Easter 2012

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
These words echo
Through the centuries.
The words of resurrection.
The words of Easter.
The heartbeat of Christianity.

Photo by hoyameg

We cannot speak in platitudes
Of spiritual resurrection.
All four gospels leave no doubt.
This was the resurrection of the body,
Not some nebulous spirit,
Not some wished belief.
The disciples, lost and grieving,
Change in one day.
Soon they will spread the news
Throughout the world
For they know the truth:
Death has been conquered,
Christ is alive.
We celebrate his resurrection
And his promise
That all who care
Shall have eternal life.
He is risen.
He is risen today.

The Missing Day

On this day,
The apostles are absent

From the gospels.
This missing day.
Jesus is dead
His disciples believe.
Their world is ashes.
Their grief is immense.
They fear for their lives.
They hide in the upper room.
Only the women dare to go out.
Jerusalem is strangely quiescent.

Pilate places a guard by the tomb.

This day Christ's body lies undisturbed.
Tomorrow the disciples' world

Will come alive
But not today.
We must remember

That missing day
When sorrow fills us,
When we tremble in fear,
When we hide from the world.
Those that knew our Savior best
Did not escape their human frailty,
Neither can we.
We know that with the morrow
Came relief and jubilation.
We have the risen Christ
Not the missing day.

Why Good Friday?

  By lepianda

Why is it called Good Friday?

I have heard many answers.

None satisfy.

Jesus, the Word made flesh, God incarnate,

Died on Friday.
The day before he shared the Passover meal
With those that believed in him.

Fully human.

So human that he suffered agony

Nailed to a cross
After a brutal flogging.

We recoil in horror

At his death

And think it took so long.

Six hours.

Most crucified took days to die
Unless they were flogged.

Fully God

Who had never known death.

All God's creation past had drunk

Of that bitter cup,

But God had not.

God died on the first Good Friday,

As much of God

As could exist in human form.

His body was laid in a tomb

As his mother wept.

All creation waited.

Maunday Thursday 2012

Maundy Thursday.

The Thursday before Easter.

The day before the crucifixion.

The day that Jesus washed his disciples feet

Even though he knew

His death was at hand.

The day Jesus and his disciples
Ate their Passover meal
In an upper room.
There Jesus instituted Communion,

The Lord's Supper,
Christians practice today.

There Judas shared bread with Jesus

Before he left to betray him.

Today many will gather for Communion.

Where believers partake of this sacrament
The Holy Spirit joins them.
Bread and wine,
Flesh and blood.

Remember the man. 

Remember the Word made flesh.
Remember God kneeling before each disciple.

Remember Jesus' patience.

Remember his sacrifice.

Spy Wednesday

Judas and Peter

Spy Wednesday,

Holy Wednesday,

The Wednesday before the Crucifixion.

The day that Judas Iscariot

Went to the High Priests.

For thirty pieces of silver

Judas would hand Christ over to them.

In the time that follows.
Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss.

Peter denies Jesus thrice.
Judas dies by his own hand.
Peter dies Christ's servant

Many years later.
What is the difference?
Judas never knew forgiveness

In this world.
Peter knew forgiveness

From the risen Christ.
Why was one desolate onto death 

And the other emboldened for life?
Because Judas acted
While Peter waited?
Is that the answer?
When all is clothed in darkness,
We must wait

For divine guidance,
Not act on impulse.

In this Easter season,
Give us the strength

To wait for God's whisper.

Jerusalem: City of Faith

Jerusalem, City of Faith.

Three great religions

Honor your streets.

After three years of ministry,

Jesus chose to come

To Jerusalem

Where he knew death waited.

Why?

We can only speculate.

To atone?

To experience death?

To fulfill prophecy?

To teach us

What?
We know with certainty
The choice was his.
We know with certainty
He knew what was to come.

When we follow Christ,
We must not turn from
The challenges of life
Nor ignore the death
That always lurks in our future.
His example leads us forward
Through life and beyond.

Palm Sunday 2012

In Christian churches today,

Children carried palm fronds down the aisles

In memory of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 
On that day so long ago

The crowd spread their cloaks and palm leaves

Before his donkey's feet.

Hosannas filled the air.

In one week, 
Christ would 

Be arrested,

Condemned

And

Crucified.

His body placed in a tomb

And

Resurrected.

Did Jesus know what was to come

As he rode into Jerusalem?

I think he did.

And still he came to Jerusalem.

Prayer for Compassion

 

Jesus, who taught us to care for the least,

Praise your compassion.

We must love our neighbors

As the Samaritan loved
The one fallen by the wayside.

Help us bring solace to the suffering.

Forgive us
When we do not respond to those in need

As we forgive
Those that turn away from us when we suffer.

If, by your will, we accumulate wealth,

Deliver us from selfishness.

For you are the love that engulfs us

Now and through eternity.

Amen.

 

The First Sunday of Lent

Photo by Chalky Live

Jesus,

Who spent forty days in the desert,

Praise to you God in action.

Out of the wilderness
You brought your new covenant.

One we must honor and fulfill.

Lacking food for the body,
You were tested and triumphed.

Give us a portion of your courage this day.

In Jerusalem, 
You were tortured and killed.

Forgive us when our actions recall your anguish.

Help us forgive those we love who torture our souls.

Give us some small portion of the inner strength
You took into the desert,

So that we can resist the lure of wickedness and evil.

You create our existence

And bind us with love

Now and through eternity.
Amen.

New Years Resolutions

Photo by eschipul

"Finally, brethren, what ever things are true,

Whatever things are honest,

Whatever things are just,

Whatever things are pure,

Whatever things are lovely,

Whatever things are of good report:

If there be virtue, and if there be any praise,

Think on these things."

Paul speaks through the ages

With his guide to New Year's resolutions.

In 2012,

I will search for truth,

Focus on being honest not only to others

But to myself.
I will support justice
For the least of these brothers of mine.
I will strive to not be harsh or rough
With those around me
And affirm their hopes and dreams.
I will
Focus on the beauty within,
Fill my mind with hope,
Shun that which diminishes others,
Strive to see the good in all.
This election year
I want to see
God's image in everyone.

Christmas 2011

Photo by mtungate

A
Star
Glistens
At the top of
A tree trimmed
With objects held dear.
A symbol of life everlasting
Erected in remembrance of God.
Festooned not with glitter and glitz
But with hope and the promise 

Of

Love

Christmas Eve 2011

Photo by nz willowherb

Christmas Eve has arrived
With blustery winds
And driving rain.

Cold that pierces the body

And scenes of avarice that pierce the soul.
Winter,

Not the season of
Our savior's birth
But of our celebration.
Shepherds were in the hills
With their flocks;
The night breezes were warm
When Jesus was born.
Spring,
His time of birth,
His time of death.
Better to celebrate with joy
And anticipation in winter's chill
Than obscure the Easter message.
Shepherds.
Flocks.
Lambs.
Bethlehem.
The Lamb of God is born.

A Christmas Babe- The Word at Advent

Photo by bahoootah qtr

"In the beginning was the Word,

And the is Word was with God,

And the Word was God."

"And the Word was made flesh

And dwelt among us..."

The Gospel of John

Speaks the message of Advent.

Christ is God in action,

The instrument of creation,

The instrument of salvation.

God shed his majesty to experience

The world

As one of those made in his image.
As human,
He could experience death.

Resurrected,
He could demonstrate everlasting life.

The Christmas Babe:
Fully God and Fully Human.
He comes with promise of
Life Eternal
Embraced in His Love.

Advent 2011

This is the first Sunday of Advent.

Just three days from Thanksgiving,

Just two days from Black Friday.

Photo by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi

The day to turn our thoughts from goods to gifts,

Gifts of love not commerce.

Jesus was God's gift to us.

We celebrate with anticipation

The day of his birth.

What will we give this Advent season?

Time to those who are lonely,

Love to our neighbors,

Those that surround us every day.

Acceptance to those who do not share our beliefs.

Polytheist.

Monotheist

Atheist.

To ourselves, The gift of understanding,

Understanding That our relationship with God 

Is all that matters.

Thanksgiving 2011

Photo by khrawlings

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

As we sat down for our Thanksgiving dinner,

Did we remember another meal
 Where many were gathered?

Jesus and his disciples ate their Passover meal
In an upper room on a Thursday.
There Jesus instituted the Communion
We practice today.
When believers gather for this rite
So, too, does the Spirit.
Bread and wine,
Flesh and blood.
Remember the sacrifice.
Remember the man.
Remember the Word made flesh.
Remember God

And

Give thanks.

The Great American Desert

I live on the edge of the Great American Desert.

The Spanish called it the Llano Estacado.

We have plundered its soil

To raise our food.

We have sucked its aquifers dry.

Now an old scourge returns.

Drought.

No rain for months.

Heat.

Days above a one hundred

Fill the calendar.

The soil holds no moisture.

Plants die.

Trees die.

Insects disappear.

The desert returns.

We think we control our world.

We are fools.

Nature rules.

We will be reminded.

The Heat is Rising

Summer came early
Stealing spring.
The heat grows.
Every day is extreme.
Is this heat our doing?
Have we taken the first step to extinction?
We do not know,
But science points to our missteps.
Rain does not fall.
The land is parched.
The birds do not sing.
Insects die.
Life itself oozes away.
This Earth was God's great gift,
Ours to protect.
Have we squandered it
In pursuit of riches?
God,
Give us the strength and wisdom
To nurture the waters,
To cherish the earth.
Make us meek
That we may inherit this creation.

PhotobyUncaMikey

Pentecost 2011

Photo by Lawrence CP

On this day,
Peter speaks
To those who have seen
The Holy Spirit descend.
He quotes Joel:
"God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people."
"Even on my servants,
Both men and women,
I will pour out My Spirit..."
The day is Pentecost.
Fifty days from Easter.
Ten days from Jesus' ascent into Heaven.
God as Comforter comes
As Christ promised.
This was the Feast of the First Fruits.
Was this the first harvest for Christ?
Too many churches
Turn from Pentecost
In dread of the Holy Spirit.
What they fear
Does not exist.
The Holy Spirit
Completes the Trinity.
The Holy Spirit
Is the Love
That binds Creator and Word.
The Holy Spirit
Is God's love
Washing over "all people."
Share that love.

Easter 2011

Photo by Seamus Murray

Resurrection

He is risen!
He is risen indeed!
These words echo
Through the centuries.
The words of resurrection.
The words of Easter.
The heartbeat of Christianity.

 

  

We cannot speak in platitudes
Of spiritual resurrection.
All four gospels leave no doubt.
This was the resurrection of the body,
Not some nebulous spirit,
Not some wished belief.
The disciples, lost and grieving,
Change in one day.
Now they will spread the news
Throughout the world
For they know the truth:
Death has been conquered,
Christ is alive.
We celebrate his resurrection
And his promise
That we too shall have eternal life.
We confront the living God:
Creator, Word and Love.

The Missing Day: Saturday Before Easter

Photo by hoyasmeg

Jesus is dead
His disciples believe.
On this day,
The apostles are absent

From the gospels
This missing day.
Their world is ashes.
Their grief is immense.
They fear for their lives.
They hide in the upper room.
Only the women dare to go out.
Jerusalem is strangely quiescent.

Pilate places a guard by the tomb.

This day Christ's body lies undisturbed.
Tomorrow the disciples' world

Will come alive
But not today.
We must remember

That missing day
When sorrow fills us,
When we tremble in fear,
When we hide from the world.
Those that knew our Savior best
Did not escape their human frailty,
Neither can we.
We know that with the morrow
Came relief and jubilation.
We have the risen Christ
Not the missing day.