Somethin' ain't right

“First the fish needs to say: Somethin' ain't right about this CAMEL ride...and I'm feeling so damned THIRSTY.”  ― Hafiz

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Lord

on this Sabbath

let us take the time to breathe

to walk through the crispy air

of a fall morning

to see the gentle sky

coming to life

with colors

that only You could imagine

let us wonder at the trees

the clouds

the majesty of the mountains

newly crowned with snow

let us drink deeply of the smells of the earth

and may our hearts sing

at the first burst of light

when the sun finally rises

may we take each step

thoughtfully

may we come to our senses

and know

that we were not made for the chaos

the fear

the rat race

not made for TV marathons

and restless attempts to manufacture joy

but

that we were made for YOU

and for

this

one

moment

Those faces haunt me

People are not statistics.  Beatrice Bruteau

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Every day Lord

people with agendas throw statistics at us

statistics

about fraud

about poverty

about greed

about drug use

about mental illness

about divorce

and

so many other things

and we gobble them up

those numbers

we throw them around

and use them as weapons

but behind the statistics are people

behind the numbers there are faces

the faces of children

frightened and vulnerable

the faces of parents

drawn tight by the weight of poverty

the faces of women

abused and oppressed

the faces of men

who can no longer support their families

Lord

Those faces are everything

Those are the faces of your children

of those who are precious to you

of those you love

as we sit at our computers

as we sit at our desks on Capital Hill

and collect our 1000 dollars a day

as we hide behind our pulpits

as we crunch the numbers

let us remember

people

God's love is like that

Love asks us to enjoy our life

For nothing good can come of death.

Who is alive? I ask.

Those who are born of love.

Seek us in love itself,

Seek love in us ourselves.

Sometimes I venerate love,

Sometimes it venerates me.”

― Rumi

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Sometimes God

I spend a lot of time worrying about

my love for you

Do I love you enough?

does my love show

am I living up to your expectations for me

am I following your will?

Ah but then

I remember being a parent

and how

even when my children drove me crazy

with their behavior

their words

how even when I was at my most frustrated

I loved them

I just did

there was (and is) nothing I can do about that

I am always

Simply

their biggest fan

God, as I look at Jesus

I suspect

your love is something like that….

Thank you

Amen