the Christmas stage set?
The crosses of Death
meeting their Executioner.

 



7.02.2011

Where's the love we once knew?


(Revelation 4:9-11)

The God of love sat at His table
with coffee and a bagel.
He started a meditation
on His favorite creation.


Oh man,
Why can’t you follow the plan?
Instead of the Song of Solomon
a booty call.
Instead of My will be done
Everyone’s at the shopping mall.


Instead of the cross being My signature
it’s jewelry.
Instead of the Kingdom being the purpose singular
You invent a culture of fantasy.


Instead of forgiving those in our debt,
You demand your pound of flesh.
Instead of being living water wet
Your idol is Jesus Cash.


The God of love got up from His table
Left the bagel and gulped His coffee cold.
Walked over to a table of angels,
And asked, “Wanna go bowl?”