Saturday, September 29, 2012

Lilies and Birds....

"Consider the lilies...Consider the birds..."
-Luke 12:24-28
 
***

Lilies and Birds...
...having in common uncommon comeliness
diminutive beauty for beauty's sake
meticulously mixed metaphor
written between lovely lines...
 
...an invitation to total abandon into unseen Hands
painstakingly penned on petaled parchment
inscribed in winged word
 evidence of the Everlasting Arms
underneath, undergirding,
 
harboring, holding...
 
this delicate unfolding
 
of petals, of wings
 
this Becoming, this Being
 
till flight and flowering reach a sacred crescendo
and I flourish in your Hands once again
 
***
 
-e.a.a. "Hindsfeet"  9/28/12

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Storm

"...the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary...Jesus went to them, walking on the sea...the disciples cried out for fear...immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, 'Be of good cheer!  I'm here!  Don't be afraid!'...and Peter said, 'Lord!  If it's really you, command me to come to you on the water!'"
-Matthew 14:24-28
 
 
***

When we're in the middle of a storm, our instinctive response is, "I want out!"

When Peter was in the boat, terrified by the turbulence, his cry to Jesus was, "I want out!", even if it meant plunging into the very sea that was at the heart of the stormy seige. 

Talk about "out of the frying pan, into the fire".

At that point, panic had prevailed over practicality....all he knew is, he wanted "out". 

Aren't we sometimes like that?  When we're really in the thick of it, anything can seem preferable to the predicament we're in....all we know is, "we want out!"

It didn't occur to Peter in the middle of his panic, that maybe Jesus was there because He wanted in.

Peter's water-walking heroics was not what Jesus intended when He came to His loved ones' rescue -- though it makes for an interesting story on Sunday mornings -- Jesus allowed Peter to get his escapist escapade out of his system, sustained him through it, and then, between the lines, we can almost hear Jesus asking, "ok, now are you ready to invite me into the boat?"...

The wind did not cease when Peter got out of the boat....the wind ceased when Jesus got into the boat.

Instead of heeding the voice of primal fear which is screaming "I want out!" and plunging ourselves into futher peril, may we have the grace to stop, to wait, to breathe, to heed instead the voice of Jesus saying "I want in"......

He is waiting to take us safely into shore.
 
***
 
"When they got into the boat, the wind ceased."
-Matthew 14:32

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Found

 
 
***
 
I find, once again,
 I'm sitting in front of
a blank canvas
 
A little daunting
A little disheartening
 
As I thought i would
more or less
pick up right where I left off
 
But someone shook the etch-a-sketch
while my back was turned
 
So I must begin again
 
to create
 
this time,
 
with the Creator
 
***
 
"Behold, I AM making all things New!"
-Revelations 21:5

Monday, September 10, 2012

Lost

 
"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?"
Matthew 18:12
 
***

I wandered,
looking
longing
for Home

I thought I'd find it here
It was here just a moment ago

But someone has stripped the props
Changed the scene
Same stage
Different Play

Sideways

A neon sign hangs over my head
exposing my ugly duckling un-belonging

Just a moment ago I was a swan
How did things go so wrong

And once again I need the One
Who leaves the ninety-nine

To come make right as only He can
To find His child in a strange land

To call my name
To gather me up
To call me Found
To carry me

Home

***

"The Lord is my Shepherd"
Psalm 23:1