Acts 4:23-31: Psalm 2: 1-9; John 3: 1-8

each day
as the sun
rises
we are
born again
renewed
by His Spirit
given
our daily bread
to go forth
in love
and peace
even as we meet
resistance
in hardened hearts
greed
hatred
and temptations
we are confident
in His Presence
to guide
and sustain us

What sustains you?

Acts 2: 42-43; Psalm 118; 1 Peter 1: 3-9; John 20: 19-31

I delight
to do your will
law written
in my heart
I rejoice
in your mercy
your hope
your love
risen
from the death
and all sin
put upon you
you come
in peace
and forgiveness
and steadfast
love
that will endure
forever
pushed hard
falling
you have
helped me up
driving
the fear
from my heart
the fires
of your love
burn within me
faith
more precious
than gold
I believe
what I have not seen

Do you accept God’s mercy?
Do you live in the Spirit of love and hope?

Acts 4: 13-21; Psalm 118: 1 and 14-21; Mark 16: 9-15

speaking to
our hardness of heart
and our unbelief
you release
our life
from death
and give
strength
courage
mercy
and goodness
to our days
this love
available freely
to all
God’s justice…
it is impossible
not to speak
about what
we have seen
and heard

What have you seen and heard?

Acts 4: 1-12; Psalm 118: 1-27; John 21: 1-14

again
and again
you come to us
showing yourself
alive
in our lives
some mercy
some healing
some forgiveness
that speaks
of your Presence
that lives
beyond
your cross
beyond your death
a grace
that announces
aha!
yes!
this is the Christ
with us
God with us
Holy Spirit with us
this is the love
upon which we build
our lives

Upon what do you build your life?

Acts 3:11-26; Psalm 8:2-9; Luke 24:35-48

“Why are you troubled?
Why do questions arise in your heart?”
look
see Him
and let peace
be with you
He has risen
repentance
and forgiveness
are here
in His name
for all
who can see
a Glory shines
from heaven
over all the earth

“Why are you troubled?
Why do questions arise in your heart?”

Acts 3:1-10; Psalm 105:1-9; Luke 24:13-35

our hearts
are burning
and rejoicing
as we recognize
God within
and among us
sharing
wisdom
life
and bread
so that we
may not feel
abandoned
in a world
that often breeds
fear and greed
hatred and murder
He is our beautiful gate
where we return
to health
forgiven
strong
filled with faith
and love

Where is your beautiful gate?
Who meets you at the beautiful gate?

Acts 2:36-41; Psalm 33: 4-5, 18-22; John 20: 11-18

released
from time
and its
distortions
we see
the Holy Spirit
given
in kindness
and goodness
loving justice
and right
born from
eternity
made manifest
to each generation
we weep no more
and embrace
the goodness
of the Lord

How do you see the goodness of the Lord?

Acts 2:14,11-33; Psalm 16:1-11; Matthew 28:8-15

life
risen
from the hands
of corrupt power
fear and lawlessness
we are delivered
by Spirit
to the path
of life
filled with the joy
of God’s presence
confident
we will not be abandoned
as we find
our way home
to love

Are you confident in Love’s presence?
Have you found your way home to love?

Acts 10:34, 37-43; Ps. 118;1-2, 16-17, 22-23; Col 3:1-4; Cor 5:6-8; John 20: 1-9

she seeks
the tomb
of her sorrow
only to find
the stone rolled away
shroud fallen
she cries
“where have they put my lord”
yet the empty tomb
answers all
for what God
has given
cannot be put
to death
Son of Man
doer of good
healer of souls
frees the oppression
and rises
in flesh and spirit
from above

compassionate judge
of the truth
in our hearts
we stretch
and reach
into the mind
of God through Him
receiving
the bread of life
we see the justice
of God’s love of all
nourishing all
and setting us free

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!

How does the Risen Christ set you free?

In The Night of Mary…

In the hours after I see her with others…
the busyness around her
she is gracious, she is strong…
for others, for him,
a few tears, a few memories…
but she is numb,
she is disbelief—
her real suffering comes
in the night of Mary
when she is alone
after the last good bye
the door closes
and the silence presses on her ears
then she faces the long, dark night
the mirror of her emptiness
her terror and fear,
then the torturous memories come
the sounds
the echoing of nails
pounding and pounding and pounding
his hands, his feet
crowds jeering and pushing
the shouting “crucify”

then she cries out to her angels
then she cries out to her God
who had promised so much love
and has delivered death

in the dark
in the silence
there is the deep deep suffering
in the night of Mary
far from the crowds,
their gaze
their speech
then she takes all the things
and ponders them in her heart
I see her stare
I hear her moan
I hear her wail
I see her rocking
hugging her own being
for comfort
I hear her sing his lullabies

a drift into sleep
nightmares come
the relief of waking
then the sting of remembering
creeping through her body
the pain again into the marrow of her bones
over and over the pounding nails
the jeering crowds
his hanging body’
his blood
filled with the horror
she could not stop
his flesh and blood
ripped apart
broken open
she drinks the secret cup of sorrow
over and over and over

she feels the weight
of his death on her
tries to caress it from his face
tries to breathe her life into him
tries to encircle him in her body
bring him back into her womb
to bring him new life

but she cannot…
she is spent and
I see her curl into her own embryo
then I see her angels come
they surround her in a womb of light
and take her their sleep.