Anointed

The Lord said, "Rise and anoint him; for this is the one." 1 Samuel 16:12b

"You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Psalm 23:5

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Robes and head
Wet with oil
Called to serve
As God's holy priest,
Aaron.

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Unlikely chosen one,
A child, really ~
(But, God sees with the heart)
Made king ~
David.

Anointed one,
Holy and set apart,
Chosen
To bring good news,
To release captives,
To give sight to the blind,
To free the oppressed ~
Lamb of God,
God's own Son,
Jesus, the Messiah.

Anointed ones,
Holy and set apart,
Washed in the waters of baptism
And marked with the sign of the cross forever,
You and me ~
Children of God.

Anointed, we live to serve God.
Anointed, we know God's never-ending love.
Anointed, we see the holy in others.
Anointed, we belong to God.

Water

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10¹⁴¹⁵

In the beginning, God created. 
Water. 
Life teaming water.
Drifting phytoplankton and zooplankton. 
Pulsating jellyfish (like a heartbeat). 
Slender eels slithering into dark caves. 
Purposeful crabs, inching their way across the sea floor.
Colorful clown fish diving between sponges.
Dancing seagrasses stretching up, up, toward the sun at the ocean's surface.
Protective porpoises, wise blue whales, schools of mackerel moving as one organism.
Living teaming water.

Water falling from the skies,
Earth soaking up the moisture
Bulbs bursting from winter's frozen earth drink deeply, drink deeply.
Magnificent elephants and regal giraffes seek pools of water, 
Cool down, drink for life.
Ducks bob along on ponds or rivers, finding food beneath their floating bodies:
Bottoms up!
Determined salmon swimming upstream heading to the place from which they once came,
Heading home.
Life giving water.

Amniotic fluid,
Home. Food. Life.
Waters break and new life ushers forth -
Crying, gasping for the strangeness of air.
Child of God,
Baptized, 
Tiny hands outreached, twitching at the sudden, unexpected cool wetness on the head. 
Words spoken; a promise made.
Water - washing away the dirt, the mess of life
Made fresh, new.
Joined in death and resurrection of the One.

Living water!