It’s easy to love a deer
But try to care about bugs and scrawny trees
Love the puddle of lukewarm water
From last week’s rain.
Leave the mountains alone for now.
Also the clear lakes surrounded by pines.
People are lined up to admire them.
Get close to the things that slide away in the dark.
Be grateful even for the boredom
That sometimes seems to involve the whole world.
Think of the frost
That will crack our bones eventually.
Love for Other Things by Tom Hennen
When will he come
and how will he come
and will there be warnings
and will there be thunders
and rumbling of armies
coming before him
and banners and trumpets
When will he come
and how will he come
and will we be ready
Madeleine L’engle
O Come, Beloved,
in this night of our travail
in which we cannot see;
breathe with us, in us,
and be the saving arm around us.
O Life-making Word,
speak your light in our heartbreaking darkness,
and call this world into being anew.
O Borning God,
in the well of this deep night
wrap all our expectations in your mystery,
shroud in darkness all our knowing
of how you are among us,
bundle tightly our wisdom
in your smallest box,
and come to us otherwise.
O Intimate Dawning,
bear us through the night
and birth us into a new day,
changed,
infant,
breathing.
_________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
A little girl is singing for the faithful to come ye
Joyful and triumphant, a song she loves,
And also the partridge in a pear tree
And the golden rings and the turtle doves.
In the dark streets, red lights and green and blue
Where the faithful live, some joyful, some troubled,
Enduring the cold and also the flu,
Taking the garbage out and keeping the sidewalk shoveled.
Not much triumph going on here—and yet
There is much we do not understand.
And my hopes and fears are met
In this small singer holding onto my hand.
Onward we go, faithfully, into the dark
And are there angels singing overhead? Hark.
December by Gary Johnson
If you have seen the snow
under the lamppost
piled up like a white beaver hat on the picnic table
or somewhere slowly falling
into the brook
to be swallowed by water,
then you have seen beauty
and know it for its transience.
And if you have gone out in the snow
for only the pleasure
of walking barely protected
from the galaxies,
the flakes settling on your parka
like the dust from just-born stars,
the cold waking you
as if from long sleeping,
then you can understand
how, more often than not,
truth is found in silence,
how the natural world comes to you
if you go out to meet it,
its icy ditches filled with dead weeds,
its vacant birdhouses, and dens
full of the sleeping.
But this is the slowed-down season
held fast by darkness
and if no one comes to keep you company
then keep watch over; your own solitude.
In that stillness, you will learn
with your whole body
the significance of cold
and the night,
which is otherwise always eluding you.
Winter Grace By Patricia Fargnoli
The funny thing is that in spite of the euphoria one feels upon entering paradise, cloaked in miracles, surrounded by angels, love, and unimaginable beauty, it gradually becomes all they know, commonplace, ordinary, and then, shockingly… invisible.
Yep, I’m talking about life on earth. Right?
Yippee-kai-yay,
The Universe
http://www.tut.com
If day after day I was caught inside
this muffle and hush
I would notice how birches
move with a lovely hum of spirits,
how falling snow is a privacy
warm as the space for sleeping,
how radiant snow is a dream
like leaving behind the body
and rising into that luminous place
where sometimes you meet
the people you’ve lost. How
silver branches scrawl their names
in tangled script against the white.
How the curves and cheekbones
of all my loved ones appear
in the polished marble of drifts.
Shoveling Snow by Kirsten Dierking
Spirit of the Mighty, Gentle One,
come upon me, anoint me.
I see the oppressed.
I name them; I hold them close.
Make my life into good news for them.
I see the brokenhearted.
I name them; I hold them close.
Give me gentle grace to bind up their hearts.
I see the imprisoned.
I name them; I hold them close.
Give me true words and deeds to release them.
I see the ruined cities.
I name them; I hold them close.
Make me a part of their building up.
Spirit of God, be upon me.
I see my own ruins, my chains.
Hold me close
and set me free, that I may be
your good news for others.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
The authority of God made all creation. But it was the affection of God that made all His children.
You are made of the dust of this earth, and you are made of the happiness of heaven. You are flesh and you are spirit, and you are of two worlds longing for the home of forever and Him.
No matter your story before, this is your beginning now: you were formed by Love…for love.
– Ann Voskamp
On January 17, 2012 I added these words to the ‘Other Words’ page of this blog…
Timing is everything. How do we wait on things we want more than life? How many times have I run ahead of God and not waited? Almost always. It never seems to get any easier for me, yet I have learned the value and the importance and so I struggle to incorporate this all important lesson into my life. Timing…learn timing…timing is everything. Wait for the right gift, wait for the best blessing, wait for exactly what you need to be prepared and given to you…in the fullness of time!
Help me, dear Lord! May I wait in peace and be ready for action when you show me the way!
💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞💞
Here we are entering the time of year known as Advent aka Waiting for Jesus to Come.
The only way we can wait is if we believe the waiting will, ultimately, bring us all the things that have been promised! Then the waiting is worth it!
I believe! My foundation is built on solid rock and the roots of faith have grown down deep through the storms of life.
And so I wait the coming of what has been promised! For as long as it takes! I will focus and I will wait! ACL
Prepare your way in me, Lord,
prepare your way in me, my Lord.
Make my rough places smooth,
the crooked make straight, my Lord.
Lay your hand at my root,
that I may bear fruit, my Lord.
Come and empty my heart
of all things but you, my Lord.
Guide my feet in your way,
fill me with your peace, my Lord.
Prepare your way in me, Lord,
prepare your way in me, my Lord.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
http://www.unfoldinglight.net
Understanding Nothing
from The Power of Nothing
by Barbara Zerfoss
There are fundamental keys to unlocking the door to success. They are so simple that most people never discover the combination. Why is that?
As we grow, we often leave creativity and simplicity behind and start to look for answers in complexity. However, those who are most successful have discovered a foundational principle of success: there is no genius in complexity.
In fact, Abe Lincoln said this,
“I’m sorry I wrote such a long letter. I did not have the time to write a short one.”
History has proven that…the greatest discoveries often come from the simplest of forms. In fact, most breakthroughs come straight out of “nothing,” coming to light while the inventor was simply being present in the world.
In fact, most people naturally have a fear of “nothing” and feel most comfortable and safe holding on to what they already have or what they already know. No matter what the past holds for them—good or bad—it is where they are most at home. Their box is their security, and the walls around them give them plenty of opportunity to admire barriers.
This is why most people find it easier to stay put or simply change or add on to what exists, rather than creating what could be. It’s why people or businesses stay stuck or simply achieve incremental improvements, rather than breakthroughs. It’s what keeps people from discovering their unique purpose, from seeing a vision of the future and creating a life they were truly meant and desire to live. The past is a powerful force filled with stories. It is constantly working to draw us back into the comfort zone.
New experiences or going out on a limb can make us feel uneasy, often causing a type of paralysis within us. Yet, if we can form a new relationship with “nothing”—if we embrace a blank page as a wonderful opportunity to design what we want our future to be—we will have access to unlimited potential.
We are God’s thread
weaving through the tapestry of life,
our masterpiece is slowly
created.
Potential for beauty, we can’t know,
or even fathom,
unfolding,
becoming,
revealing our glory
so bright
it makes the sun squint
and reach for sunglasses.
Grace producing brilliance
so far beyond what we would claim ourselves.
We step shining into the gray,
as we open to the new.
Virtues, like jewels appearing,
sparkling in the moonlight.
As we step into the needle’s eye,
off the edge of the known,
into spirit worlds unending,
the angels catch their breath,
cheering our sheer audacity,
our blazing garments,
dazzled by the vision
God is revealing through His creation.
As we surrender to the greatest mystery,
the beauty we inhabit
becomes us,
walking in humble clay,
eyes outshining those stars
set in the heavens,
until we totally disappear, and all that’s left
is holiness
so pure
all we can do
is
bow in wonder
at what God can do
with a fragile human.
We give thanks
as the silk thread
becomes liquid
gold and silver
opening us ever
deeper, wider
pure and simple
glory
as we realize our place.
We are the temple of our creator.
The home of God.
ACL 1/ 19/14
life: acoustic & amplified 