unveiled

"For Thou, O Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:13:14 -0400

“For Thou, O Lord,
are a shield around me,
my glory,
and the lifter of my head.”

- Psalm 3:3

"Seek to grow from smallness, and from the higher place move down to the lowest."

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:51:34 -0400

“Seek to grow from smallness, and from the higher place move down to the lowest.”

- from the Codex Bezae

Love

Sat, 04 May 2013 18:38:47 -0400

sometimes,
love’s like this:

actions first,
feelings follow.

untitled

Thu, 02 May 2013 14:44:00 -0400

it’s a day.

i running late,

i lose my temper at littles,

i miss my people,

and i can’t yet run.

the breathing, the cultivating, the eucharisteo -

it’s not going so well.

He beckons me,

and i say yes.

i choose slow.

and they’re her words,

but they’re straight from Him:

“Don’t grieve that it’s gone, wonder that it was.

Laugh that you lived and dance that you dared.

Inhale that it happened — and it was grace.

And I memorize the light and the mess of us and the ABC’s of living and them all here and us right now and that — that is how to make the smallest life big and grand –

The best way to prepare for what’s ahead is to be present to what is now.

Be present to the gift of now.

And right then –

the sheer sheen of grace on everything lights.”

So.

breathe in. breathe out.

“all is grace” as she says.

let’s live this life He gives to the full.

disorder

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:56:45 -0400

i don’t know what to say
but that i thought i was doing so well and then
today, she said to me the
words about my body that my broken and disordered
brain craves to hear and
its like the volume turned right
back up on those
voices and i wanted to not eat and to
run a hundred miles and
force my body to be thin.

i don’t know what to say
but that i confess it right out loud to
the friend, and she doesn’t condemn,
she just listens and she is the
Hands and the Feet
and the honest voice pointing the way
to Grace.

i don’t know what to say
but that He meets me,
and i breathe another breathe
and know that this thorn in
my side may never go away
but His Grace is sufficient for me.

"bind up these broken bones Mercy, bend and bring me back to life"

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 23:22:42 -0400

“bind up these broken bones
Mercy, bend and bring me back to life”

- Show Me, by Audrey Assad

"But my recovery cannot spring from any cause in me, I can destroy but cannot save myself. Yet Thou..."

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 13:46:14 -0400

“But my recovery cannot spring from any cause in me,
I can destroy but cannot save myself.
Yet Thou hast laid help on One that is mighty,
for there is mercy with Thee,
and exceeding riches in Thy kingdom through Jesus.
May I always feel my need of Him.
Let Thy restored joy be my strength;
May it keep me from lusting after the world,
bear up heart and mind in loss of comforts,
enliven me in the valley of death,
work in me the image of the heavenly,
and give me to enjoy the first fruits of spirituality,
such as angels and departed saints know.”

- “Kept by God” from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

"Give me grace to recall my needs, my lack of knowing Thy will in Scripture, of wisdom to guide..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:51:24 -0400

“

Give me grace to recall my needs,
my lack of knowing Thy will in Scripture,
of wisdom to guide others,
of daily repentance, want of which keeps Thee at bay,
of the spirit of prayer, having words without love,
of zeal for Thy glory, seeking my own ends,
of joy in Thee and Thy will,
of love to others.

And let me not lay my pipe too short of the fountain,
never touching the eternal spring,
never drawing down water from above.

”

- from “Penitence and Deprecation: Self-Knowledge”
The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions

"So I thought: maybe death isn’t darkness, after all, but so much light wrapping itself around..."

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:48:04 -0400

“So I thought:
maybe death
isn’t darkness, after all,
but so much light
wrapping itself around us -
as soft as feathers -
that we are instantly weary
of looking, and looking, and shut our eyes,
not without amazement,
and let ourselves be carried,
as through the translucence of mica,
to the river
that is without the least dapple or shadow -
that is nothing but light - scalding, aortal light -
in which we are washed and washed
out of our bones.”

- White Owl Flies Into and Out of the Field
Mary Oliver

"The resurrection of Jesus was simply God’s unwillingness to take our “no” for an..."

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:08:09 -0400

“The resurrection of Jesus was simply God’s unwillingness to take our “no” for an answer. He raised Jesus, not as an invitation to us to come to heaven when we die, but as a declaration that He Himself has now established permanent, eternal residence here on earth. He is standing beside us, strengthening us in this life. The good news of the resurrection of Jesus is not that we shall die and go home to be with Him, but that He has risen and comes home with us, bringing all his hungry, naked, thirsty, sick prisoner brothers with Him.”

- Clarence Jordan

With Eyes Wide Open: Still

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:04:26 -0400

With Eyes Wide Open: Still:

sitsoakstore:

Have you ever gone to the garden

right after rain has come

and gone, slightly dampening,

yet replenishing,

and the flowers are breathing?

They’re heads bent low,

stems strong

still, feet buried

into the mess of soil.

Did you take a breath

deep and clear; did you

…

Amen to these words, breathes of grace from a dear friend.

"To wash the feet of a brother or sister in Christ, to allow someone to wash our feet, is a sign that..."

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 15:53:59 -0400

““To wash the feet of a brother or sister in Christ, to allow someone to wash our feet, is a sign that together we want to follow Jesus, to take the downward path, to find Jesus’ presence in the poor and the weak. Is it not a sign that we too want to live a heart-to-heart relationship with others, to meet them as a person and a friend, and to live in communion with them? Is it not a sign that we yearn to be men and women of forgiveness, to be healed and cleansed and to heal and to cleanse and thus to live more fully in communion with Jesus?””

- Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche communities

found in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

1 John 4:12

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 23:11:15 -0400

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”

Simple. Beautiful. True.

Breathe it.
Pursue it.
Live it.

"But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that..."

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:40:03 -0400

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.”

- Galatians 5:22-23, 25

"we believe in the kingdom come we believe in the risen Son You bring our hearts to life Lord we come..."

Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:51:20 -0400

“we believe in the kingdom come
we believe in the risen Son
You bring our hearts to life
Lord we come with our hands up high
we believe You will satisfy
You bring our hearts to life
yes, You bring our hearts to life
we are alive”

- “Come to the Water” from Let the Future Begin (Passion 2013)

it’s been over a year since my prodigal-self came home to them,...

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:08:40 -0400

it’s been over a year
since my prodigal-self came home to them,

but still I weep over it:
the extraordinary, transformational grace
that they showed me.
that she showed me.

that she’s showing me still.

my prayer is that i’ll never lose the wonder of it, and never take them, take her, for granted.

so humbled by the grace of the Warrior,
the way she has been, is being, the Gospel to me.
so grateful to journey with her & learn from her.

so thankful for you, dear Warrior.

"…and have you ever felt for anything such wild love - do you think there is anywhere, in any..."

Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:01:19 -0400

“

…and have you ever felt for anything
such wild love -
do you think there is anywhere, in any language,
a word billowing enough
for the pleasure

that fills you
as the sun
reaches out,
as it warms you

as you stand there,
empty-handed -
or have you too
turned from this world -

or have you too
gone crazy
for power,
for things?

”

- from “The Sun”
by Mary Oliver

"…and, in the end, this isn’t a poem about foolishness but about how I rose from the..."

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:36:57 -0500

“…and, in the end,
this isn’t a poem about foolishness
but about how I rose from the ground
and saw the world as if for the second time,
the way it really is.”

- Mary Oliver, from Alligator Poem

an apology to the world

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:35:17 -0500

i find that i owe the world a great apology

for who am i to say

who you are,

who you were,

and who you may become?

who am i to project my

contrived notions of

what you do,

what you feel,

and what you hold most dear?

who am i to

shut you out,

close my fists and my eyes

and my heart to you?

who am i to restrict you and

keep you -

if only in my own mind -

from love?

i can only offer what i promise is the sincerest of apologies

and this promise from a humbled heart:

if you will have me,

if you will still speak,

i will listen.

if you will have me,

i will open and not judge.

if you will have me,

we could journey together,

in all our messy beauty,

in all the wonder of our brokenness,

and keep learning together.

embracing the mess: i'm learning what it means to be human

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 10:49:00 -0500

and the day came
when i was done with the rules,
done with the closed-fist pursuit of self-righteousness.

because i realized that this has become less about Him
and more about me -
my fears, my anxiety,
and my trust in myself to get things just right.
following the rules is
how i hide from my human-ness,
how i hold my breathe and
pretend that the brokenness isn’t there,
how i pretend that i have control.

i’m suffocating myself
and i’m suffocating others,
because we weren’t created to have it all together.

what i want to say to the world is this:

i am a mess and i am beautiful and i am okay.
you are a mess and you are beautiful and you are okay.
let’s let that unfurl and blossom and thrive in us.