Believe

gathered here, Jesus

it is you whom we believe

our joy is in you

Child

help me be child-like
full of wonder and awe
holding onto you

(photo taken almost 27 years ago!)

Greeting

you, arms wide open,

drawing us into your heart

greeting all with love

(photo: Seward Johnson's "Day Dream" sculpture based on Matisse's "Dance" taken at Grounds for Sculpture)

Renew

despair overwhelms

our breath is siphoned away

renew us Jesus

(photo taken nearing the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, September 2011)

Embrace

keep me close to you

like a mother who comforts

embrace me, oh lord

(photo of my grandmother holding my father, 1934)

Open

break open my heart

and make yourself a home there

fill it with your love

Dazzle

that God came to earth
in human form (God with us)
takes my breath away

(photo of the eclipse taken earlier this year)

Light

shadows surround me

swallowed up by fearfulness

your light shows the way

(photo of my first attempt at painting with acrylics)

Among

you are among us

in the stranger and neighbor

help us see you there

(Photo of a water color painting I just completed this past week.)

Trust

in the day and night

i will put my trust in you

my hope, saving grace

(photo: Longwood Gardens this past week)

Wilderness

in the wilderness

of these disconcerting days

we cry out to you.

Voice

i hear mary's voice

in a song of reversals.

your kingdom come, lord.

 (Photo of one of my water color paintings)

Watch

i watch for you

expectantly, longingly

save us dear Jesus

(Photo: Conowingo Dam)

Focus

insane distractions
point me in all directions -
help me look to you

Sorrow

Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eyes waste away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. Psalm 31:9-10

Who hasn't felt like this at one time or another? A sorrow so deep that it weighs so heavily on the heart?  One of the things I like about the book of Psalms is how these prayers, these songs - though written long, long ago - are just as relevant today. For me, the Psalms are a powerful way to connect with my ancestors in the faith.

I took these pictures this past week when it seemed to rain every day. To me, they visually express some of the grief that cries out in this psalm. (Click on the photo for a larger view).

My life is spent with sorrow...

...and my years with sighing...

....my bones waste away...

Help

"I lift up my eyes to the hills - from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD who made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

I wonder why the psalmist looked to the hills? What was he hoping to find there? I suppose the psalmist isn't much different than I am. I might not look to the hills for help, but I don't always seek out God first.

In my case, I am more likely to feel overwhelmed and try to avoid thinking about what troubles me. I am sometimes more likely to hide under the covers than to face my troubles! What good is that?

But, here is the truth: Help comes from God. No need to hide anymore! God's help comes in a variety of ways -- through my prayers, prayers of others, the kindness of friends and strangers, the fruits of the earth, doctors, teachers, pastors, plumbers, artists, musicians, and more. God is always ready to help; I only need to call on God.

Thanks be to you, O LORD!

Labyrinth

"The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore." Psalm 121:8

Two separate thoughts came to my mind when I read this passage from Psalm 121:

1. When I first read this, I thought of my breath - of God being in my breath (going out, coming in). I like the idea of God being in my breath. But, it also reminds me that God is in the breath of all those around me. God is in the breath of friends and family. God is in the breath of those I don't get along with - with those I disagree with. God is in the breath of all creation. How would our world be different if everyone took a moment to realize that God's breath is us all? Would people treat each other differently? Would we be open to seeing the "holy" in another?

2. In October 2008, I had the opportunity to go to "Spirit in the Desert," a Lutheran retreat center in Arizona. I had never been to a desert before, so this was a new and exciting experience for me. On the property is a labyrinth and one day I decided to walk through the labyrinth (the one pictured above!) as part of my morning meditation. The sun was just coming up and the earth was still. I felt God walking with me as I was "coming in" and "going out" of the labyrinth....just as God was with me as I was born (coming in) and is with me now as I move through life and will be when I finally breathe my last, going out - with God.

I give thanks that nothing separates us from your love, God. Thank you for being forever with us, never abandoning us, but rather walking with us through the good and the bad, celebrating our joys and sharing our sorrows.

Tsunami

"Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them." Psalm 32:6

My morning ritual is to mix up some oatmeal and watch some of the morning headlines. I do it almost mindlessly, with an ear towards the talking heads on "Morning Joe" or the "Today Show." I am not awake, really. Just going through the motions in the morning. However, today I was jolted awake by the news of an 8.9 earthquake in Japan and the devastating tsunami that followed. A reporter was covering the story from the dark California coast. The sun had not yet risen there. He reported that Hawaii was preparing for a tsunami as a result of this quake - and, in fact, the whole US western seaboard was expecting a tsunami of some proportion. This was no day to go surfing, he warned. I guess not!

After breakfast, I began my morning devotions. Today I decided to read and reflect on the Psalm for this Sunday. I felt another "jolt" when I read verse 6 of Psalm 32, "the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them." I thought of the tsunami - that "series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water."

My prayers immediately turned to people and events where there have been tsunamis of other sorts - that sense of displacement followed by the onslaught of emotional or physical waves that threaten to drown us. That wipe us out. That have us just shaking our heads in utter disbelief.

And so I pray this day for the tsunamis experienced by:

the teachers in Wisconsin
my colleague whose mother was just hospitalized suddenly for pneumonia
a friend who is living along the rising floods of the Delaware River
Muslims and those of us who stand with them through the xenophobic hearings
my church
the people of Japan and others affected by the earthquake and tsunami
those who go hungry every day
people who are living in poverty while the rich get richer
(add your prayers here)

Save us from our tsunamis, O God of mercy. Do not let the rush of might waters reach us. Rescue those who already floundering in the floods. Bring them to safer harbors.

Clean

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10

The first piece of directions given on the tube of caulk is, "Make sure the area is clean and dry." If the area is not clean and dry, the caulk will not fully adhere to the surface.

Windows of an old abandoned house often are so dirty that one cannot see through them very well.

Before a band aid covers an open wound, one washes the wound to make it clean. Otherwise the dirt gets trapped beneath the band aid and the person risks having an infection.

Clean -

Give me a clean heart, O God, so that what you have to say to me will be more likely to "stick," so that Iam be more able to see clearly the hopes and dreams you have for me, and so that I am healed.