"A Wedding at Cana"

(Lectionary scriptures ... John 2:1-12)

It was on the third day

when a mother heard her son

call her “Woman”.

It would not be the last time.

It was on the third day

when people gathered

and with a great thirst

cried out, “What are we to do?”

It was on the third day

when the old ways of cleansing

took on a new look and fragrance.

The very best was spilled out for all.

It was on the third day

when a miracle occurred.

“Enough for everyone” was the miracle.

“Enough of the best for everyone!”

It was on the third day

when the glory of the Lord

was revealed …

and the disciples believed.

And it was on the third day

when there was a great celebration

at a wedding in Cana …

and at a tomb in Jerusalem …

and within us all

forever more.

"A Prayer On Epiphany, 2016"

O God …

Surprise us and stir our hearts to seek your own heart. Prepare us, dress us, supply us for our journeys of faith. In your own way and of your own choosing, speak to each of us that we might be a people who venture out in faith to following your lead. Give us,  Beckoning God, an amount of strength, persistence, trust, perseverance and peace on our journey. Transform us along the way. Bruise our knees with the depth of a different kind of worship. Remind us to breathe deeply the fragrance of permeating worship that fills us with joy overflowing. Open our hearts, minds and hands to present our gifts to you.

Return us, Giver of Starlight, to the place we are to be. Return us by another road. Yes, even as you call us to breathe in both the sweetness of the news of Emmanuel, the Christ-child, as well as the darkness of this world, whisper to each of us, "Now, exhale my Love to all."

Amen.

Advent Morning - Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015

The fog was very dense this morning and there was a light drizzle of rain.  I drove through the middle of the city and noticed that only one of the many Christmas decorations on the lamp posts was lit. Yes, only one trying its best to be seen through the fog.  A mile beyond the lone lamp post Christmas decoration was an elderly man standing on the side of the road … tousled white hair and wearing shorts on this December day.  He held a small tree branch high above his head and was shouting something to those of us who passed by.

It occurs to me that these moments in my morning are much like the beginning days of our Advent. A (Christmas) Light shine in the darkness and a voice cries out (in the fog), “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

This was my Advent morning.

"My Ears Had Heard of You ..."

(Mark 10:46-52)

We can be found

along life’s road …

disciples who have 'seen',

followers who rebuke,

one of many in a

muttering crowd,

overlooking (or stepping over)

the one,

the beggar

whose only possessions

are faith and hope

and a name

that is covered

with the dust

of his or her days.

A dusty faith whispers,

“My ears have heard of you, O LORD …

my ears have heard of you.”

How many shouts

from the roadside

have been the very cries

heard that day …

“JESUS, SON OF DAVID,

HAVE MERCY ON ME …

SON OF GOD,

HAVE MERCY ON ME!”

A stepped-over hope whispers,

“My ears have heard of you, O LORD..

my ears have heard of you.”

There is no contentment

in hearing alone.

The implications are great

and costly for us all

in the one answered question …

“What would I have you do for me?

I WANT TO SEE!”

And the one

who has answered the question

declares with certainty of sight,

“My ears had heard of you, O LORD,

but now my eyes have seen you!”

He is any one of us

who have now 'seen' ...

those who have new sight

are beggars no more

for there are riches in Love

and great wealth

to be found

in such witness

of ears that had heard

and eyes that now see.

"Privileged and Assured"

This morning, I alone

saw a single leaf

break away

from its branch

and fall 

to the ground.

Among the 

hundreds of 

golds and

reds and

oranges, 

it has found

its place.

The privilege

of it all 

(or the sadness

of it all)

is that

I am

the only one

who knows

where it landed.

And yet,

somewhere 

the  psalmist whispers

in the gentle breeze …

“You know when I sit down 

and when I rise up” …

and I am assured

that the One who

knows me,

knows this leaf

and celebrates all

stages of its

beauty.

"Still, There is Hope"

(Ponderings on Mark 10-17-31)

"My soul is restless until I find rest in Thee." For this reason and because of the life-changing love of Jesus, I have a lot of hope for this rich man found in Mark 10:17-31. I can only hope that he didn't walk away from Jesus forever. I hope that he didn't grow old among his riches and gods. I hope and pray that whatever it was that made him restless in the beginning, kept him restless until he found rest in God alone. There seemed to be a crack in the wall of this rich young man's own kingdom .. a crack that caused a restlessness, a crack that brought him face to face with Jesus and a crack that hopefully allowed the Holy Spirit to work from within his "walls" and hesitancy. So for him (and for so many of us), "Still, There is Hope".


“What must I do?” he asked.
“I am decent and good
and follow God’s commandments.
Tell me, what must I do
to inherit this eternal life
of which you speak?”

The answer was
simple, yet costly.

‘GO.
SELL.
GIVE.
COME.
FOLLOW,”
was the reply.

The man’s face fell
and in sadness
he turned
and walked away.

And yet,
Jesus looked at him
and loved him.

Still,
there is hope …
for this rich man.

And still,
there is hope …
for each of us.

"The Way of HOPE"

I'm afraid that we have watered down HOPE by too often equating it with our wishes.  As a writer I see words as having different dimensions to them.  Wishes are very flat to me as mere words on a piece of paper in wish-list form; words that have no true hope or love behind them.  No change of heart, no change of posture, no promise, no relationship between God and us.  But HOPE ... oh my, HOPE is different!

I am reminded of an old family Polaroid picture that is a favorite of mine.  My younger brother, Steve, when he was a very small child, would always approach my grandmother with cupped hands.  He would stand still before her, cup his little hands together, close his eyes and lower his head.  He stood before her in the hope that she might have a piece of candy or a surprise to place in his hands.  More times than not, she did.  You know how grandmothers are.

But there were times when she had only love to give him and that seemed to be sufficient for the moment.  The picture shows a little boy, with cupped hands, closed eyes, head lowered and a smiling grandmother bent low, trying to look into his face, ready to pour out unimaginable love on my brother.  The beautiful thing about this was that having nothing at that moment to place into Steve's hands was never a deal-breaker.  This little boy continued to love his grandmother and his grandmother continued to love him.  Those days when he hoped for something, yet when his hopes were not immediately realized, did nothing to discourage him from coming before our grandmother in hope again.

Our love for God and God's love for us isn't conditional to each of our hopes placed before God being realized in the way that we want them to be or even revealed to us at all.  But when we discover the way of HOPE, we see love also ... unconditional love flowing between God and a beloved child.