this story we pass along

this story

first whispered as a secret

then shouted from housetops

inscribed on parchment
scrawled into books

hewn out of stone

painted on cathedral ceilings

played out on film
set to a million songs

bought, sold out, misused, trampled,

burned out, resuscitated

fought for, died for

carved in human flesh and blood

and all of us will write

    the next chapter

come to me

[The Magi] went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. --Matt. 2:9-10

Star watchers, then and now

Every year we recount the story of the ancient astronomers, who, reading the signs in the sky, traveled hundreds of miles to find the Christ child whom they sought with all their souls, so they could see Him with their own eyes and pour out their honor with a torrent of exotic valuables.

Several years ago I wrote a song for a Christmas Eve service, and the lyrics still haunt me.  Because I can imagine how many souls on the planet will be looking up into the night sky this Christmas, metaphorically or literally, looking for some star or sign that those old stories are true.  Wanting to see something luminous that will convince them that there really is a God who is truly with us, and who knows that we exist. 

COME TO ME

I got a Christmas card today

I couldn’t read the poetry

I couldn’t take the phrases in

because my mind began to spin

on sentiment and mystery

and how they square with history

the current world reality

and God it’s all confusing me

it’s getting harder to believe

when Bethlehem is under siege

when angels dance on TV screens

and people steal from manger scenes

when good news is so seldom heard

and peace on earth is just a word

good will a relic from the past

how long can this confusion last

every star is out tonight

shining that unearthly light

and once again I scan the skies

with forty million other eyes

searching for that ancient star

listening for that distant choir

reaching out through time and space

to hear Your voice

to see Your face

I know you came a million miles

that You became a tiny child

You came to earth to set us free

Jesus hear me asking--

come to me

angel

you don’t know i exist

i love you nonetheless

given to shield you

bonded to defend you

by an ironclad promise

which I will never break

sense me in the air

almost audible

always there

on high alert when you fear

all ears when you pray

strong arms when you fall

sworn to deliver you

safe and sound

from here 
to There

shepherd

one keeper of animal souls

on his anxious midnight mission

trekking the dark hills and flats

over rocky ground where nothing grows

but so much can get lost

alert with watery vision

pupils squinting

searching

picturing the terrified eyes

of the one lost out there

cut off from the flock

imagining its fear

its hunger

and the deep lonely of its breathing

wandering clueless but anxious

helpless

the flock will be all right

they have each other

but what about this disoriented one

has panic set in

is it dehydrated

is it on its side

fallen

vulnerable to predatory creatures

i must not rest

i must not flag in energy

i must not sit down

nor despair

I must scan the horizon

check every fleck

every distant disturbance

until I find it

comfort it

and bring it home

crusades (from fast forward)

May we have a moment of silence

for the unspeakable violence

of the Great Crusades

the Church’s version of a Holy War

complete with rivers of blood

rape and torture

by all accounts

not our finest hour--

who will speak the truth to power?

sweet morning light

i will trust
through the darkest night
what i knew to be true
when i last saw daylight


i move by faith and not by sight
till at last i see
what you promised to me
on the distant horizon


the first sign
of sweet morning light

enter the monasteries (from fast forward)

                                                                                  

Iron church bells 
multicolored stained glass

icons of angels

the blessed crucifix

candles incense

eternal flame

monks and sisters

chanting out the Holy Name

lives of saints and broken bread

priests and presence

vows of silence

enter the monasteries

learning the practices of the presence of God

celibate, set apart

a community unto itself

disciplines of the Spirit

going deep

deep

into the world of the Holy

the soil that gave birth to

St. Francis

Brother Lawrence

Mother Teresa

instruments of your peace

the seasons festivals common prayer

the Spirit that hovers in the atmosphere  

the launch (from fast forward)

The pneuma the breath the Spirit

a holy hurricane howling through every soul

behold my Church I’m sending you

now GO!

founded on the promise of the Cross

set on the shoulders of a man called the rock

spread like a good disease

through the Holy City of Jerusalem

all possessions held in common

no one called their property their own

bread broken together in homes

awe and wonder

God’s new thunder

FAST FORWARD

The gods are offended

the Empire incensed

who are these who

   will not bow the knee

   will not pay the fee

   will not play the game

   will not compromise the Name

and so it begins

the stoning of Stephen

exiles and crucifixions

victims in the coliseum

as Jesus’ flock

becomes food for lions

in the extreme sport

of persecution

until

one Roman king

sees things differently

and blesses the community

with immunity

an end to persecution

and the organism of Jesus’ body becomes...

...an institution

invisible ones (from fast forward)

I want to ask you my Church

how have you survived?

what mighty engine keeps your cells alive

what great heartbeat has sustained you

when pain contorts you

and sin stains you

through the trough of human sorrow

who has lifted you

to tomorrow

there are

and always have been

the invisible ones

who never made a name

rejected fame

the brick and pillars

the crossbeams of the church

they have stood up for justice

stooped down to serve

reached out to heal

sheltered the defenseless

mothered the motherless

lifted the depressed

and loved the despised

it matters that they lived

it matters how they died

it matters that they answered the call

without them

the foundations would groan and crack

and finally fall

woodworker (from fast forward: a history of the church)

A woodworker from the hill country

name of  Yeshua

Joshua

aka Jesus

  broke history in two

  reframed the law

  reinvigorated the prophets

  rewrote the DNA of the sick

evil spirits submitted to Him

fish jumped into nets for Him

loaves of bread multiplied for Him

He formed a coalition

He challenged authority

He purged the Temple

He riled the establishment

His own body

cracked open like bread

shattered like a wine glass

the pounding of the spikes heard round the world

the temple of the Holy Place torn from top to bottom

worn out traditions ripped to shreds

they could not contain

the One who sprang up from the dead

His body

reconfigured

reassembled

into

something new

   the Ecclesia--

   aka the Church

south asia: Amol's story

Amol, his wife and three young children,
became the personal possession

of the owner of a rice factory,

locked in to a new dark world

of spine bending labor;

eighteen hours a day,

seven days a week,

healthy or sick they worked.

when the food ran short

the family was grudgingly given rice to eat

(infested with worms),

but even though hope was denied them

hunger could not be denied,

so they ate.

the factory owner said

you are mine,

and if you ever escape,

I will hunt you down.

I will bring you back.

I will make you work.

you will never

leave

these walls.

the Justice Mission

explored and prayed,

worked and walked undercover,

researched and wrote,

asked quiet inquiring questions in the streets,

and wove themselves

into the seams of the system,

eroded the power base,

disturbed the web,

and subverted the way things are.

and one day at the rice factory

the doors broke off,

and the factory owner was led off,

looking more like a slave than an oppressor.

his rice factory shut down hard,

and Amol and his family walked out into open air

with no one at their heels.

no one to capture them.

no one to haul them back.

no one to force them inside

that kiln of despair ever again.

Amol, a Hindu,

knows he and his family were considered

worth saving,

worth praying for,

worth fighting for,

and he says he knows a multitude of prayers delivered him...

his oldest son aspires to be

a brain surgeon.

--

 www.ijm.org

song lyric: from Center of my Life

wish that i could wave a wand
and undo every careless word
every friend that i let down
and cries for help i never heard
every chance i never took
and every little lie i tried to hide

and i need You in the center
of my life

for all that i am
and all that i'm not
and all i forgot
and all i've lost
and all that i dream
and all that i do
is calling to You
to be the center
of my life
--

a christmas riff (part 3)

He and Mary walked together

(now having so much to say to each other)

Arriving in the town of Bethlehem

she having reached full term

they found: no accomodations

no vacancy, no lodging

no place to lay down and give birth

except a dark stinking barn

with a filthy feeding trough

They were revolted at the thought--

this didn’t fit the lofty script

that the angel had spelled out

The High Prince that Mary carried

could not be delivered in a dark corner

of a smelly shed where the livestock lay

They stopped, took it in, and then they breathed

and in their shaky way, believed

Since there be no other way

Here we are for God, said they

Let it be 

Let it be

That same evening

(though they were hard to see)

there were sheepkeepers out there in the field

night watchmen for the flocks

Their hearts were nearly stopped

by a visit from the angel messenger

brighter than noon in the darkest of night

blinded were they by the brilliance of God

Don’t.. be.. afraid--

No fear, said the envoy to the sheepkeepers

Drop everything

go into town

search the stables

and you will find the sign--

a baby

in a feeding trough

Then there rose up

splitting open the night

angel upon angel upon angel

in waves across the sky

like the Northern Lights

only infinitely brighter

a song far deeper than any human choir

ascending into heaven

and leaving them behind

They fell over themselves

running hard into the town

pounding pavement

throwing open barn doors

heaving open wooden gates

until they found

the man Joseph

his fiancé Mary

  

and then

they saw

wrapped up in rags

the One

who was given His name

long, long before any of them were born:

Immanuel:

God

With

Us

--

a christmas riff (part 2)

Joseph

on the other hand

when she told him,

was stunned and shaken

devastated

that his promised young woman

had already been

...taken

He made up his mind

to be civil about the thing

and to quietly break the engagement

putting her away without staining her name

The two walked in silence

He had nothing to say to her

she had so much to say to him

but he couldn’t hear it

he couldn’t bear it

until...

He lay down and dreamed

an uneasy dream

and the messenger came

and at first took his breath clean away--

The angel calmed him down

(which was no easy task)

and then explained:

Don’t.. be.. afraid--

No fear, Joseph

Nothing has been stolen from you

This is instead a perfect gift from the Most High

that in time you will come to understand:

Within Mary is conceived a man

who will save this limping planet from its own sorry self

Joseph breathed, long and deep

This is more than my heart can handle, said he

but..

I will find a way 

and I am...

at the service

of my God

--

a christmas riff (part 1)

In those days

half the planet was on the road

everyone traveling to the town of their birth

to sign on the dotted line

at the command of Augustus Caesar

king of the world. 

The man Joseph,

and Mary his fiancé,

were well on their way

to his own home town, Bethlehem.

Long before their wedding vows

would ever be taken

Mary had been awakened

her eyes were opened

and her spirit shaken

by a heaven sent messenger.

You are favored, the angel said

Lifted skyward by the Most High God

Among every woman on this messed up planet

You are most--- blessed--- of all

She was flabbergasted--

(It was quite a hello)

Don’t be afraid--

No fear

said the envoy

Out of all the possibles 

He has chosen You--

You are going to be pregnant

by the breath of God,

the Holy One

It will be a boy child

and He already has a name—

God

With

Us.

I don’t understand, said Mary.

You seem to know all things--

You must know I’ve never been with a man

Peace... said the emissary,

the Wind, the Spirit, will shadow you

and within yourself you will know it’s true

the inconceivable conceived in you

from the heart of the Holy One

and this is the hope

that the earth has been crying for

Mary listened,

took it in,

breathed

and somehow... she believed.

Here I am for God, said she

Let it be

Let it be

---

Bowie

This weekend Rinne and I had to say goodbye to our angel dog, Bowie, who was very ill. This was harder than words can say.  He was as close as a child would be to us--we have no children.  It was and is a spiritual bond.  God taught us a graduate level course in His own love through this amazing creature.  I keep reminding myself that the great love is worth the pain of the loss.  And in my head I know it's true.  But right now it just plain hurts in our souls.

choir planet manifesto

ask me where my help comes from

ask me how I stay strong

how I ascend the heights

and don’t turn my ankle

on the jagged stones

we lean our weight into the dynamo of the almighty God

our eyes and our hope are firmly fixed

on the reach and the scope

of the love and the power

of the Infinite One

our food is to do the will of the One who sent us

our drink is the Wellspring of living water

He is our peace

who has broken down every dividing wall

He is our confidence,

our firm place to stand

our everpresent hope

everwatchful eyes searching to and fro

evershielding arms reaching out to hold

lifting and rescuing

the consolation of the nations

the release

the relief

he is our joy our light

the delight of our hearts

the lifter of our heads

securer of our souls

the air that fills our lungs

the Spirit who guides us

and  propels us forward

He is our sustenance, our tenacity

He is before all things
and in Him all things hold together

He is our everlasting to everlasting

the very blood in my veins

is redeemed and claimed

by the blood of Another

so here I stand 
I can do no other

  --