Christmas, the daring dream, Creeps ever closer. The silent night’s Holy birth of God, awash Into a world of angels. Children’s faces, Joy! Alighted by surprise, Squinting into mystery, Watch Him, who fell so far. Oh, sons of earth, Come! See Him, as we rehearse The daring dream of the star.
Tag: spirituality
Contemplation – One Step of Hope at a Time
A couple years ago, after heart issues had me in and out of the hospital, I fell into a dark place. I use the word dark to describe how sleep escaped me, and how each successive night of wide-eyed toss and turns left me weaker, more anxious and wondering if I’d ever get a full…
Contemplative Prayer-The Fire of transformation
It’s clear from scripture that God is fire. Moses stood before a burning bush, as well as followed that same pillar of fire guiding him in the desert. Tongues of fire appeared over the heads of the apostles at Pentecost. The Bible describes God as a consuming fire. Which reminds me of a little bon…
Contemplative Prayer-Seeing the Son of Man
On the day after my first son was born, I stood at the discharge counter; only KJ wasn’t going home. We needed to transfer him to the children’s hospital trauma center. The night before a kind doctor had explained to us that our son was a very sick little boy, needing 3-4 operations the first…
Contemplative Prayer-In Whose Arms?
For contemplative prayer to be grounded, it relies on two movements of faith. The first happens when we reach for the person of Jesus Christ in his invitation to “come.” In my mind’s eye I see his arm stretched toward me, the same way it was stretched on the cross and nailed in place. His…
Free & Fearless
The new assistant to the prime minister was nervous; he had never been around such a powerful man. When he got to the massive entrance to the mansion, his trembling finger pushed the doorbell. He waited, heart pounding. Suddenly, the doors swung open, and there in the foyer was the man he feared, down on…
Naming the Clouds
“Be still and know that I am God.” Be still and know that I am Be still and know Be still Be” I grew up in a little yellow house set off a gravel road. In front of us was an orchard, and behind us a thick band of woods. My brother JoJo and I…
When is it ever enough?
When will we ever know if our prayer life cuts the muster; is good enough, long enough, or deeply intimate enough? I don’t think we were ever meant to, not this side of heaven. But until then this is what I know. He wants us to enjoy Him, in the unique way He’s created us…
This Favored Wound
I was weeding with a double-edged machete, and hadn’t noticed I disturbed a hornet’s nest. Forgetting I gripped a weapon, I swatted at my stung hand, and sliced open my forearm, a gaping wound. It has taken a long time to heal. I like to think of wounds as a mark of God’s ownership. Spiritual…
Dry Swallow Christians
“As the deer pants for the water brooks… ”Psalm 42, Son’s of Korah Panting. The dry swallow of an animal in search of water, tongue lolling in the mouth, perhaps running as it catches a scent of moisture, bounding through thicket, urged on by a desperate longing. An untamed instinct, pushing itself to find what…
Walter,’Never at the Altar’
My partner for the ‘afternoon of outreach’ was Daniel, a high school student from Brooklyn. It was a first for him, this ‘going out and talking to perfect strangers.’ He was nervous, visibly. Later, he confided that for the past couple of years atheists, who challenged his every belief, had bullied him. The weekend retreat…
Raymond’s Race
I first met him in a crowded high school hallway. He was down on hands and knees trying to pick up his books, while a group of students were kicking them down the hall poking fun at him. Sadly, he was laughing right along with them. When he got back up, I noticed his right…
To Sir, with love 