Evil and good

"Do not be overcome 

By evil, but overcome evil

With good"

I witnessed a fight yesterday

At a restaurant

Oh, it wasn't a fist fight

Just a verbal one

But it was ugly

An argument about

The tea being bad

And I thought wow

All this fuss over tea?

No wonder they can't 

Get along in Jerusalem!

But "vengeance is mine

I will repay" says The Lord 

And "so far as it depends on you

Live at peace with everyone"

We love a good fight

We human creatures

Some of us are looking for one 

All the time

Of course overcoming evil 

With good is impossible

Without God

And Christian community

(The church)

Even then it's no cake walk

O Lord, this is one of your

Hardest commands

Help us pray enough

And love each other enough

And let your Spirit dwell in us enough

To live this peace

That you offer to us

In the name of the One 

Who brings peace

Amen

The wound

Pull deeper into the wound

And you will be healed

Go deeper into the dark night 

And you will see the light

Dive deeper into the

Pain and sorrow of life

And you will find joy

Walk further into the dark valley 

And there you will meet the Messiah

Cause you don't find salvation

By putting on a brave face

But by laying your brokenness 

At the feet of Jesus

Messiah

"You are the Messiah!"

 Jesus, I didn't even really know

I needed a Messiah

Until your Word dawned on me

I didn't really know 

That I needed saving

Until I hit the dark valley

I didn't even know 

That there was a new life

Until you crashed into 

My old one

Praise you for indeed

You are not just

The Messiah

You are my Messiah

Your brother

"I am your brother" 

Joseph proclaimed

To a bunch of fratricidal maniacs

Of course they didn't really kill Joseph

They just excised him from the family

Though they broke connection

Though they divorced their brother

Joseph still claimed them as kin

My brothers and sisters 

Never sold me for a slave

But they've certainly failed me before

As I have failed them

Do I have the grace to still say

"I am your brother"

I sure hope so

Cause I'm counting on them

To do the same

This crazy group of siblings

Vying for favor from Dad

Vying for power and position

Even so, can we live together?

Are the walls big enough

In this house?

Is the love big enough

In the walls

Of our hearts?

I sure hope so,

Sister,

Brother

Dream the dream

Dreamer,

You imagined the whole universe 

With all it's intricacies

From the expanse of galaxies

To the fine geometric patterns

Of a spider's web

From massive red giants

To the beauty of a DNA strain

From Jupiter to the tiny ants 

crawling on my front porch 

How do you dream dreams 

Like that?

Teach me to listen

To the dreams you place in my heart

Covenant

"He is mindful of his covenant forever

Of the word that he commanded 

For a thousand generations"

Who makes a promise 

That lasts forever?

Promises and contracts 

Are broken everyday

In this world

Brother betrays brother

Wife betrays husband

Husband betrays wife

God is not like a human

The Lord is not full of irony

And mixed motives

The Soverign does not

Blow with the wind

Yahweh is not moody and fickle

A thousand generations

His promise will last

(That means forever)

Have you ever known 

Love like that?