God Keeps Reaching Down

"God simply keeps reaching down into the dirt of humanity and resurrecting us from the graves we dig for ourselves through our violence, our lies, our selfishness, our arrogance, and our addictions. And God keeps loving us back to life over and over.”

― Nadia Bolz-Weber, Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint

_______________________________________________________________

another year ends

it was kind of a dirty year

I can think of no other way to think about it

as we wallowed in the mud and filth of

ugly politics

ongoing wars

more shootings

more radical ideology, crushing compassion and common sense

and as I stumbled through

another year of

errors and failures

all my precious own

it was another year of slowly

sinking into the dirt

it is a good thing

God does not mind getting the Sacred hands dirty

For God reaches down into the dirt

And again and again

(and again)

to lift me up

lift you up

and love us back to life again

happy new year!

Wake Up!

Do you have a body?  Don’t sit on the porch!

Go out and walk in the rain!

If you are in love, then why are you asleep?

Wake up, wake up!

You have slept millions and millions of years

Why not wake up this morning?

              David Steindle-Rast, quoted by Barbara Brown Taylor, Altar in the World

______________________________________

what does it mean

to be spiritual?

to respond to the Sacred

authentically

staunchly

dynamically?

what does it mean to let Sacred

roll through one’s soul

setting one on fire

with Holy Passion?

somehow we have decided

that being spiritual

being tangled up with Sacred Presence

is about rituals

and profound tomes

theological assertions

meditation

and prayer

those activities have their place

(I suppose)

although I suspect they may be more effective

at putting our souls to sleep

a sad thing

when what we really need to do

is

“wake up”!

our spiritual lives

are about feet that move

hands that help

hearts that sing

it is more about

walks in the rain than about sleeping in the pew,

and laughter and love,

than pious prayers

bouncing around a half empty sanctuary

Our faith should wake us up

grab our senses

titillate us

enliven us

make us tingle

When your times with Sacred

make you feel like you just fell in love?

That’s spirituality

To Live is to pray

“Prayer, according to Brother David, is waking up to the presence of God no matter where I am or what I am doing. When I am fully alert to whatever or whoever is right in front of me; when I am electrically aware of the tremendous gift of being alive; when I am able to give myself wholly to the moment I am in, then I am in prayer

                                                                        Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World

___________________________________________________________________________________

to live is to pray

not merely to live,

as one going through the motions, without hope

or purpose

but to really live

engaged

connected

to really live

so awake

to the sacred around us

and in us

to be so aware

of the what is happening

to those

placed in our path

the pain and fear

the anger and despair

the joy and the hope

so aware of the needs of the world

and the beauty of creation

that we cannot help but respond

joining our hearts

and souls (if there is such a thing)

with all around us,

scattering our hope and will wishes

our questions and our pleas

into the far reaches of the universe,

to Sacred, the heart of all creation

allowing our hearts burst into a Sacred song

of joy and amazement

supplication and hope.

that is prayer!