The glorious cross

I sit this morning in front of the crucifix

I ponder the Passion of our Lord

His outstretched arms

Reaching from one end of the universe

To the other

His hands, nailed with blood running down

The blood of God

Poured out for God’s people

Blood that is pure and undefiled

The Life-Blood of the Son of God

What is it worth?

How priceless it is!

His arms stretched to the breaking point

His shoulders pulled out of joint

From the weight of the sins of the cosmos

Bearing down

How much do the sins of the cosmos weigh?

His arms, wide enough to embrace me tenderly

As my Brother-God

As my Lord-God

As my Savior-God

How can it be that God calls me brother, friend?

It is too mysterious for me to analyze

It is too huge for me to lift

It is too complex for three and a half pounds of mortal brain

His naked body stretched out

With feet nailed

Feet that walked the length and breadth

Of Galilee

Feet that walked into

The Temple of God

Feet that walked dusty roads

To forgotten people

And brought . . .

Grace

More blood running down

How freely He gave his blood

How freely He gave his body

How freely He gave his Spirit

His head bowed and at peace

His work

Done

His precious head, with all the knowledge and wisdom of God

In one head

All the compassion and love of God

On one face

All the joy of the smile of God

On one mouth

All the grief of a Loving God

In the tears in his eyes

In his face I see the understanding

Of One who has suffered

One who left the glory of heaven

To incarnate into my suffering and pain

And joy and happiness

One who united himself to me

On the splintery cross

One who loved to the max

One who gave all

So that I could be free

Oh glorious cross

Primordial symbol

Of Who God is

Of What God is like

Of Why God made us

Of How God redeemed us

Of When History was cracked in two

Oh glorious cross

I will cling to you

All my days

Because in your splintery beams

I transcend the world that is passing away before my eys

In your splintery beams

I see that God’s Grace

Extends High and Low

Deep and Wide

It reaches the far corners

Of the Universe

Even into the dark corners

Of my heart

Oh, Praise to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!

Who lives and reigns, One God, Forever and Ever!

Christ is risen!

Crow calling out

Caaa Caaa 

Wren sings the prelude

Bee buzzing around

Rooster joins the chorus

Car comes barreling by

Like a wave crashing on the ocean

Mule moans out the bridge

And in the background

The crickets fill the void

Like 151 violins

Quietly holding a note

Christ is risen!

Christ is risen indeed!

wisdom

“Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.”

so how do you discern wisdom

in a culture of never-ending

change?

how do you discern wisdom

in a make believe world where all you have to do

is create a blog and suddenly you’re an expert?

how do you discern wisdom

when the elders are regarded as stupid

and the Church is tossed on the garbage heap along with every other “institution?”

how do you discern wisdom

when the newest is always the best

and the “newest” is old in ten minutes?

my hunch is that wisdom is not that different

than it always has been

there’s always been enthusiasm for the latest model

there’s always been fascination with the new idea

there’s always been Adam and Eve’s constant quest

for novelty

as Julian said,

“haste is ever the sin of Adam”

Lord, help me slow down

and listen to wisdom

help me hear her calling out

in the midst of the din of insane

violence and fighting

in the midst of “do this, do that!”

help me turn the pages once again

and listen to the words beneath the words

and gaze into the eyes of those

who have weathered the storms

and come through

wiser, stronger, and more at peace

the forests

the forests are

the last great hope

for humanity

why?

because

the forests have

become the last place

that we can

hear

the voice of

God

with all the buzz

with all the noise

with all the voices

with all the blah, blah, blah

with all the yelling

with all the screaming,

with all the hitting

with all the shoving,

with all the shooting

the forests are

the last great hope

for humanity

i am stuck

i am stuck somewhere

between

beauty

and

asceticism

i am stuck somewhere

between

grace

and

karma

i am stuck somewhere

between

this world

and

the next

i am stuck somewhere

between

your eyes

and

the open sky

i am stuck

Follow

So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"

The truth of God is hard

It ruptures our little bubbles

It overturns our systems of sin

It breaks in on our party

“The system is just fine, Jesus!

Let us sleep!

After all the day has just begun.

We've plenty of time!”

But Jesus knows

He knows we're comfortable

He knows we're numb 

From a crazy world

And still he calls,

“Will you trust?

Will you follow?

Or

“Do you also wish

To go away?”