Easter sky

good morning Lord!
it is a good morning

because you ARE

bells are rung all over the world.
in every church
for us to hear
loud and clear

We have hope.

the air is fresh--
feels like
Presence.

so much i don't understand
about loved ones lost
about life, disease, death,
the natural course of things.

but what is true rings every bell

YOU
EMERGED
ALIVE

now you gladly
gleefully
turn on the sunlight
over the winter wetlands
soon the green shoots will soar past the gray.

the birchbark will light up
the birds will swoop and sing
a blue patch of sky opens up wide
around the clouds--
a smile from the upper reaches.

So
we can live freely in deep rooted joy
knowing there is infinite life
beyond what we thought to be
a closed gray system.

the blue is above
always above
the gray
and today
it is breaking through.

the light shines in the darkness;
the darkness
has not
will not
can not
overcome it.

Transforming Center - Good Friday

Every several months, I have an opportunity to sing at a Transforming Center event. The Transforming Center is an organization founded and led by author and spiritual director Ruth Haley Barton dedicated to the health of the spiritual lives of church leaders.

It’s refreshing to me, after so many years of singing to large crowds in huge rooms, to sing simply, usually without amplification, in a small space, with simple accompaniment, as souls are stilled and contemplative.

That chapel vibe draws me into the company of Jesus.  I used to hang out in empty chapels and cathedrals when I could. This is the next best thing to that silence. It’s communal. It’s pure in so many ways.

So much that could distract is stripped away.  It’s organic and without bells and whistles.  It’s meditative and peace-inducing.

Especially on Good Friday.  We walked around like a clump of pilgrims around the chapel, revisiting the Stations of the Cross. There were beautiful and simple iconic images representing Jesus' journey from his trial before Pilate, through the agonies of his walk to the cross, the horror of his crucifixion, and his death and burial.  It's amazing how in that little space, with those images, I can imagine myself there.

Less is more.  Less stimulation somehow results in more imagination, a more vivid picture.  An ability to be more engaged and present.  It's fascinating how that works.

Ahhhhh… grateful to be a part of something so simple and beautiful.