It’s getting dark, there’s no light on the path. I stumble and fall. I shouldn’t have left my best flashlight back there in the hall. I look all over for something to eat—forgot to bring lunch!My stomach rumbles and grumbles complaintwith nothing to munch.So now my strength is wilting away,with no energy stored.Then I hearContinue reading “What I Need to Walk this Path”
Category Archives: spiritual formation
At Home
more and more at home he is entering with glad assurance no longer knocking wondering if I will see him as interruption intrusion guest who puts me on my toesmy best behavior politenesswith an edge of tensionwhisking litter out of sightswabbing the sinkshutting a bedroom doormessout of sightout of mind?I used to make sureI paidContinue reading “At Home”
Called to Bear Fruit
Since I was small, just tasting your Word, I’ve longed to be like Joseph, whose blessing prophesied rampant fruitfulness. Let me be a fruitful vine! Let my roots drink deep waters so my shoots stretch vibrantly up and over the walls, fruit falling freely. I desperately needyour streams of living waterdrenched with plant foodto fillContinue reading “Called to Bear Fruit”
Be One
You prayed your heart that last night, surrounded by eleven men who listened, astonished, and took note. And after you left (having suffered and risen) John remembered to write it down. For me. For us. For more to come.We need to know what yearningyou expressed for health and harmony:that we be one.And it’s the hardestContinue reading “Be One”
Craving Joy
When sorrow sits heavy on my soul I want to remember to go deep, stretch down to my foundations, touch the joy that lies there, waiting, holding on. It’s easy to forget, to wallow in the mud that seems pervasive, heavy, dark. But my Mentor has been nourishing my roots, plunging them yet furtherinto theContinue reading “Craving Joy”
Poured Out
I pour out my heart before you and there it lies, a puddle in your golden bowl: scent of sorrow, undertone of angst. You swirl the mixture deftlyand I see the colors whirlto form a spiral carousel:black of blindness, counterpoint of pearlwith an interplay of scarlet(all the dreams I’ve hadnow seasoned and remadeinto a fragrantContinue reading “Poured Out”
Savoring the Moment
Time tumbles forward, water over the cliff, and my life raft is all too quickly swept downstream. January hurtles past,April, May, August . . .I cling to the edgesand try not to swallow days whole, untasted.What is life worthif not lived with purpose?What if I staytuned to winter freezewhen the sun is out?I say noContinue reading “Savoring the Moment”
Pruned by the Wind
Leafless branches litter the wet earth in the aftermath of the storm. It came suddenly out of the north with a powerful wind that whipped through the trees and cleaned them out. Cobwebs are gone.The dead weight of lifeless woodwas lifted away and the tree is free,stretching up toward sky and sun.Spirit-wind, breath of God,sometimesContinue reading “Pruned by the Wind”
Cross
cross-eyed I had no clear vision life was a cross I had to carry and I was cross at the tangled criss-cross web of weariness and crass emptiness (clouded crock) case-hardened then cross my heart it came across brand new old and rugged time-testedChrist’s cross his cross purposescrossed over from heavento clean and fill metoreContinue reading “Cross”
Love Letter in Response to Deuteronomy 33:12
The one Yahweh loves rests between his shoulders! Here I am, God, loved by you! I too often forget that you came to us as Jesus—you two are one!—who died on the cross, for everyone—yes, for the whole worldbut for me too! Insignificant me!You love me! It sinks in, softly.I rest on your chest, quiet,Continue reading “Love Letter in Response to Deuteronomy 33:12”
Linnea's Lines 