Monday, June 30, 2008

an altar to God

"Let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make an altar there to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone." Genesis 35:3

There have been different points along the way of my journey when I have had the distinct desire, like Jacob, to build an altar to God. Sometimes the altars have been big, and sometimes they've been small, but they all mark some kind of transaction significant to me and to God.

There have been times when God has converged things in my life together in such a way that I had a fresh epiphany. Not long ago was a deep realization again that I owe everything - all I am , all I can do and all I have - to my God who has faithfully been with me and over me in the many different ways I have gone throughout my life. I was drawn to look up Romans 12:1 and the four verses preceding it:

"Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice? And who has given Him so much that He needs to pay it back? For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen. And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him."

When I stop and consider that I live and move and have my being in Him, then the very least I can do is to offer myself with my whole heart back to Him in gratitude.

He is so worthy of this kind of worship.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

morning by morning

morning by morning
breathe on me Holy Spirit
breathe hard your holy breath
blow away lifeless gray ash
stir dying embers
fan into flame again
that gift of God within
cause my heart to burn hot
with love and desire

"create in me a clean heart, O God
renew a right spirit within me
do not banish me from your presence
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me
restore to me the joy of your salvation
and make me willing to obey you"


(Psalm 51:10-12)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

heartswirl

in vain i
chase after brainswirls
~ thoughts driven
in haphazard flight

like helpless kites
on a windy day
that wildly swoop
and dive

ah Lord God
draw my weary soul
ever closer
ever deeper

still the sharp swirling
of my thoughts
shut up the drivel
of my fears

quicken my ears
that i may hear
your call to stillness
and to knowing

swirl my heart
deeply and freshly
to love and trust
again


"be still and know that I AM God...."

(Psalm 46:10)

Monday, June 23, 2008

little bird

my soul
wants to hold tight
to what feels safe
in my life

it is hard to step out
beyond the inward bounds
of the comfortable
the familiar

fears wait
in the shadows
ready to whisper their lies
in my ear

who am i ~
where do i belong
my questions still...
am i forever like

a fragile little bird
with broken wing
who dares not leave
the safety of it's cage

or is my cage
not really a prison
as perceived but
rather a place from which

God wants to teach me
new songs to sing


"he stood me up on a solid rock
to make sure i wouldn't slip
he taught me how to sing
the latest God-song
a praise-song to our God"

(psalm 40:3)

Friday, June 20, 2008

creative travail

how do i funnel my impatient self down into the deep place - a God place - where elusive words, fleeting glimpses of ideas, and smatterings of thought come together into cohesive expression? into the hidden birthplace of creative?

it is hard sometimes to wait patiently for embrionic form to uniquely take shape and grow; to wait until it has enough strength and substance to be birthed; to wait until it is the right time for it to emerge and speak it's heart with grace, yet with honesty and transparency.

"may the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer."