A Blessing

May your eyes be as bright
As the rising sunlight
And your heart radiant as the dawn
Joined to the fellowship,
Filled with the life
Of the Father, the Spirit, the Son.

A Willing Quill (A Sonnet)

A Willing Quill


Since Thou hast made it all Thy work and art
to write “Redemption” here in ev’ry part
of all Creation, which Thy Word hast made --
each story inkéd in Thine own Son's blood,
which lettering can neither fail nor fade --
and since Thine hands unfailingly can use
as many pens at once as Thou shalt choose,
Lord, let me also be a willing quill,
and dip and fill me in that crimson flood
to write with my life as Thy nib, until
it’s spent. For what more glory can there be
Than that Thou shouldst take up and write again
(though it include all His rejection, pain,
and tomb) Thine own Son’s story, but with me.



Amen.

Recreation

"By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." ~Genesis 3:19

"O LORD...
You return man to dust
and say, 'Return, O children of man!'" ~Psalm 90:1-3

But one day all this dust shall rise:
With all the logs from out our eyes
removed, we'll sing the world's reprise
with fiery tongues
in eternal abund-
ance of immortal love.
When the Almighty, Faithful and True
Who reigns on the throne calls us to view:
"Behold, I AM making all things new."

[1 Corinthians 15; Matthew 7:3-5; Acts 2:3; 1 John 4:8 + 1 John 3:2 + John 17:3, 20-26; Revelation 1:8; 3:14; 19:11; 21:1-8]

"YHWH" (A Poem and Reflections)

Infinite Peace, Unassailable Bliss
Self-Existent -- Father, Spirit, and Word
Maker, Sustainer, Creation’s Intent

Both Call and Response; Command, Fulfillment
Faithful, True, Holy; All Mercy/Justice
Unending Love without limit outpoured

Salvation, Light, Life; the Sovereign LORD
Gift and Forgiveness, Ever-Acceptant
Union, Communion; All Good that there is.

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(Some thoughts and explanations below)

Evensong

Evensong

When evening colors streak the sky
And I fall in love with the fading light
With the dark-blue restful hues
And the restless breezes blowing through
That mark the changing of the times
From light of day to light of night
(For both are in their own way bright
-- Oh grant me, Lord, both eyes and sight!)
Though I am not a seer
Let it be Your voice I hear
In the trees' swaying, cicadas' playing, and the bats' calling
At nightfall.
And for Your own Love's sake
Let it be Your love I take
In the sun's rising, birds' harmonizing, for my eyes' waking
At daybreak.

Freedom (A Poem)

"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (~Romans 6:16-23)

Freedom

Upon my heart, Lord, set Your throne
For I am Yours, and not my own
Bought with that unmeasured price
Of Your own blood and sacrifice.

Then plant Your flag, Lord, in my mind
Till all my thoughts with Yours align
My body Your dominion be
Till ev'ry part serve faithfully.

Oh Lord,
   Your life extend to ev'ry part
Of me, working Your ancient art
With all Your still unwearied skill:
Conform me, Savior, to Your will.

Jesus is Everything (Good Friday/Easter Thoughts)

   Jesus Christ is both the sinner's repentance and the Father's forgiveness, both the Sacrifice for sin and the Priest who offers it, in the Temple of His own body -- the place where YHWH has made His Name to dwell -- in which the curtain separating mankind from God has truly been torn in two. For He Himself is both fully God and fully Man, the two natures united without confusion, distinct without separation, both in all their perfect fullness joined together in the one Person of Christ -- and thus has He become the one Mediator between God and Man, for Jesus Himself is both.