Tag: Jesus
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Rock of My Disappointment
Choose a name for God, he said*,borne of the struggle, thewrestling. I have contended, fought You until thefingers of my soul bled,scrabbling for gold beginnings and fabledendings. You have leftme wanting, disappointed. A thin, flimsy wordfor the crushing abyss ofsilence. Unmoved, this Rock of my salvation splintersdreams like toy ships on astormy sea. Flint-faced You […]
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When Shame Kills, Love Stays | Thoughts on Shame, Rage, Dragons, and Jesus
They nailed love to the cross. That’s what my friend, Simara, said during a Lent meditation over Zoom: They nailed love to the cross. They killed love. I’m used to hearing things like death was nailed to the cross and our sins were nailed to the cross. But love? Simara is a gifted woman who […]
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Reception
I will set a tableFor my soulAmong the trees Quiet, I will waitBeneath a canopy of leaves Let stillness be the tableLet silence be the clothLet sunlight be the service, gleamingMy seat a bed of moss I will set a tableFor my soulOut in the wild Calling her to comeAnd play, as if she were […]
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Inseparable, Free
(a paraphrase of Psalms 23, 73, 91, 139 and Zephaniah 3) Where can I go to get away from You?Where can I run, that You are not already there?If I go up to the heavens, You are thereAnd if I descend to the depths of despairEven to the grave, there You are You are with […]
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Into the Unknown
The contemplative spiritual journey is a journey into the unknown. The more I know God the more I realize how much I don’t know about God. This can be frightening and frustrating, or we can allow it to fill us with wonder and awe. The mystics refer to this as The Cloud of Unknowing. We […]
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A GIRL AND HER BASKET OF BROKEN THINGS
There I was, a little girl standing before Jesus, with a basket in my arms. My basket of loaves and fishes. Everything I had to offer was in that basket. As Jesus stretched out his hands for my basket, I hesitated. Dipping my chin, I took one last look at my offering. Suddenly, shame covered […]
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The Ruins of a Faith Built on Ideas*
I close my eyes and see my feet on stone, the landscape around me rocky, colorless, empty. Where is my love for You, Lord? I catch a glimpse. So thin, so fragile, this gold-leaf love. Floating away on a zephyr created by my own reaching hands. I cannot grasp it. Cannot feel it. This precious, […]
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You Are Enough (God Says So)
I’ve seen this quote popping up in my feed a lot lately and I’m not feeling it. A few years ago, I probably would have adored this quote. But now….not so much. Here’s why: Much about the way this is worded implies that “she” (a symbolic “she” with which all Christian women are invited to […]
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this Christmas whispers
this Christmas whispers from behind a midnight sky trembling on crystallized air a wrinkle in the starlight like the tinkling of tiny bells we fell once upon a time now we fall and fall blazing, burning out across that inky wall still Christmas whispers among the glaring of the screens the clanging songs that drag […]
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Yes, God Will Let You Down
The song starts off well-enough: “…let the King of my heart Be the wind inside my sails The anchor in the waves Oh He is my song” Photo by Hugo Kerr on Unsplash The achingly beautiful melody sucks me in and I sing along. Until the chorus hits me. Like a brick. “You’re never gonna […]
Lightning Bug 