My Psalm of Praise

I will sing about you and to you, Yahweh, worshiping you in good times and hard times.When I tell others how you have acted on my behalf,may those with little hope be encouraged to trust you.May their faces light up with hope and joy!So come, friends! Let’s lift him up in praise, let’s sing!He hasContinue reading “My Psalm of Praise”

Magnify!

“Magnify the LORD!” they said, “Exalt his name together!” “Which name?” I asked, to understand this better. ‘He has a great collectionall explaining his perfection!”And “magnify?” Can I make lettersbigger, clearer, bright and legible?I stretch out the arms of my soulholding a magnifying glass,straining to understandthe many pieces of the whole:the essence of the Trinity,graciousContinue reading “Magnify!”

Morning Praise

As I wake up to morning— to the last bat ping, first bird song, paling of the sky— let my heart wake up to you, open wide to take in light, listening for the welcome in your voice and then breaking into praise! Is praise the first impulse that sunrise and a new morning bringsContinue reading “Morning Praise”

Sensing God

We worship in a cloud, unfocused though we strain to see and feel yet worship what we know within unknowing, all our senses clamoring for the Real: — the One who touches hearts with joy, whose fingers reach to heal the blinded eyes, deaf ears; who feels our hurts because he hurt as human-Godson, heartContinue reading “Sensing God”

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”

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”

For the Joy Set Before Him

He knew where he was going when he rode into the City of Peace that received him with such welcome: shouts of joy based on false expectations,praise that would dissolve to bitternesswhen his peace was not what they’d hoped for.He knew that they would turn on him,following their leaders, men jealousof his power and risingContinue reading “For the Joy Set Before Him”

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”

Unnamed but Chosen

She lived in a land of darkness oppressed by cruel foreigners. She carried deep personal shame: “barren” was her common name. No hope for a descendant! No sign she could conceive! Her husband had not spurned her,his name must have consoled her:“place of rest: Manoah.” So she was quick to tell himthat a God-sent messengerhadContinue reading “Unnamed but Chosen”

Tangible Intangibles

to grasp the love that cannot be held to know the love that cannot be known to be rooted in love that sent God’ Chosen to die by torture yes, even this is possible although incomprehensibleeven this can be accomplished although never finishedeven this will be my goal although it hangs on things yet unseenIContinue reading “Tangible Intangibles”