Believe, in the high English definition, means to be-love something. To choose to love. To set your heart upon.
To believe in Jesus is to be in love. To be-love him.
The cross is not about doctrine. The cross was about Jesus be-loving humanity. Loving each of us so much he was willing to suffer so that we could know we are the beloved.
– Rev. Bruce Freeman
Innocence sees that this is it, and finds it world enough.
– Annie Dillard
At some point you make peace with it
Your life as it is, with all it offers you
Like an early evening walk, half moon
Hung in the tiger lily sky
Black cows heading to the barn
Bemoaning the end of day
Hundreds of blackbirds screeching
Live as the wire they perch upon
My long-time friend zipping by in her van
Waving. It’s after all the whining
And stomping of feet, of course. After dreams
Blur with real life. After the pin-pricked
Pop of the inflated ego. What joy
Mysterious. What humble innocence.
“Innocence” by Julie L. Moore, from Slipping Out of Bloom. © WordTech Editions, 2010.
In a moment it becomes clear –
all the deals you made
the attempts to suffer enough
to make up for what you had to do
the need you had to suffer
the thought that it would be rewarded
that you would ‘make it’ someday to the promised land
flowing with milk and honey
and when it doesn’t come
you wonder what else you could have done?
What deal you forgot to make?
but God…
is not our magic genie
granting wishes for good behavior
giving cookies for deeds completed
sniper shooting us as we step from the bus at our desired location.
There are no deals to be made.
There are no favors we must earn.
There are no hoops we must jump through.
God is God.
God’s ways are not our ways.
God is always good.
We are always the beloved.
Grace is always ours.
Love is what we have.
Forever and always.
There is always enough.
AL 5/14/14
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
A fish can’t whistle and neither can I.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie,
Why does a chicken, I don’t know why.
Ask me a riddle and I reply:
“Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie.”
And here’s the explanation, according to the book “The Tao of Pooh” by Benjamin Hoff.
“A fly can’t bird but a bird can fly.” Very simple. It’s obvious, isn’t it? And yet, you’d be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.
It is useless to try to make things into ways they’re not. Everything has its own place and function, including people, even if they don’t realize it, and that’s why they keep the wrong job, or stay on the wrong marriage
or relationships. You need to learn to know and respect your Inner Nature. When you do so, you know where you belong and where you don’t belong.
“A fish can’t whistle and neither can I”. This means “I have certain limitations, and I know what they are”. There’s nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you’re a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren’t designed for. That doesn’t mean that we need to stop changing and improving. It just means that we need to recognize what’s there.
“Why does a chicken, I don’t know why”. Why does a chicken does what it does? You don’t know? Neither do I. Neither does anyone else. The important thing is that we don’t really need to know. We don’t need to play Abstract Philosopher, asking unnecessary questions and coming up with meaningless answers.
Cottleston Pie means Inner Nature, and if you substitute the words in the song, you’ll get that Inner Nature is the answer for the riddles!
So, you want to be happy?
– Respect yourself, respect your Inner Nature. Make friends with what you are, because that’s the only thing you have.
– Respect your limitations, respect what you can’t do. If you know what is that you can’t do you’ll work on it, and that will save you from trouble.
– Stop trying to find and explanation for everything, stop over analyzing, things are as they are. Learn to accept them as they go.
… and Cottleston Pie.
http://www.thecottlestonpie.com/whythecottlestonpie
Where we feel weak, our weaknesses are a cup for God’s power.
Where we feel stretched thin, our stretching is a canvas for God’s glory.
Where we feel out of our depths, right there is where we touch the depths of the love of God.
– Ann Voskamp
Isaiah 32:17
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.
See it at YouVersion.com:
http://bible.com/1/isa.32.17.kjv
Each of us has a mission in life. Jesus prays to his Father for his followers, saying: “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18).
We seldom realise fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we have to choose how, where, and with whom to live. We act as if we were simply plopped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.
– Henri Nouwen
http://www.henrinouwen.org
That day I saw beneath dark clouds
the passing light over the water
and I heard the voice of the world speak out,
I knew then, as I had before
life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
It is the vision of far off things
seen for the silence they hold.
It is the heart after years
of secret conversing
speaking out loud in the clear air.
It is Moses in the desert
fallen to his knees before the lit bush.
It is the man throwing away his shoes
as if to enter heaven
and finding himself astonished,
opened at last,
fallen in love with solid ground.
“The Opening of Eyes” by David Whyte, from Songs for Coming Home. © Many Rivers Press, 1984.
I googled it
what was the history?
the meaning?
my ability to write,
along with me,
had just been put into this container – a paper bag
that I couldn’t write my way out of???
It felt like a throw down challenge.
how difficult is this challenge?
and, by golly,
how did I get into the this giant paper bag?
armed only with pen,
quite obviously
a silly decision.
Why didn’t I think to bring scissors?
or
chocolate?
If I had chocolate
I wouldn’t really mind being in this paper bag
I should have seen this coming
been prepared…
just in case I can’t figure out
how to write myself out.
Of course,
I didn’t really intend to get stuck here
in a paper bag –
it just somehow happened.
I got caught in a cross-fire
of two people
with razor-sharp writing skills.
(are they better than mine –
or do we all just have our own voice?
hmmmm)
maybe I’ll just stay in this bag
and take a nap.
it’s pretty comfy here.
Oh nice, I have an orange in my pocket.
I can write myself out later
I’ve never found myself in a paper bag before –
think I’ll just enjoy the novelty of the adventure
before I go home for dinner.
AL 1/6/13
You would gladly travel great distances in rain,
arriving at dark in foreign places.
You would eagerly await the news, every call
a promise, in invitation.
You would hold your loved ones, feeling them
in your hands even from far away.
You would have a story to tell of gratitude and grace.
You would already be thinking of a new name for yourself
if you knew God’s love were being poured into your life
like a newborn on the way, a grandchild
you have not yet seen.
__________________________
Weather Report
Birth,
arriving at all hours,
requiring you to do the same;
with periods of intermittent labor and hope,
precipitating in showers of joy and wonder.
There will be shifting patterns,
and a one hundred percent chance
that Things Will Be Different.
______________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
life: acoustic & amplified 