"They Were Singing Their Hosannas" (Palm Sunday morning ponderings)

I stepped outside this morning at 6:10am and was surrounded by a beautiful chorus. Birds were singing from what seemed to be every tree in the neighborhood.

Are they practicing their "Hosannas" for this Palm Sunday? Do they know something that we don't know or are they just joining with other Hosanna-Shouters as Jesus resolutely sets his sights on Jerusalem. I wonder ... will they fall deathly silent on Good Friday? Will their "Hosannas" turn into a chorus of "Hallelujahs" that fills the skies next Sunday, in the pre-dawn of Easter morning?

Today is Palm Sunday. Jesus asks, "Who do you say that I am?" It is a question to ask ourselves as we put down our palm branches at the end of the day and step into Holy Week.

"Enough" (Palm Sunday thoughts)

The child picked up

a broken and bent

and trampled-upon

palm frond

and found a place to stand

at the edge of the dirt road.

The crowds grew.

Loud “Hosannas”

and whispers of discontent

surrounded the child.

He knew not what to shout …

his palm branch 

was a sad sight to behold.

He was pushed around

as if invisible 

(but that was nothing new to him).

The child’s heart raced

as the man came near,

riding on a lumbering donkey.

The “Hosannas” grew louder.

The child’s words

were only whispers.

“Oh, please look my way.

Please wave at me.

Please let me know

that I am not as

invisible as others

make me to be.”

There was eye contact …

there was a smile …

there were words

from the lips

of the One on the donkey ...

“My beloved child.”

And that was enough. 

Enough .... for this day.

"When the Words We Speak Become the Words We Wear" (A Lenten Thought)

This picture reminds me of the time, not so long ago, when a dear friend was somewhat disturbed that I used the word HATE in a Facebook posting. (It was a benign use such as "I hate the freezing cold" or "I hate cauliflower" ... but still, the word was there). He reminded me that the word HATE is such a powerful word and often brings with it hurtful memories of judgment and injury to others.

O God, may HATE never be written across my face, on my hands or in my heart. Help me to be beautiful in the words spoken today... and tomorrow ... and the next day. And if such unsavory words can be seen within me, I pray that in your mercy, you wipe the slate clean. Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Amen.

Intercessory Prayers centered around John 4:5-42 (Samaritan Woman at the Well)

Intercessory Prayers centered around John 4:5-42 (Samaritan Woman at the Well)  

“Let us pray to the Lord” (pastor)
“LORD, have mercy”  (congregation)



O God With Us … For those who come to the well alone, for those who sit at a desk shuffling papers, for those who sense that their world is collapsing, for those who have never known how to play, for all who long for someone to listen to their stories … let us pray to the Lord.

LORD, have mercy.

O God of Living Water …  For this Lenten time of repentance and self-reflection, help us, as people of faith, to abstain from those things that separate us from you, that we might be renewed, strengthened and refreshed by the coolness and taste of your Living Water … let us pray to the Lord.

LORD, have mercy.

O God of Unseen Hope … For those in poverty-stricken lands whose life-giving wells have ceased to bear water because of drought or disrepair.  For those who have fallen victim to the merciless destruction of wells in the horrors of genocide and war.  For those whose family members have died for lack of enough water or safe water … let us pray to the Lord

LORD, have mercy.

O God of Ingenuity … For those who have the skills and your heart to build wells where there are none.  For those who have the imagination to repair wells with the most unlikely parts.  For those who have the ingenuity to find funding for such life-giving water … let us pray to the Lord

LORD, have mercy.

O God Who Shapes Us… For the desire within us to become the hands of Christ.  For our willingness to become your vessel, shaped by you to pour out hope and your love into a parched world… let us pray to the Lord.

LORD, have mercy.

O Listening God … For those prayers which we do not know how to speak, and the prayers we make in the silence of our hearts … let us pray to the Lord

LORD, have mercy.

AMEN.                                  

"Here I Am, Such As I Am" (Ash Wednesday)

Here I am, such as I am ...

  Imperfect.

    Weak.

       Broken.

          In need of forgiveness.

             In need of your Presence.

Here I am, such as I am ...

  Confessing.

    Repentant.

       Hopeful.

          Listening.

Here I am, such as I am ...

  Willing to be melted

     and molded.

  Wanting a newly created

     pure heart.

Here I am, such as I am ...

   Branded with a mark...

     Your unmistakable mark.

   Lead me, O God,

      walk with me

      in these 40 days.

Amen.

"Costly"

Those early-morning psychic commercials are on TV again (they drive me nuts). $1.00/minute phone calls. This morning, a woman who had made the call was so excited ... "She (the psychic) gave me hope and a purpose for my life!"

I couldn't help but think of the quote of William Barclay that Ken Broman-Fulks (Sr. Minister of First Presbyterian Church in High Point, NC) shared with me yesterday. "There are two great days in a person's life - the day we are born and the day we discover why."

The "day that we discover why", as revealed by God, is more costly than $1.00/minute for it requires something from us yet it is wondrous to be sure. It is far more hope-filled than any psychic reading could ever be. And there is no guessing on God's part as to who we are and whose we are.

The best conversations are with God!

"Alone in a Hospital Waiting Room"

Alone in a hospital waiting room

for any length of time,

a person might sense

the tears and fears,

the anxiety and worries,

the praise and release

of those who had

been there 

hours and days and weeks before.

As I sat alone 

in the empty waiting room,

lingering emotions of others

who had once sat in this space

were almost palpable.

Me?

I felt swaddled in prayers

and calmed 

in the words of 

“My peace I GIVE to you.”

But still,

the waiting room was empty

and I was alone

and, at times, I wished

for family to be with me.

It was then when I heard,

“Sir, what is your last name?”

A weary black man, 

struggling to walk and talk,

mumbled, “MURDOCK.”

My head turned at the sound

of my last name.

He slowly sat down.

No longer

was the waiting room empty.

No longer was I alone.

I smiled

for I had sensed

the presence of others

who had come and gone,

I had allowed for the

swaddling of prayers,

I had reached out

for Jesus’ peace 

(it was a promise given),

and at the mumbled response

of “MURDOCK” by this man

who fell into his chair,

I realized that

we are all family.

Prayers were answered

and God’s Presence was felt

in so many ways.