Why is it?

why is it

that those who are poor give the most?

why is it that those with the most power and privilege feel the most persecuted?

why is it that many Christians feel they have to do God's work?

Why is it that oppression of women is done in the name of "family values"?

Why is it that they right never have enough 

and

in the eyes of the rich, the poor are always being given too much?

Why is it that people hate in the name of a God of love?

Why is it that bad things happen to good people?

(I know, that is an old one, but it still bugs me)

Why is it that people just accept what they hear from FOX 

and don't do a little research?

why do we as human beings

also seem to be so quick

to believe the worst

react positively to hate 

wallow in fear

perhaps

it is because we are like 

the blind being led by the blind

like the one with a plank, striving to find that speck of sawdust

perhaps it is because

we have lost our connection

to a God of amazing and scandalous love

and no longer allow the essence of that God

to well up from our deepest place

we are instead

dry

sticks

Hearing the song of grace!

As Jack Kornfield recounts in the book “How, Then, Shall We Live?” it is the custom in one African tribe that when a woman decides to have a child, she goes and sits alone under a tree, and she listens. She listens until she hears the song of the child who wants to come.  Once she hears the song, she returns to the man who will be the child's father and teaches the song to him. When they make love to conceive the child, they sing the song to call the child to them.

When the woman is pregnant, she teaches the child's song to the midwives and old women of the village so that when the birth time arrives, the people surrounding the mother sing the song to welcome the child among them.

Then as the child grows up, the other villagers learn the song. If the child falls or hurts his knee someone picks him up and sings the song. When the child does something wonderful, the people of the village sing this song. When the child goes through the rites of puberty and becomes an adult, the villagers sing the song.

It goes this way through life. At a wedding, the songs of husband and wife are sung together. Finally, when this child grows old, and lies in bed ready to die, all the villagers know the song, and they sing it for the last time.

Sometimes I think I forget my song

I know it should be a song of love

A song of grace

I know it should be a song that has woven into its melody and harmonies

peace, and joy

And yet I allow the noise of the world to drown out this song

I hear the traffic

The pain

I hear the fear and the anger

and I no longer hear "the song"

unlike that horrible song from the 80's

it does not play through my head remorsefully

it is lost

no wonder, at times, I no longer feel like dancing!

Lord, this day

restore my song

may it play through my head

haunting me

until I cannot help but hum along

and do a little dance!

A prayer for this day!

Lord

this day

gently comes

with the rising of the sun

gold pink skies

purple irises

and

verdant fields

stretching into pines and firs

proclaim

that beauty,

nay more,

love

is present

this day Lord

let me be

a branch

clinging to the vine from which

life and love flow

may i

walk slowly

feel deeply

may i listen well

and be

totally present

in each moment

for each person

who stumbles into my path

my i find the capacity 

for mercy

compassion

generosity

patience

and tenderness

 

this day may i find purpose in being

not being in purpose (thanks Mark Nepo)

this day Lord

may i 

wear you

gently

The Religion that Wins!

If 

If

Religions were to have a contest

something perhaps

like a beauty contest

or maybe 

perhaps

a pie eating contest

which one would win?

how do we judge these faiths afterall

that come come at us 

with books

and sacraments

and proclimation

of truth

irrefutable

(at least in their own eyes)

it seems

to me

i would humbly assert

that the one that wins

should be the one

that creates the most love

that brings forth the most kindness

and tolerance

and compassion

perhaps 

it should also be the one

that makes my own beauty

and value

known

to me

and your own beauty
known

to you

In the Deepest Place

For the raindrop

Joy is joining the river

                               Ghalib

__________________________________________

from the deepest place

love flows

like a spring

love flows

in the deepest place

who I am is found

and lost

in something bigger

in the deepest place

my starving soul

quivers

fixed on the scent of light

in the deepest place

I am fed

defined

nourished

and deeply connected 

to the One

I live

and breathe

and have my being

and being becomes

something through which i pass

differently

the shallow lands become transformed

all

is fed

by that deep spring

God's Priority

Here is wonderful poem by Johanna Anderson...

The Lord of the Small

Praise to the Lord of the Small Broken Things,
Who Sees the Poor Sparrow That cannot take wing.
Who loves the lame child and the wretch in the street
who comforts their sorrows and washes their feet.

...Praise to the lord of the faint and afraid
who girds them with courage and lends them his aid,
he pours out his spirit on vessels so weak,
that the timid can serve and the silent can speak.

Praise to the lord of the frail and the ill
who heals their afflictions or carries them till,
they leave this tired frame and to paradise fly.
to never be sick and never to die.

Praise him, O Praise Him All ye who live
who've been given so much and can so little give
our frail lisping praise God will never Despise.
He Sees His Dear Children Through Mercy Filled Eyes!

______________________

This was turned into an amazing anthem by Dan Forrest
As I agonize over the way our society seem far too prone
to abandon and betray the poor and the vulnerable,

the poem and this song
bring me back to God, the Center, who is indeed
above all the Lord of the Small

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0bnMkogbi8

"Lord of the Small" performed by The Festival Singers of Florida

www.youtube.com

The Festival Singers of Florida preform "Lord of the Small" by Dan Forrest Justine Sasanfar, Accompanist Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director http://www.fsof.org

Going Deep

Richard Rohr believes that the biggest mistake we make is by creating two worlds, a sacred and a secular, or profane.  He notes,  that “everything is profane if you live on the surface of it, and everything is sacred if you go into the depths of it—even your sin.”  When we go deep into our own mistakes, we find God. If we stay on the surface, even the things of God, like Bible, sacrament, or church, can be destructive, unkind, even  evil.

If we go deep we can "mend and renew the world by strengthening inside ourselves what we seek outside ourselves.." (Naked Now, p. 160)

What he is saying (or so it seems to me), is that as people of faith, when we go deep, and connect with the Sacred within.  When we give the Spirit (to give this piece of the Sacred a name) a place to dwell, and room to move, we create a different world, because we change the way we see and respond to the reality that surrounds us.

Then Rohr offers a series of admonitions, that I dearly love.  This morning, as the world around us looks fragmented and hopeless.  This morning, as those with radical ideologies stumble around in ideological blindness, and those who are prepared to fear see danger everywhere, as those who hate spew words that are ugly and hurtful, I would like to offer the hope that we can create a different reality as we respond in the power of the Spirit.

If you want others to be more loving, choose to love first

If you want a reconciled outer world, reconcile your own inner world

If you are working of peace out there, create it inside as well

If you notice other people's irritability, let go of your own

If you wish to find some outer stillness, find it within yourself

If you are working for justice, treat yourself justly too

If you find yourself resenting the faults of others, stop resenting your own

If the world seems desperate, let go of your own despair

If you want a just world, start being just in small ways yourself.

If you situation feels hopeless, honor the one true spot of hope inside you

If you want to find 'God, then honor "God within you, and you will always see God beyond you.  For it is only God in you who knows where and how to look for God.
(Richard Rohr, The Naked Now p. 161)

Have a blessed Sunday my friends

Go deep

Resilience

The late snow came

wet and heavy 

it blanketed 

the early blossoming trees

 bending them to its will

 

and then

it was gone

overwhelmed by spring

its cold grip no match

for

the emergence of

new life

 

and yet

its imprint remains

some trees, bent almost to the earth

have sprung back

reaching again

joyfully to the sky

 

others remain bent

with help

perhaps

they too will once again stand tall

and proud

 

others

like broken on the ground

their green vitality

already shriveling into

brown death

 

why do some recover

gently

and why for others

does the imprint

of adversity 

remain

or overwhelm?

 

why too

do some people recover

from those dark

winter moments of the soul

while some 

remain bent

and some

are

broken?

 

resilience?

flexibility (openness)

responsiveness (and ability to open up to the healing

that comes from the sun/son)

 

perhaps there is

no formula

 

but from those moments that 

would bend and break

deliver us O God

or send us One

send us one

who can help us

reach once more

proudly

for the sky

Priorities

“In all creatures you may see, and honor God. If you do not 
do this the whole world will rise against you,”

Francis of Assisi 

________________________________________________

 It is all a matter of priorities

A matter of

what

to us

is important

our priorities show

in how we spend ourtime

how we behave toward others

as a Senator

or Congress person

priorities show

in how one votes

or what kind of budget one proproses

as a boss my priorities show

in how I treat

those wonderful

and amazing people who work in 

the program

as a counselor

a pastor

a friend

my priorities show

in whether I attend

focus

listen

care

have compassion

Lord it is easy to think more about

power

and money

than about people

it is sadly easy to forget those who are 

vulnerable

and powerless

but Lord

people are always your priority

especially

those who are hurting

help me Lord

this day

to get my priorities straight! 

Missing the gifts!

Many a morning

not this morning

I stand on my porch

and gaze at the splendor of the mountain

there it soars

brightly into the sky

crowned with snow 

and kissed by the sun

glowing

 

 

but

I do not see this

grandeur

 

my mind is on other things

things past

things to come

things done

things undone

 

in that moment I am not present

 

being present

in the moment

attentive to the beauty

the person

the world 

that is right in front of you

is how we grab

the gift of life

 

__________________________________________

 

 

 The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life

Recovery

vibrant green

once reaching for the sky

with the 

audacity of spring

 

bent

to the earth

crushed

by white coldness

that will not let it rise

but bows it 

to

the cold earth

 

yet warmth will come

and with the sun

 

release

 

that it 

might once again

reach

upwards

thank God for the resilience

of trees

and communities

and human hearts

recovery

When the winds roar

When the winds roar

and the seas rise

when

the beauty and terror 

of nature

fling themselves full force

and tear asunder

bodies

and lives

houses and communities

we are confused

voices come from everywhere

God caused this

God took those poor people home

God spared those people

It is the wrath of God

God obviously doesn't exist

How could a loving God allow this to happen?

 It is part of God's plan

we are moved

our responses are varied and sometimes strange

there is anger

crudeness

there are people who throw their anger and hate

at everything

and everyone

and there is love 

and compassion

and remarkable acts of kindness

tragedies tear at the fabric of our hearts

and our logic

our theology

our faith

just as surely as the winds of a tornado

tear apart

a grade school in Oklahoma

I have no answers

O Lord

for such moments

I do not clearly understand

I will never understand

but then I do not understand

the cross

either

so much is beyond my comprehension

only one thing stands clear

That you are present

as you were present 

even as Jesus cried

my God my God

why have your forsaken me

you are present

you are with them

in them

Oh Lord remind all

in travail

of your presence

help them to know

that your tears 

mix with their tears

and help them stumble

out of the valley

and the shadow 

of death

into love 

and grace


PS
(and teach us how
to walk with them
and each other...
help us to be present as well
in your name)

  

Popcorn Therapy

Tough encounters

a tired soul

a mind that doesn't want to work

 

my computer screen

wavers

and my attention wanders

 

sometimes nothing will work

except

popcorn

 

Another Monday Morning

the clouds hover

hugging the ground

loosely

weeping

tears of life

in the gray stillness

the day is silent and dreary

the mountain is hidden

in muted obscurity 

behind the stolid haze

 

and yet

in the filtered rays

of the sun

which must be there

somewhere

 

the rich green

of nourished grass

and the regal purple

of iris'

glow

 

a doe

wanders through the meadow

scattering

the quail

as she makes her way

gently through the abundance

 of spring

____________________________________

 

Thank you God

that even in moments when

life seems a bit dark

and closed in

there is still beauty

to be seen

and life begins again

each morning

each moment

Becoming what [we say] we hate

Dualism

right wrong

good bad

us them

co-eternal

binary opposition

no room here

for conversation

compromise

contemplation

everything is defined

set

rigid

and out of radical dualism

which is very Old Testament 

(by the way)

come

judgementalism

hatred

intolerance

pain

and yes

let us not forget this.....

fear

I find it interesting that Jesus was rarely

if ever

dualistic

Is it right to pay taxes?

hmmm

Come on Jesus, Yes or No

Pay unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar

and unto God

that which belongs to God

non-dualism

love your neighbor 

as your self

both sides loveable and loved

non-dualism

The problem with the being a person

especially a religious person

who goes into dualistic thinking

is that one becomes a "mirror image of both what you oppose

and what you love"  (Richard Rohr, the Naked Now).

I know people who hate other people

and I hate

people

like that 

Damn those people who damn people

in the face of hate we become haters

in the face of intolerance we are intolerant

in the face of violence we embrace violence

I know I know

it gets complicated

and what about holiness

and all that stuff

but was there ever  a moment when

the hate and anger and ugliness of the world

was more profound

than

the cross?

and in the midst of that

how did Jesus respond?

it is something to think about

From thoughts in the middle of the night... deliver us oh Lord

middle of the night

thinking of too many things

of the hurts

and ills of this world

at the violence

and death

so far away

of the violence

so close 

so close

of people who cannot talk

of those who hate

and fear

and judge

of a culture of violence

that shatters bodies and lives

of a culture of enmity

which takes the worn

tired

fissured faces of 

those who are poor

and different

and erases them

making them a cipher

a mere shadow

and then devalues them

making them

nothing

I think of politicians who lie

and exagerrate

and lead people who 

fearfully follow them

in to places

that can only be described as the shadow of death

I think of my own

sometimes

often times

fragmented life

and all I can do

is look deep within

to that seed of the sacred

to that place where 

the sacred and I meet

communion

and cry

help!

What makes a life!?

What makes a life?

Is it meetings attended?

Tasks accomplished?

Places visited?

Is life a matter of 

possessions

titles

influence

power

 

Think about what moments

bring a smile to your face

 

Sitting in a conference

learning new things?

maybe

A balanced budget?

Ah!

No!!!!

 

It is those moments

when you connect another person

when in the meeting

you see a friend

and smile

 

when, while at dinner

you have a conversation

that is real

 

it is those moments

stolen from the

busy-ness

 

when it is just you

and another

being

people

together

 

Maybe 

someday

Lord

I will really get it!

 

 

______________________________

 

 

Love is something that you make
Something that you give
Something that you are
Love is you

And oh if you look
If you look in the right places
It's got a million faces
And you can find the traces
The traces of love
Everywhere

Alain Clark via "The God Article"

What is Spirituality?

It is an odd thing

what happens when me make

spirituality

all about things of the mind

Do I believe the right things?

Know the right things?

Understand the "rules"

 

We start to live in our left brain

and life

and faith

and even God

becomes matter of

ideology

and judgement 

 

We end up trapped in our heads

angry, attacking

defnding

manipulating

pushing and pulling

 

in an odd paradox we become

the mirror image of what we opposed

what

if our hearts were honest

we hate (thanks to Richard Rohr)

 

and in our entrenched place

we lose interest in the things

that are at the heart of

the Sacred

 

justice, tolerance, healing,

generosity

curiousity

resolution

revolution

 

 faith

spirituality

is about the heart

it is not intellectual assent

but is about opening up

holding on to hope and truth

and being a reciever

and ultimately a broadcaster

of 

love

The Generosity of God

“And still, after all this time, the Sun has never said to the Earth,
"You owe me."
Look what happens with love like that.
It lights up the sky.”

Rumi

__________________________________________

The mountain soars

against the blue sky

speckled with clouds

from poured forth

life giving rain

and now cede the sky

to the sun

the ground is wet

and the smell of life

comes from

trees and flowers

soaked

with the tears of heaven

Ah the 

unfailing

generosity

of 

God

A moment of Happiness

It caught me be surprise

I was sitting on the porch

minding my own business

watching

in the later afternoon sun

as brightness

pales to dull glow

a squirrel 

robbing the birdfeeder

and my does

(or so I think of them)

bedded down

unconcerned in the pasture

and the quail fat 

and unconcerned gorging on sunflower seeds

and there it was 

 

a moment of happiness

 

and for that moment

I wallowed

in

contentment

God's Mother Love

One of my mom’s favorite stories about me when I was really young involved she and my father coming home from a trip.  As the story goes (I have no memory of this ) I crawled into my mother’s lap and asked her  “Do you still love little boys?”

 

 of course she said

yes

 

such

is God's

mother love

for us

 

when we ask

do you love me?

still

really?

in spite of all the broken things

left behind

in spite of all the rebellion 

in spite of 

all

 

God

says

yes