Truth

Jesus prayed to the Father, “While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” John 17:12-19 

Truth

Good Christian people stole them
to fix them, to make them useful
these sweet little tiny children
forcefully pulled from sobbing mothers.

Their truth was thought to be
founded in the sacred Word
yet it was corrupted by blindness
soured by the milk of hating difference.

Our national truth is simply this
we are greedy and hungry to possess
another's land and soul and children
we are unwilling to head the call.

The call for truth in the Creator's word
is a call to humble ourselves completely
then we will see the real need around us
and  be justice, welcome and peace.

Protect Them

After Jesus had spoken these words, he looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.” John 17:1-11 

Protect Them

This mother rises to face the sun
her children and grandchildren's faces
arises in her mind with the morning light
and she lifts them by name to Creator.

This mother speaks prayers by the hours
in labor and in rest, morning and night
love demands we carry one another
love demands we live for the little ones.

This mother rises with new hope 
the scars and scare might fade away
the new planting and expressed love
might filter through the morning .

This mother rises singing with the birds
a new song lifting the prayers on high
again we raise our faces to brother sun
we are loved, held and well known.

Peace Be With You

                                 Second Sunday of Easter  April 28, 2019

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. John 20:19-31

This Sunday is often referred to as low Sunday. The drama of the Passion and Easter has happened and then no one seems to knows what's next, or why they need to show up in church. The need for community can be lost in times of transition, loss and change. We can hide and wait, or we can step out into the fray, gather with the community and together be open to where we are led.

Jesus visits his terrified disciples, who are hiding, thinking they might be next for execution. He speaks peace to them, yet they seem to not be really very peaceful. They are caught in the in-between, not sure of what to do or how to go on. Yet Jesus speaks peace and love to them in the midst of their confusing time and speaks that to us as well.

Today, I ask God to help me receive that peace offered and lean into the love and support of community. May we hold each other up as we move through times of change and confusion, trusting we are being led on new journeys of love.

Collect
Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Pain Turned to Joy

Jesus said, “A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me.” Then some of his disciples said to one another, “What does he mean by saying to us, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and ‘Because I am going to the Father’?” They said, “What does he mean by this ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Are you discussing among yourselves what I meant when I said, ‘A little while, and you will no longer see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’? Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy. When a woman is in labor, she has pain, because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world. So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

“I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!” John 16:16-33

Pain Turned to Joy

Small seeds scattered across soil
a cold spring morning awaits them
the moist earth and rain will break them
their covering shattered and torn.

The small eggs so magnificently perfect
tapped, pecked, torn open from the inside
life pushing out destroying that shell
broken and shattered, given up for another.

Hours of labor, breathing, panting, screaming
soaked through, saturated in waves of pain
birthing this new life is extraordinarily painful
thrilled, hopeful, so close to the edge of dying.

The round fullness of life, expectations deep within
the shells of fear and loss, the tender shoots of hope.

Coming and Going

Jesus said, “I have said these things to you to keep you from stumbling. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, an hour is coming when those who kill you will think that by doing so they are offering worship to God. And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me. But I have said these things to you so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you about them.

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” John 16:1-15 

Throughout my life, I have found that leave taking is so very hard and so very necessary. To move on we must let go of the past chapter and fully face the new one. If we linger in what was, we don't find the new jounrey. Like a sailboat on the water, we must turn and find the wind. We set sail for new and uncharted ways, feeling isolated and helpless, yet knowing we are never alone.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples about his impending passion and death. Life will not be like it was. They will have to chart a new way forward. They don't want to, as we don't want to, ever. When we humans have found a comfortable life, we do not want anything to disturb it. Yet Jesus invites us in this Easter week, to welcome with joy the changes we face. For we will be given the strength that we need and will delight in new horizons.

Today, I ask God to help me face the changes and new horizons ahead with joy. May we lean in to the new, trusting God will provide a new measure of spirit and strength for the journey ahead in the way of love.

Commanded to Love

Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

“If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not have sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. It was to fulfill the word that is written in their law, ‘They hated me without a cause.’

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:12-27 

Love's Command

We post and recite the ten
yet the greatest is forgotten
love, that love most important
the start and end of everything.

None is worthy yet all blessed
arms wide open judgement free
a gentle and continuous stream
surrounding and remaking us all.

Dive deep into the waves of love
let them wash away jealousy, fear
allow the water to mingle with tears
invite the tender buoyancy it gives.

The sorrow and loss, the ancient scars
are revealed and blessed by love
the sobbing and sighing embraced
lifting us beyond and making new.

Vine

Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.” John 15:1-11 

It took some time but everywhere one looks, spring has sprung. Leaves have appeared on dead branches, grass is all of the sudden green and colors have replaced the brown dead look of things. We too have moved from deep lenten reflection to the return of Alleluias and Easter. Yet we can also get lost, detached from the center, all to easily. We can get busy with the outdoors, leaving the community and our faithfulness behind. Being a part of the vine renews our lives.

Jesus is talking with the disciples and impressing them and us with the essential nature of relationship. We can get lost and be fruitless, if we choose to stand alone, thinking we know better. We can be frustrated and hopeless, detached from the true vine. We wither.  Abiding in our relationship with God through Jesus, and to Jesus with one another in this walk of faith is essential. No matter how sure we are of oursleves, we can still find oursleves cut off when we trust in ourselves alone. We are part of a big, loving, renewing organism.

Today I ask God to help me be rooted and abide. May we not be drawn away by our differences but gather together as branches in one vine, so that love may flourish and grow.

An Empty Tomb

Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:11-18

Over meals, gathered with friends, we tell our stories of shock and surprise. We love to regale our friends we our amazement or foolishness, our shock and the times when we have had to scream out loud. Sometimes, we can exagerate. Sometimes our friends and family don't believe what we truly have experienced. Life is full of wonder and awe, despite our daily attempts to normalize and ignore. Yet there are times we are called to run and tell what we have seen. Our witness is important.

Mary leans into the empty tomb and is upset by both the lack of a body and strangers telling her what to think. She at first thinks Jesus is a gardener, but recognizes his voice and grabs him, in shock and wonder. He gently tells her to let go, which I imagine she was reluctant to do. But she goes. She shares her witness, her announcement. It was important for us and for them, that she told the story. Her story was important for us all. God invites us to share the witness and blessings we have seen, so those who might be fearful and doubtful might have the courage to believe.

Today, I ask God to give me the strength to share my witness of wonder and blessings. May we all be ready to run and share, for the world is in need of good news and much love.

Troubled Hearts

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.” John 14:1-14

Troubled Hearts

Easter arise amidst terror and destruction
smack dab in the midst of our troubled lives
we smile and joke and shout "He is risen!"
as we bury our face in tears of sorrow and rage.

All the time we have been held and surrounded
God is not finished with us yet or ever
we fear our poverty, our constant lack
we cannot breathe in life for these troubles.

Despised, rejected, tortured and crucified
God here in the ruins of humanity willed new life
for the broken, the sorrowing, the troubled
setting the Divine between us and terrors.

"Let not your hearts be troubled", so familiar
yet so hard to mkae actually happen
the fears which we hid and felt our shame
have been surrounded by genuine love.

Dive deep into the surf and swim out
let the waters of love cover abd surround you
let this day be one giving in to loving hope
may we rise with Him as we face the worst.

Early on Easter Morning

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again." Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. Luke 24:1-12


All around us the world is coming to life. There are more varieties of birds in the yard,
more flowers and green pushing through the soil, more trees blossoming with color. Spring
appears, no matter how long winter has been. New life is bursting from very recently very dead places. We know that year after year, the world awakes from the dark slumber of winter. Yet some days, we still find ourselves amazed at how new life can come forth after destruction, how what seemed dead and gone can return.

The women went early as was their custom to anoint and care for their friend's body. They did not like the task before them and surely they were crying and talking softly among themselves. They whispered their sadness through their tears. They were terrified when the tomb was open, and more terrified when his body was gone. They ran with joy to share their amazing news, only to be ignored by the disciples. Peter alone ran to be a witness to share their hope. We are invited today, this Easter, to get ourselves us and witness anew the gift of new life.

Today, I ask God to help me to get up each day with joy and amazement. May we embrace the life that flourishes around us and welcome the resurrection of Jesus, who gave up life so we could all live fully.

Collect

O God, who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross, and by his glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of our enemy: Grant us so to die daily to sin, that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his resurrection; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Holy Saturday

When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. So Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn in the rock. He then rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were there, sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, `After three days I will rise again.' Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, `He has been raised from the dead,' and the last deception would be worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can." So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone. Matthew 27:57-66

Holy Saturday

Waiting, watching as the rain sputters

tears of heaven's broken heart

the greed, the selfishness of humanity

we weep to see the turth of our ways.

Joesph comes to take the precious body away

to prepare, wash and entomb the world's savior

trying to bring dignity and honor where there in none

aching to close this sorrowful, ugly chapter.

Love that conquers all still needs time 

time to break the seed's shell again

to break through the cold spring's earth

life is full of watching and waiting in the rain.

We abide between seasons of waiting and watching

times of heavy labor and times of deep silence

this vigil of life requires us to look upon the tomb

see that there is more to come as we await new life.