she walks with many names
through wind and flame
breathing passion
in water and light
graceful in the frolic of glory

mothering
she comforts diverse hearts
awakens and dwells
among the deeper wells
within
rests and soars
along the driving current
wherein
she speaks with many tongues
to divine and portend
a whisper of hope
with renown and acclaim
the conviction of love again and again

O, her mystifying ways
O, her succulent allure

the barest scent
you can discover
as the gentle breeze
caresses your face
as the gale force
batters your body
breathing new life
with the quickening
of living transformation
where the living liquid
flows forth
one Spirit
one Body
one Lord

fire and wind
propel one another
…the ancient mystery
stoking the coals
of renewed flesh and spirit
now fueled with wildfire within

in the cascade of
a living fountain
a fiery love
such pure saveur
in a moment so vulnerable
formed with fire and water
a baptism sealing
the signs and wonders
of Love
who with the diligence
of a master craftsman
lovingly submits Her Masterpiece
to the blazing travails
of an inferno unbound
separating the impurities
while new strength is found
forged in a life of fierce devotion
flowing from a living Source
both within and without

with the oil of gladness
burning on my brow

alight with anointing
i get caught up

in the embrace
of such instance

where i could never be content
…with indistinct distance
…with inadequate detachment

rather than the demonstration
…Your Holy Touch
…Your Love Divine

that sprinkles mercy
upon my face

while liquid joy
runs up and down my spine

embracing me
with the texture of eternity

But I am trusting you, O Lord,
saying, “You are my God!”
My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from those who hunt me down relentlessly.
Let your favor shine on your servant.
In your unfailing love, rescue me.

________

This week. This very week.

I look out the window and see a neighbor’s house surrounded by three police officers. Their guns are drawn and they’re motionless. It’s hard to believe I’m seeing what I’m seeing, and I’m as frozen in place as the officers. Eventually our neighbor comes out looking like a ghost of herself. She’s pacing on the front porch, smoking and occasionally wrapping both arms around herself as though looking for comfort. The next day I discover that the grown son of our neighbors (allegedly) committed a crime that same day and that there was a felony warrant on him. He allegedly fled the scene with a gun in hand and was threatening suicide. Police had reason to suspect he was at his parents’. If the allegation against him is true it’s the kind of crime that often carries a lifelong stigma with it. The kind that parents would never forget. The kind that would keep parents up in the night and make them wonder, “Where did we go wrong?”

“Piece of shit who needs to be tortured slowly to death.”
“Hang him.”
“I thought this dirtbag was going to do us all a favor and kill himself.”

These comments, among many others, were posted in our local newspaper beneath the article reporting on the alleged crime after the suspect turned himself in. I am praying that the parents don’t ever read them.

The following day I’m in my yard when I hear screams from another neighbor’s house: “Get off me! Get off me! Get off me! David! Jody! Help! Please!” I yell to Jody to call 911, to report screams and cries for help coming from the house in question. I then run to the front door and start banging on it as loudly as possible, shouting my neighbor’s name. She comes to the door with blood on her arms and shirt. Moments later a man comes to the door with blood pouring down his face. She gives her version; he gives his. Police arrive and the man is taken away, later to be charged with assault. Our neighbor is a gentle (and probably naive) woman, trying to make a living and raising two kids alone. She already had a restraining order against the man.

This morning I tell Jody, “I don’t want to believe this, but think this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think there’s more pain within 100 yards of us that I care to know about.”

But these two houses are much, much closer than 100 yards, and we know the names of those who inhabit them. They are neighbors in distress, whose eyes are blurred with tears, whose bodies and souls are withering away, whose years are shortened by sadness. They live at this moment in the lament of the psalmist.

Will I scorn? Will I despise? Will I be afraid to come near? Will I ignore? Will I regard them as broken pots — useless? Will I spread rumors? Or will I draw near and reflect the unfailing love of God? We are praying for resurrection and asking again what it means to be sent like Jesus, what it means to pitch our tent with others  in this neighborhood.

20 This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.

21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.
22 The stone the builders rejected ?has become the cornerstone;

23 the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 The LORD has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.
25 LORD, save us! LORD, grant us success!
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you.

27 The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine on us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will praise you; you are my God, and I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.
————————————————————

There is something good in a place where there was nothing
It is his love.
I now have something for which to give thanks. Something empty just got filled up.
I can walk through gates because they have been opened up by you, Lord.
I have salvation because you have answered me.
Even when I and others reject you, you have this way and presence where everything else ends up resting upon you—there you are holding it up.
My eyes have something to marvel at, because you have done something great.
I have something to rejoice in, because you have brought to pass what I have been hoping for all this time. Today. You made it happen today.
Blessing happens around you whether I am coming or going. It has its way of rubbing off on me.
You exist and I get the benefit of being shined upon.
This makes me want to celebrate.

Oh Lord, your love draws me in and helps me see that all that I have in this world is a result of something that you have done, or even simpler: your presence.
Your love is the thing that holds my life together and upon which all my dreams rest.
Your love cannot be contained by what I see or experience—-it lasts forever.

I give you my praise—and it is enough; even though if we were to measure my praise against your love there would be no comparison.

A Song of Ascents.

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD.
    Lord, hear my voice!
         Let Your ears be attentive
         To the voice of my supplications.
    If You, LORD, should mark iniquities,
         O Lord, who could stand?
    But there is forgiveness with You,
         That You may be feared.
    I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
         And in His word do I hope.
    My soul waits for the Lord
         More than the watchmen for the morning;
         Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
    O Israel, hope in the LORD;
         For with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
         And with Him is abundant redemption.
    And He will redeem Israel
         From all his iniquities.

 _____________________________________________

the cadence of this song
resonates with an intensity
like a porthole witnessing my own inertia
because this world often leaves me
tattered
edges fraying
in the dark depths

yet as my heart cries out
I find myself stirred to such sudden
awareness of an Undefiled Attention
that stokes my flame
entangled as it has become with
I-Will-Be-Who-I-Will-Be

so-much-so that even in my darkest crevices
I can become deliciously abuzz with
the conundrum of fear and forgiveness
the enigma of Divine Intervention
as hope rests her delicate hand upon my shoulder
beckoning for me to evermore savor redemption
amid the echoing hush of wilderness awe

thus I find myself
watching and waiting
for each new day
and new mercies
whose touch enflames my heart
and whose fingers entwine with my own
summoning me to ascend to sanctuary
singing at their side
a wondrous song of deliverance

+O Lord, though the apple tree fade and the vineyard fail; though storms surge or the heavens dry up; redeem us with Your Presence and be with us on our way to gather with You-Who-Walks-Among-Us, because our lips – our tongues – they thirst for Living Water as we await Your Word like watchmen on the walls just before sunrise. Amen+

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
3 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name’s sake.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

It is verse three that catches my eye and my breath.

He refreshes my soul. (Or, he restores my soul).

The winter of life must become spring. Our soul does transition – at some point, usually long after we would wish – from the bleakness and desolation of winter into the hope of the new buds of spring.

He refreshes my soul.

I can be sure of that relationship with the God who shepherds me.

He restores my soul.

I do not restore my own soul, I cannot refresh my own inner self. God acts; I am the subject of the sentence and of God.

He
restores
my

soul.

He holds the depths, owns the mountains, made the seas, created land!
This is our God! So let’s worship our Lord and Creator,
get down on our knees, touch our heads to the ground.

We’re his sheep, the flock he loves, the flock he feeds in his pasture, this earth.

Hear your Shepherd’s voice:
Your ancestors quarreled at Meribah, wondering if I would provide for them,
They challenged me at Massah, questioning if I was really with them in the wilderness.
Despite what I had done up to that point, this is where they ended up!
But you, keep your hearts tender and trusting.

An entire generation of people lost out because of their own choice,
wandering down the Path of Untrust, not acknowledging my love toward them!
And in my anger I promised that they’d reap the consequences of their actions,
not entering into the restful space I had waiting for them.

(reworking of  psalm 95, djn)

________________

We peer into ancient galaxies,
those back corners of time
dazzle over flavors of quarks
uncurl genomes, can build burj khalifa
but are weak daily, blind mostly
given to fear and faithlessness,
believing ourselves better
justified in our doubt always
amnesiacs of grace
and yet
not a moment passes
where it could be otherwise.

2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip, he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

8The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.