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.

Why this cross?
this ornament of human suffering
in comfort and complacency
it can seem quite out of place
yet let one moment of tragedy
need or desperation come 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 forged in gold
carved in wood
and fashioned in beads
strung on necks
and molded on rings
yet kneeling
silently
before the cross
I hear
the whispers
and struggle
of the world
as it wrestles with its horror
its daily news
of evil and death
cruelty and selfishness
politics and greed
ideological slaughter
and mass destruction
our grieving and loss
our 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
and movement and life
are too compelling
He calls
over and over
to visit
this strange
place of death
that leads to Life
entering the suffering
the solitude
the darkness
of his outstretched tomb
we answer his call
to pray
to trust
to stay
until wisdom
whispers
the promise
of new life
how long is
our suffering-
it is a moment
of grace—
then there is
no time
at all
no need-
we are completed
resurrected
in His love

Holy Thursday
At the Table

you are the one he loved
gathered in you followed
gathered round you shared
reclined at table you heard His voice
felt His breath
shared His laughter
received His touch
holding onto every word
you will remember
His cup
His heart
His wine
His love
He is every meal your nourishment
every meal your sustenance
all the miles walked upon this earth in time
are changed within His hands
each step renewed with His sacred touch
worn upon your feet he cleansed
to serve
to heal
to love

You are the one He loves.

Isaiah 50: 4-9; Psalm 69: 8-10; 21-22, 31-34; Matthew 26: 19-25

morning
after morning
He opens
our ears
that we may hear
do not let us
be lead astray
or desert Him
in time
of need
for He
has been
our help
in weakness
in thirst
and broken-heartedness
constant companion
living
and being
with Him
we are revived
we sing
a song
of life
and praise
God’s love for all

Do you feel God’s constant presence?

Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 71:1=6, 15-17; John 13:21-33, 36-38

knowing
our hearts
our faithfulness
or our betrayal
still He gives
His life
His bread
for us
from a love
He knows
in God
that never fails
even as we might
one Love
one Purpose
one Refuge
from where
all Justice
flows
in mercy

Have you experienced betrayal in yourself or others?
How have you experienced God’s mercy?

Isaiah 42: 1-7; Psalm 27: 1-14; John 12: 1-11

His breath
His Spirit
His light
within us
whom should
we fear?
no enemy
no war
no chaos
no death
can overwhelm
our steadfast
Spirit
in Him
we place
our trust
in Him
we are
raised up
in Him
we live

Of whom or what are you afraid?
Where do you find consolation and hope?

Isaiah 50:4-7;Ps. 22:8-9,17-18,19-20,23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14-27

the moment
of forsaken
the void
of abandon
no God
to save
doubt
of all ages
empty arms
broken body
broken heart
everything
gone wrong
our poverty
stretched taut
we cry
why
have you
forsaken me?

Have you felt the forsaken moment?
What is your poverty?
In what do you hope?