Ephesians 4:1-7,11-13; Psalm 19:2-5; Matthew 9:9-13

be worthy
of the call
you have received
and the grace given
with humility
gentleness
patience
and peace
follow
as the day
pours out the word to day
and night to night
imparts knowledge
hear the voice that resounds
throughout the earth
“love one another
as I have loved you”

Are you worthy of the call you have received?

Ezra 1:1-6; Psalm 126:1-6; Luke 8:16-18

a light lit
cannot be concealed
it is made
to be shared
revealing
all God’s grace
to our seeing
we are in awe
as gifts
more numerous
than the stars appear
and all of our tears
turn to rejoicing
our weeping
to laughing
as we trust
in God’s time

Do you trust in God’s time?

Wisdom 2:12, 17-20; Psalm 54:3-8; James 3: 16-4:3; Mark 9:30-37

hearts exposed
revealing
murderous quests
jealousy
and strife
so far from wisdom
climbing over
one another
to test
with revilement
and torture
quarreling
and fighting
so far
from the hearts desire
to love–
if only
one were to ask rightly
wisdom would come
and uphold our lives
with peace
and mercy
and sympathy
leniency
and kindly deeds
leaving war behind–
a child raised up
we welcome the innocence
see this new life
and seek to serve
the love
that has been
freely given

Do you dare ask rightly and enter wisdom?
Do you see the love you are to serve?

1Tm 6:13-16; Psalm 100:1-5;Luke 8:4-15

his seed
sown
freely
we prepare
the soil
that His word
may take root
and not be
snatched away
or fall on
rocky ground
nor be choked
by thorns
of the worlds
anxieties
but grow
towards His light
manifesting
the fruit
of God’s love
where our joy
is complete

How does God’s word take root in your heart?

1Tim 6:2-12; Psalm 49:6-20; Luke 8: 8:1-3

pursuing
faith
love
patience
gentleness
devotion
we turn from our desire
for wealth
and all
that does not last
trusting not in money
or riches
but in God
who brings light
and truth
and love

What do you pursue?
In what do you trust?

1Tm 4:12-16; Psalm 111:7-10; Luke 7: 36-50

at his feet
we see a path
a way
and put
our faith there
forgiven much
we love much
ever grateful
of the gift
given
and do not
neglect it
absorbed
in His word
we act on it
saving ourselves
and those
who will listen

What is the gift you have been given?
Do you neglect the gift you have been given?

1Tm 4:12-16; Psalm 111:7-10; Luke 7: 36-50

living in
the mystery
of devotion
we see a path
a way
and put
our faith there
forgiven much
we love much
ever grateful
of the gift
given
and do not neglect it
absorbed
in God’s word
we act on it
freeing ourselves
and those
who will listen

What is the gift you have been given?
How do you use your gift?

Feast of the Exultation of the Cross

WHY THIS CROSS?

why this cross?
this ornament of human suffering
in our musings it can seem quite out of place
in comfort and complacency
yet let one moment of tragedy
need or desperation enter
and this cross is no longer a foreign land
but a shelter and home
a passage of power and transformation
is it magic–some talisman-
so it would seem as it is fashioned in gold
carved in wood and fashioned in beads
strung on necks and molded on rings
held up to vampires to send them rushing back to their graves—

yet kneel–
kneel before the cross
and experience the life
the whispers and struggle
and you will hear the world
the daily news
as the world wrestles with its horror and death
evil and cruelty
selfishness
politics and greed
ideological slaughter
it’s mass destruction
our grieving and loss
starvation and calamities
earths quake and worlds fall
within the cross

we are free to place our burden there
and leave as though it were some receptacle
some garbage pit or scapegoat
yet not for long
for His whispers, movement and life
are too compelling
He calls to us over and over
to visit this strange place of death
that calls us to Life

enter the suffering
the solitude and darkness of the tomb
and answer His call to “pray with me
pray with me
trust in me
the truth of me
the truth of here
and I will bring
you life”

how
long is
our suffering-

as
long
as
it takes
for
new life to begin–then there is no time
at all
no
need-
we
are
completed
resurrected
in God’s love


—Susan Morse

1Timothy 2:1-8; Psalm 28:2,7-9; Luke 7:1-10

hearing
the sound
of our cries
and pleading
God sends
courage
and strength
to our minds
and hearts
healing
and guiding
our journey
as we forget ourselves
and live out God’s will
through love
and faith

Do you put all of your trust and faith in God’s love?

Isaiah 50:4-9; Ps 116: 1-9; James 2:14-18; Mark 8:27-35

our cross
taken up
we follow
we leave
a certain life
behind us
as we are
saved into
a gospel life
of faith
where each work
of life
is renewed
with Truth
and Love
we walk
in the land of
the living
freed
from death
freed
from tears
freed
from stumbling
we face
hardship
and suffering
knowing
that God is our help
we reach towards
each other
as God’s mercy
reaches
to us

Do you take up your cross and follow?
Do you experience God with you?