Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Cameo


~*~

the Peace of pine needles
of yuletide poesy
of savoring simple melodies
about reindeer and good will toward men
of sleigh bells and silent nights...

...the soul soothing familiarity
the tether to tradition
something ongoing
in the face of so much transience
Epiphany displacing the ephemeral...

...if only for a little while.

~*~

e.a.a. "Hindsfeet" 12/12/11

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Treasures in the Sand


~ ~ ~

A deceptive Barrenness
Defines this Desert

At first glance
A Wasteland of endless wanderings

Nothing, it seems,
But Miles and Millenia
of a vapid, vacuous Void...

To the untrained eye there is only
the unending monotonous migration
over unwieldy terrain
that takes and taxes
yielding nothing in return...

But Treasure rarely proffers itself willingly
to the Pilgrim,
Eschewing backdrops well-suited to its worth
It chooses instead the hidden places of Paradox
Demanding to be dug for, rather than doled out...

Waiting to be found by those
willing to walk this Way
who have eyes to see

Worth in the Wasteland
Rivers in the Desert
Diamonds in the Dust...

And then to travel on
Having found True Wealth
A Bedouin's Bounty
Themselves Becoming
Treasures in the Sand

~ ~ ~

e.a.a. "Hindsfeet" 12/3/11

"For they shall partake of the abundance of the seas
and of treasures hidden in the sand."
-Deuteronomy 33:19

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving



~***~

Despite the heartache
and anguish of endings
faltering footsteps
and wilderness wanderings
the training ground
of unforgiving terrain,
this soul-defying sea of sand

the Day finds me
Still Standing
Stronger
Kinder
Human
and Whole

ever grateful for,
ever undergirded by
this Pathway
Paved with Grace

~***~

-e.a.a. "Hindsfeet", Thanksgiving Day 2011

"The LORD God is my strength, and He will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places."
-Habakkuk 3:19

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Moments

"Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The moments fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them."
-Psalm 139:16

~ ~ ~

My friend, Jen, author of Ripplespeak, wrote to me recently, and offhandedly (or perhaps intentionally) mentioned "the Timing Thing"...

...this sparked what few synapses are still firing in my noggin and sent me down this poetic path.....considering what happens, what can happen, in a moment....

Jen, this one's for you, my dear friend...

~ ~ ~

Since before Millenia
our moments were formed
Gift boxes given
to be filled
with our chances
our choices
daring dreams
and
harvested hopes...

...each one a Seed that Becomes...

...Love Given
Love Received
Left turns at Albuquerque,
taken, and not taken...

...Moments filled with
Plenty and Enough,

there for the taking
there for the giving...

Miniscule measures
of our Lives as a whole
the flutter of each
felt far beyond
what we can imagine...

~ ~ ~

e.a.a. "Hindsfeet" 11/20/11

Monday, October 24, 2011

Crossroads

~*~

And just like that,
the road ends
the road begins
time to move on...

following this Flow
as best I can

clumsily,
capriciously

wending my way
into so much unknown...

Lucy asked of Aslan, "Is He safe?"
the answer came, "no, but He is Good."
there is nothing for me
but to yield to this precarious Goodness

and travel on.

~*~

-e.a.a. "Hindsfeet" 10/22/11

"Your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way.  Walk in it.' whenever you turn to the left or the right."
-Isaiah 30:21

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Free


~***~

Never knew flight could feel so good
Only in my flying dreams

letting go
letting go

lifting, lighter than air
unencumbered updrafts carry me
cajole me
dare me higher and higher

till tizzied and tantalized by the
wild, weightless, wonderful of it all
I abandon into this avian flow

and wonder...

what was I waiting for?

~***~

-e.a.a. "Hindsfeet"  9/24/11

"The woman was given two wings of a great eagle,
 that she might Fly"
-Revelation 12:14

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

HoBo


+++

Homeward Bound Beggar
At Amazing Grace's Door

Beaten
Bedraggled
Bewildered
Barely hoping for Haven...

So ill equipped am I
naked, exposed
utterly at Your Mercy
My only hope of Home...

Crouching,
Cold wind whips around me
this frozen, fallen form
So small against this life
defenseless,
defeated,
but still, I knock...

A fool's hope to hear
what my ears say they hear--

--not the harsh, begrudging, faltering footfall
of the Master torn from sleep,

but Running
and a pounding Heart
and my name I'd nearly forgotten
being breathlessly called

The Door is not cracked
but Flung Open

And He is upon me,
A Coat-of-Many-Colors
Covering me
Cloaking me
Drowning out my protests of unworthiness

Enfolding me
Engulfing me
Till i am hidden
Till all is Him
and I am ushered in

The Door is shut against the night
which concedes defeat,
once again retreats,
falling away,
felled by triumphant Day

And I am Home.

+++

e.a.a. "Hindsfeet"  9/20/11

"I have loved you with an everlasting love"
Jeremiah 31:3

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A Time to Build...

"To everything there is a season,
a time for every purpose under heaven..."
-Ecclesiastes 3:1

***

The sun rises on this plot of land,
razed,
primed for repurposing
prepped for pouring out...

...cleared for construction...

My heart heaved with each load,
leveled and hauled away
each heavy letting go
each precious, painful parting with the past...

Now here am I
laid bare, bereft
 this all too familiar baseline
of barrenness
of bereavement,
of loss
of letting go...

I long for this land a new normal
exposed now,
raw,
like an open wound...

...Just then The Carpenter comes on the scene
His footsteps fall gently
like dew on tender ground

He turns,
Takes my hands in His
And there I feel the open wounds...
the pain that precipitates healing
hurt hand in hand
with Wholeness

This precious paradox
These heaven-sent scars
The very Hands that are bruised
Begin the work of Rebuilding...

***

"There is a time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to Build."
-Ecclesiastes 3:3

(photography courtesy of Dan Denardo Photography )

Monday, August 15, 2011

Real


~***~

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you..."...

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful...

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

-The Velveteen Rabbit, by Margery Williams

~***~
<3>

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Turning


"Thou, Oh Lord, are the lifter of my head."
Psalm 3:3

~~O~~

Today I let the volcano erupt....
The one I'd been keeping so carefully cooped up
The one active with ancient angst,
engorged with grief,
rumbling with endless rumination,
old sorrows stirring in its bowels,
percolating with the pain of the past,
wounds and regrets
my folly and failures
finally becoming too much for me to hold...

So finally I folded
and out it came
In torrents of hot tears
In a ball on my kitchen floor
Beneath the coffee pot,
also percolating away...

I let fly the lava flood
and felt the ache of endings
Days and months and years of yearning
painfully purged
Released
Let Go...

I lay there enfolded
in Invisible Arms
exposed
utterly spent
emptied....

Then came the still small voice
as the lava cooled
and turned to ash at His feet.....

"Leave that here now, my love,
At the foot of the cross,"

(who knew that the foot of the cross could look so like a linoleum floor)

"Leave the tears, the tumult, the dreams long dead
Leave the loss, Leave the longing
Leave it all in My Hands
where Ashes, by and by, breed Life
where dead bones are Breathed upon
and Live

Time to Turn, my Dear One
and Trust
that by and by
all will be Beauty."

~~O~~

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me...
     ...to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound...
       ...To comfort all who mourn,
       To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness."
-Isaiah 61:1-3 

***
     

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Mourning to Morning


"Weeping may endure for the night,
but Joy comes in the Morning"
-Psalm 30:5

~~O~~

Sometimes it is up to us to decide how long we will weep
Sometimes the night remains as long as we'll have it's company

Solomon, the wisest man of his time, tells us in Ecclesiastes,
that there is a time to weep

it is even important to weep
to mourn loss
to let grief run its course

that is how we honor the past
and even the pain
that is part of the person we've become
and the tears we shed become a tribute
to that time gone by...

But the burial ground of Time-Gone-By
 is not a place to settle down
it is a place to leave behind;
We were not made to tarry too long among tombstones
We were meant to walk in the Land of the Living

There is a time to turn our back to where the sun set
There is a time to turn and face the Sunrise
and the Brand New Day that it brings...
There is a time to let go of the past,

-- even the precious parts of the past --

so that our hands are free to be filled
so that our hearts can hold new love
so that Morning can come
and Joy can begin again...

~~O~~

"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."
-Psalm 30:11

"Light of a Clear Blue Morning"

Friday, July 22, 2011

Out of the ashes...


"Let us Rise and Build."
-Nehemiah 2:18

~~O~~

This requisition was enough to change the course of a country's fate, to swing the momentum and motivate God's people to rebuild what had been burned, to repair what had been broken, and most importantly to move them

Out of despair,
Out of despondency,

Into New Hope
and Possibility...

Our lives are also construction sites,
Always in flux

Sometimes we too go through seasons of demolition--
Perhaps the structure outlived its usefulness,
Or was no longer safe to dwell in...

...But God doesn't leave us among the ruins.

Yes, there is loss,

Yes, there is a time to grieve what was...

But there is also a time to Rise and Build.

And just as Nehemiah did,
for the displaced and disoriented victims of the diaspora,
So Jesus does for us:

He dons a hard hat,
Lifts us up,
out of the ashes of what was,
then turns our face to the new thing that will be.
He fills our heads with vision,
our hands with purpose,
and our hearts with courage;

and with that deceptively simple directive,
He lays the foundation for Brand New Day:

"Let us Rise and Build." 

~~O~~

"Awake, awake!  Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city!  Shake yourself from the dust; Arise!"

Monday, July 18, 2011

Lost and Found


"For this is God,
Our Guide forever and ever;
He will be our guide
Even to death."
-Psalm 48:14

~***~

For forty years less two
I've wandered these desert sands
Hoping, always hoping,
for Just-Around-the-Corner-Promised-Land

The sepia landscape
blends into barrenness
peppered with promises
 that led me here,
White blazes on a wide path
now no more than mere mirage...
maddening mirage...

...but even here,
my heart holds to You,
"The God who seeks the one"
(as though I were some treasure
and not this mess that I've become)

I take a breath, then take a step
and feel Your steady gaze,
Your steady hands,
Your more-than-words assurance
that what awaits me is worth all the sand

And once again we're on the move
and I begin again the Walk
The desert lays,
defeated,
defied,
as Water gushes from the Rock.

~***~

-E.A.A. "Hindsfeet"  7/22/11

"I will open rivers in desolate heights, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water."
-Isaiah 41:18

Monday, July 4, 2011

Freedom

"You shall know The Truth and the Truth will make you Free."
-John 8:32

~***~

The Truth:


It changes the lens through which we see ourselves and look upon others

It is the grid that filters out fear and fosters faith

It is the answer to the deepest longing emanating from the center of our soul

It lifts our chin and allows our eyes to unflinchingly meet His,

For what we see there, is the Truth that makes us Free:


I am Loved.

Loved like crazy.

Deeply,


Unfailingly,


Tenaciously,


Tenderly...

With Fierce protection and Firy fervor

With unabashed bounty on every side.

He delights in me

Is over the moon about me

and digs me with over-the-top abandon...

He yearns for me when I'm not near

And runs to embrace me when I return,
((before I can even get a word in edge-wise!))

He loves my sleepy-head and my coffee breath which accompany our sacred space

He longs for me,
loves me,
lived for me,
died for me.

That, my friends, is The Truth
The Gospel in a nutshell. 

That is Freedom.

"...that you may be able to comprehend what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
-Ephesians 3:18-19

~***~

Sunday, June 19, 2011

A Little Light


~***~

A Little Light
-by Mikki Brain

In that dark, lonesome place
between a dream dreamed
and a dream realized,

I have left a little light for you
so you will know that someone cares
and believes in your dream.

Just where it becomes the most dark
and difficult to find your way,
there is the light I left for you.

it will light your way through the doubt,
the confusion, and the fears.

It will stay with you all the way
to the realization of your dream.

And when your dream has come true,
please go back to that darkest place
where you have been,
and set the little light there
to give heart to the next trembling soul
that braves the path to its dreams.

~***~

(a poem from a book given to me by my dad)

"Jesus said, 'I am the Light' "
-John 8:12

Friday, June 10, 2011

Crossing

"See the salvation of the Lord...The Lord will fight for you...Go Forward."
-Exodus 14:13-15

~***~

Fears, like Pharoah's army
Following hard on my heels
Former bedfellows bearing down
Beseiging my Exodus
Out of darkness, into Light

Deign to release me from their ravenous reach
Bidding me bow down
and bear their burdens as before

But this Way You made
Where there was no way at all
Was carved for my crossing
Not theirs

With all my will
I refuse
The Pillar of Salt Paralysis
of Looking Back
of buying into the bluff
of caving to these captors

Slavery no longer suits me
The shackles of those shores cannot hold me
I am being fitted for Freedom
and Brand New Day
Beckoning
Just ahead...

...I move forward on dry ground
as behind me an army drowns.

~***~

-E.A.A. "Hindsfeet" 6/11/11


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Breathe II



~***~

Despite my bracing

against the future,
the falling sky,
and the dropping of the 'other shoe'

I find myself

embraced by Grace

Who tells me,

There is only Now,
the Heavens are holding,
and falling footwear
is rare
and poses very little peril.

~***~

E.A.A. "Hindsfeet" 5/29/11

"You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You"
Isaiah 26:3

Monday, May 9, 2011

Haiku



Clouds floating above
Invisibly Suspended
I too, am Upheld

~***~

E.A.A. "Hindsfeet" 5/9/11

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Breathe....


"Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live."
-Ezekiel 37:5

~***~

Lungs long pressed with the cares of this world
What-ifs and worries weighing in
Fostering fear
Keeping breath at bay
Shackling you in the shallows
My Beautiful buoyant bride reduced to gasping for air...

Let Go, My Dear
I AM here
Let me take it from here...

You Rest, lie down
Let the plates fall for now
Trust me to catch the balls
you tirelessly try to keep in the air...

Return to the ancient ground
of Childlike Faith and Joy and Wonder
of knowing only the Moment you're in
Oblivious to any other...

Take in the Gift of what is Now
Inhale deeply My Goodness
Know, in the end, it was Me all along
Who held together
All of the pieces.

~***~

E.A.A. "Hindsfeet" 5/4/11

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

"Footprints" Revisited....


"My precious child, I love you, and I would never leave you; during your times of trial and suffering, where you see only one set of footprints in the sand, it was then that I carried you."
-excerpt from "Footprints"

~***~

Once again looking back at footprints in the sand...
Hoping they connote being carried in Your Hands
Hoping that my wanderings are being numbered still
Straining to see Your shepherding in my stumblings...

I press on along what I hope is the path
Feeling more and more like a foreigner here
I find myself longing for familiar ground
for the comfort of home
for safe and sound...

But my wings are more willing and will not wait
They are eager and determined still
To fly and find their beautiful Fate
To soar into Your wondrous will...

They lend their courage to my cowardly heart
And bolster my bent-over soul
Till once again I walk in a Way
where there seems to be no way at all...

I lift up my eyes to meet Your gaze
and see dancing there an ancient dare:
To leave all behind and follow You, The original Pioneer,
To let go of "good enough", to not settle for less
Than to follow your Footprints
Into Your Highest and Best...

 ~***~

"So He shepherded them according the the integrity  of His heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of His hands."
-Psalm 78:72

Monday, April 18, 2011

Peace

"Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid.'"
-Matthew 14:27

~***~

Relief, not fear
When Jesus comes near
it is to save
not condemn
It is to steady
And still the storm within...

He is the Way
where there is no way at all
When we're all out of options
When our faith is so small...

"Let there be Light!",
He cries into our night
Displacing Despair
With New Hope for New Life...

He covers our frailty
passes over our sin
gently taking our hand
He bids us begin again...

~***~

-E.A.A. "Hindsfeet" 4/18/11, First Day of Passover

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Clean

"Wash me and I will be whiter than snow"
-Psalm 51:7

The Potter saw fit to form our bodies in such a way that they require daily maintenence, regular cleansing, a ritual routine of renewal.

Why, then, do we consider it anomalous that our spirits require the same sort of regime?  When we wash, do we wash once and for all?  When a toddler is bathed, does he feel embarrasment or shame when bathtime rolls around again?  More to the point, would a good parent chide the child for needing such care? 

Of course not, certainly not, and laughably, decidedly, unquestionably not.

Let us settle in our hearts, once and for all, that we have a Loving parent in God.  When the world we are steeped in soils our souls, when weariness overtakes our best intentions and well laid plans, when all we can do is ask Abba to clean us, let us feel Him gently lift us from the grime and from the dust, let us soak in His tenderness and His unrelenting love, let us know that in the end, it is He Who makes us "good", as He did "In the Beginning", so He does in me and you.

"Create in me a clean heart, O God"
-Psalm 51:10

  ~***~

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Birth

"The night is far spent; the day is at hand"
-Romans 13:12

***

Dawn displaces darkness
shooing away wintry shadows
nudging me out of my nocturne
and blowing on the smouldering coals
of long dormant dreams
held in abeyance
rousing them to life with the soft breath of the season
bidding them take flight after their long repose...

I pause for just a moment
in this space between spaces
letting my eyes adjust to new light
to new Day...

Then, flooded with freedom, 
feeling the updraft of Your faithfulness
 I take my first step
letting new legs carry me
into come-what-may...

...Lead on, my Lord...

Lead Thou me on...

***

 "Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved?"
-Song of Solomon 8:5

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Attention to Detail...

"See how the flowers of the field grow, they do not labor or spin, yet not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these...if this is how God cares for the grass of the field, will He not much more care for you?...So do not worry."
-Matthew 6:28-33

~***~

Our tendency to "toil", to "labor and spin", is tenacious at times and can so easily get the best of us.  When we take our eyes off the little things around us - (my mom calls them "the post-it notes from God") - the things that clearly show God's concern over even the seemingly inconsequetial, the cosmos we see when we "consider the lilies"...when we take our eyes off these things, it can, indeed, send us "laboring" and "spinning", forgetting the Maestro Who meticulously conducts His composition, the compassionate Creator Who directs the minutiae of our lives and tenderly attends to the fine print on every page.

May we come to know the peace of being held in Heaven's hand; may we know the comfort of being cared for by the One Who covers and cradles it all.

~***~

"Christ above you, Christ below you, Christ behind you, Christ before you."
-a Celtic blessing

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Be Still...Know God

"Be still and know that I Am God."
-Psalm 46:10

~***~

Jesus gently calls us to stillness in His presence; it is in this stillness that misconceptions of our Maker are dispelled. 

When we stop fearfully fumbling with our fig leaves and stand, sin and all, in His light, we find forgiveness, we find tenderness; He enfolds our exposure in royal robes and offers for our running the harbor of Homecoming.

He holds in His hand not a stone to hurl at our missteps, but a rod and a staff that comfort us.*  We find not a fickle Fuhrer, but a Faithful God whose "coming to us is as consistent as the morning"*

We find, as we are still, and come to know I AM, that I AM is with us, that I AM is for us, that I AM loves us, not based on our goodness, but based on His

"Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD."
-Hosea 6:3

 ~***~


*Psalm 23:4
*Hosea 6:3


Saturday, February 12, 2011

Grace II

"Mercy and truth have met together, righteousness and bliss have kissed one another."
-Psalm 85:10

~***~

What follows is the most beautiful description of Grace I have ever read in my life...I hope it fills your cup as much as it did mine...

"'Man, my friends,' said General Loewenhielm, 'is frail and foolish.  We have all of us been told that Grace is to be found in the universe.  But in our human foolishness and short-sigetedness we imagine divine Grace to be finite.  For this reason we tremble...We tremble before making our choice in life, and after having made it again tremble in fear of having chosen wrong.  But the moment comes when our eyes are opened, and we see and realize that Grace is infinite.  Grace, my friends, demands nothing from us but that we shall await it with confidence and acknowledge it in gratitude.  Grace, brothers, makes not conditions and singles out none of us in particular; Grace takes us all to its bosom and proclaims general amnesty.  See!  that which we have chosen is given us, and that which we have refused is, also and at the same time, granted us.  Ay, that which we have rejected is poured upon us abundantly.  For mercy and truth have met together, and righteousness and bliss have kissed one another!'"

-Isak Dinesen, an excerpt from Babette's Feast and Other Anecdotes of Destiny

~***~

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

GRACE


~***~

A life riddled with Grace
trademarked by Grace
God's unreasonable, unrelenting Grace...

Behind            

Before

Above                   

Below...

Lavishly, Unreservedly, Overabundantly Given

Behind, a Parted Sea

Before, a Promised Land

Above, the Open Windows of Heaven

Below, the Everlasting Arms...

I journey on,
Held in this Lover's Embrace
of Breathtaking, Utterly, Amazing

GRACE

~***~

"Christ behind you, Christ before you, Christ above you, Christ below you."
-A Celtic Blessing

Monday, February 7, 2011

Hope




The final fragments...
Brown leaves letting go their grip...
Life displacing death



"Life comes back...Life *Always* comes back..."

~***~

Monday, January 24, 2011

Winter's Womb


~***~

This Place In Between
seed sown
and Heaven's Harvest

From a barren land
to a Bountiful Country...

Held in this holy hush
This pregnant pause
this Crossing...

Your Word is woven into flesh
Your every thought toward me takes shape...

Traveling through these trimesters
This meaningful metamorphosis
Treasuring the transformation of time

Till fully formed,
Delightfully Designed

I am Born

into Brand New Day.....

~***~

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope."
-Jeremiah 29:11

Monday, January 17, 2011

New Clothes.....


~ ~ ~ ~ ~

New clothes always accompany the transition from season to season, from slavery to freedom, from old to new, from night to day...

The Prodigal Son's return was trademarked by the trading of his tattered rags for a royal robe

Joseph's turning point transpired when he donned the coat of many colors

Esther spent twelve months changing out of the clothes of a commoner into the clothes of a queen

In the same way, from season to season, from slavery to freedom, from old to new, from night to day, the LORD offers us a change of clothing.....He offers a garment of praise in exchange for a spirit of heaviness, the armor of light in exchange for the works of darkness, bridal garments in exchange for prison garb.

And most meaningfully of all, He offers Himself with the incomparable invitation in Romans 13:14 to "Put on the LORD Jesus Christ..."

the ultimate covering
the exquisite exchange
our temporal attire for His eternal embrace...

~***~ New Clothing to wear into Newness of Life ~***~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness"
-Isaiah 61:10

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Peace be with you...

"
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
-John 14:27

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"...not as the world gives..."....that tentative, tenuous, temporary "peace"...that fleeting flimsy false sense of well-being that comes from pills and potions, the desensitizing din of distractions, the clamor of  competing deities attempting to drown out the chaos...

....but palpable permanent pervasive Peace.  Peace that "passes all understanding".  Peace that is a guard and a sentry surrounding our minds, hovering over our hearts.  Peace that is His manifest Presence poured out unreservedly from the Cross, paid for in full, bought with His blood, for You, His Beloved.

Peace be upon you, Peace undergird you, Peace guide you and keep you...

~***~Peace be with you~***~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
-Philippians 4:6,7

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Consider the Lilies.....


"Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

-Luke 12:27

~***~

The bloom buried, wrapped within the Gift
Will break forth and blossom in time
Invisible inner workings of Providence's plan
transforming the mundane into the miraculous...

...Beauty will unfurl

Love will unfold...

...As it always has

As it always will...

...and the simplicity embodying the complexity of Creation

will give way,

at last,

to insuppressible Life

~***~