Acts 1:36-41; Psalms 33:4-5,18-22; John 20:11-18

in emptiness
we weep
thinking
all is lost
until a voice asks
who are you looking for?
hearing God
call
our name
we are found
in God’s voice
alive
and well
freed
from death
we live
in the moment
of awakening
to the Goodness
of God
that fills
the earth

Do you hear God call your name?

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?

at empty tomb
shroud fallen
our hearts
awakened
by belief
for love
has risen
beyond this time
beyond this place
stone rolled away
His freedom
soars from boundaries
and we begin
anew
love reborn
into eternal
moments
He is known
He is seen
everywhere
each heart
His own
His heart
our own
the empty tomb
answers all
for what God
has given
cannot be put
to death
we are the ones
He loves
and death is
no more

Before the Vigil

this day
of emptiness
confusion
and longing
His agony
turned
our own
no longer
to hear His voice
feel His touch
follow His step
where has love gone?

He was our Life
our hope
our light
our answer
and now
we are lost
who are we now?

our hearts on fire
with grief
who will
console us
there are no words
for this
our sorrow

to see Him
broken
bleeding
we cry
my God
why have you
forsaken us

this day
this Life
without Him
we cannot bear
day of poverty
when we are nothing
we have nothing
filled
with emptiness
for we have seen
all Love
and now
He is gone

wrapped in His tomb
embraced in darkness
we have died with him
no light
no thought
of life

Have you felt forsaken by God?

WHY THIS CROSS?

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
held up to recoiling vampires —

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

Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; 1 Cor 11: 23-26; John 13: 1-15

you are the one
He loves
gathered in
you follow
gathered round
you share
reclined at table
you hear His voice
feel His breath
share His laughter
receive
His touch
holding on
to every word
you 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 sacred touch
worn upon your feet
He cleansed
to serve
to heal
to love
you are the one he loves

Is He your every meal?
Are you changed within His hands

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
thirst and
broken-heartedness
constant companion
living
and being
with Him
we are revived
we sing
a song
of life
and praise
in Him

Do you feel God’s constant presence?

Isaiah 49:1-6; Psalm 71:1-17; John 13:21-38

deeply troubled
knowing
the ways
of our human hearts
He allows
betrayals
to play out
in a history
that becomes
our salvation

Do we call Him complicit?
Do we call Him victim?
Do we call Him a fool?
What do we do with betrayal?
What do we do to love?

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

lavishing gift
upon the one
who comes
to raise us up
from death
turning
from betrayal
greed
and hypocrisy
we see the Light
of our salvation
we find a refuge
and wait
with courage
for the fullness
of time

What gift do you bring?

Isaiah 50: 4-7; Psalm 22:8-9; 17-24; Phil 2: 6-11; Matt 26: 14-27:66

betrayed
His heart
is nearly
broken
with sorrow
begging
companionship
yet no one
stays awake
alone
He faced
His cup
of sorrow
lead away
to enemies
He is denied
tortured
crucified
hung
for us
to see
all sin
all helplessness
forsakenness
darkness
and death

What do you see in his death?
What do you see in his helplessness?
What do you see in his forsakenness