In Between the cracks

 

 

 

In between the cracks

Fallen and abandoned

Growing in darkness

Not forgotten

But wedged

Hemmed in on either side

Staining towards

A  shaft of light

Of life

Illuminating

What was left

behind

Before the fall

 When the cracks

Appeared and

Darkness began.

In between the cracks

I  lie unseen by most

But  the one

who sees all

I am hidden

but not lost

Clinging on

Stretching out

Shallow roots

Desperately

 clinging on

Seeking out

Succour and light

Until blossoming

despite the walls

constraining growth

fed by the one

who sustains me

in the darkness

through the dry places

in the crack

then busting forth

I blossom

Now seen

Unforgotten

Anointed

Freed from dark

To the place

beyond

the crack.

Rose of Sharon

The rose it fell, once more

 into the dust,

onto the darkened earth

into which it came.

Its fragrance, once sweet,

once held

 in delicate perfection

Now lay,

sullied and slammed

into the dust,

perfection torn apart

Petals

ripped and stripped,

exposed

 from all that held it together.

It lay

soaked in tears

in sweat and pain

Its colour drained

poured out

into a bloody stain

turning dust into mud.

 

 

Tears fell

from the hands and faces

Of the women

who followed

Who once beheld

its beauty

Once Inhaled its fragrance

Now poured

Not over feet

or heads in anointing

But into the dust

Trodden in

Its fragrance scenting

the dark stained earth

Crushed

and beaten

Yet still its fragrance remained

Outlasting the pain

To rise

once more

To fall

again

and again.

Fear

 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. Matthew 4

Fear the LORD your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.  Deuteronomy 6

 Holy God

Have we forgotten who you really are?

The one who set the heavens in place,

Who punished Sodom and Gomorrah

Who sent plagues on Egypt

Who said to Job

 ”Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
       or walked in the recesses of the deep?  

Have the gates of death been shown to you?
       Have you seen the gates of the shadow of death ?

  Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
       Tell me, if you know all this.

  “What is the way to the abode of light?
       And where does darkness reside?

  Can you take them to their places?
       Do you know the paths to their dwellings?

  Surely you know, for you were already born!
       You have lived so many years!

 Have we tried to focus on you as father only,

Have we tried to make you too small to fit our own expectations and the limits of our own understanding.

Holy God, we beg your forgiveness, remind us of the very fullness of your character, remind us that yes you are merciful, slow to anger, abounding in love, but also jealous, a hater of sin and a creative power that is beyond our comprehension. And yes you are to be feared as well as loved, worshipped, sought out for intimacy and followed.

Holy God this lent remind us of all that you are.

Amen

Faith

Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:
   ” ‘He will command his angels concerning you,
      and they will lift you up in their hands,
   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.^]”

Matthew 4

 

 

Psalm 91

If you make the Most High your dwelling even the LORD, who is my refuge then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
 you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

“Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him;
 I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
 I will be with him in trouble,  I will deliver him and honor him.With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

 

Father God we thank you that we don’t need to test or try out your faithfulness or your love to us. You are with us on the highest mountain top and in the darkest valley. Even in the darkest cave on earth there is life that springs from your creative presence and power. If you care for even these unseen creatures how much do you care for us? Forgive us for the times we have been tempted to test you, to lay conditions upon our love or our faith in you. Father give us the gift of faith this lent, renew our spirits and at the core of our beings transform who we are even more into your likeness. Change us until the things we believe in principle and in general when not tested become absolute beliefs ready and waiting when the actual testing arrives. May we be like Christ ready with the power of your promises, not just words but truths that make up the very essence and life-blood of who we are.

Amen

Living Bread

The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Matthew 4

 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Deuteronomy 8

Forgive me God when I fill myself with stuff that is not of you, when my time is filled with distractions and then I find myself wondering why I feel distanced and unengaged in church, with you, with life, with my loved ones. Feed me father with everlasting bread that will nourish and sustain me. May I fill up on your word until those words fill my mouth like breath fills my lungs and I am alive again in you. If I need to be taken into the desert again to rediscover my need for you, to grow and be stretched, Father God give me courage and like Christ send your spirit with me. If this is my desert time, Father, transform me in it, by the renewing of my mind by your Spirit. Clothe the dry bones of your church and myself with flesh, pick us up form the desert floor to dance again before you.

 

Amen

 

How Can I?

 

 

How can I trust in an untrustworthy world?

How can I put you first when all around me want something from me?

How can I give when my own pain is consuming me?

How can I give generously when I am in need?

How can I give something of myself,

When with each disappointment I die a little inside?

What can I give to others when I feel so invisible and worthless?

 

I look to your cross and wonder

at the living God who trusted

and allowed himself to die to bring life.

I look to your cross and remember

 five thousand who needed fed, and were filled.

I look to your cross and can’t conceive of your pain.

I look to your cross and remember a widow who gave of what she had,

and you honoured her.

I look to your cross and ask that you fill me with living water and the courage to trust that I will see the goodness of you in the land of the living.

I look to your cross, to the man on a tree, who died for all people, the outcast, the stranger, the star, the invisible, and I know that you see me.

 

Help me to put you first

Help me to remember that you gave freely of the most precious thing…life

Help me to hold your cross ever before me,

And for each decision I make

To glance at it and remember

Your love

Your grace

Your faithfulness

Your Holiness

Your sacrifice for all

jesus loves me

Jesus loves me this I know

Or so it says in that song I know

It’s easy when my faith is strong

Then I believe the words of song

 

Jesus loves me but will he stay even when I go astray

Even if my faith is small

Will He reach out and stop my fall

 

Jesus loves me I wish I knew,

Why I feel the way I do

When I lie in the darkest night

I pray his love my life will light

 

When at last my song is done when the battle has been won

When the world can’t suffocate me

Take me where my Jesus loves me

 

When at last I feel connected

When at last my paths completed

Take me where this song is true…………

 

Jesus loves me

New Year Prayer

In the vast clamour of this world

Father help me to remember those who need prayer

Stand with me in the gap

And for those I try to remember but forget

Father remember them

 

I pray for those I see each day

And don’t have time to speak to

I pray for those whose faith is strong

But for whom life is difficult

I pray for those whose faith is weak

And for whom life seems impossible

 

I pray for all the snatches moments

When I got to talk of you

I pray that like tears

They will soak into the dessert of their souls

And bring a thirst for you

 

I pray you will show me where I am needed most

That you will remind me of my gifts

And that I will be thankful

That you will use me completely

To your glory and service

 

I pray for my path in life

That you will guide me

I pray for my church

That you will challenge it

And be the sustenance of its life

 

I pray that in this dark world

You will write on my heart

The words of eternal life

That my name would me ever on your hands

And yours on mine

 

For war, for famine

For injustice, for greed

For pain, for suffering

For life wasted, for death come too soon

For all that strains and tears your world apart

I pray only this

That as I plead the blood of Christ

Father come

Amen

Light of the world

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Light

 

Father this light reminds me of the beginning of a journey,

From the joy of new life

To the mourning of the cross,

From mourning to wonder at a life renewed.

And as I travel on the journey

May I remember why I am here,

I remember your promise of salvation

And marvel at the enormity of your sacrifice,

Your unfailing love,

You’re incredible creative power,

Your grace and your mercy.

I remember your promises to me,

Enter my darkness,

I give you things of my heart and mind

That are precious to me

I give you the hopes and dreams that I hide away

I give you the things that are keeping me

From your light

And tying me to the world.

Bring me into the greater light that is life to the full in you.

Help me to be fulfilled in you

And bring me peace beyond my comprehension

Amen

Meditation on Luke by Mary Gardner Togo

Luke 7:36-50

I’m Simon.
I’m trendy, one of the in crowd.
I come from a good family,
Attended a well known school,
I’m known for my parties.
My dining room is the latest fashion -
Minimalist reclining couches.
My cook serves the most elegant cuisine -
cubes of grilled fish, carrot julienne,
Flat bread garnished with coriander leaves and pine nuts.
And I’ve invited the controversial Galilean prophet
To entertain my guests.

I am…never mind who I am, I’m a no one.
Shouldn’t be here in the house of this stuck-up snob.
This is the last place you’d think someone like me could get close to Jesus,
But I’m right beside him, crouched at his feet.
And they are too embarrassed to cause a scene and have me thrown out.

I wonder if inviting Jesus was a mistake.
There’s this wretched woman…
I like to be in control, I hate to look stupid,
And she shouldn’t have been let in.
They say Jesus is a prophet.
Doesn’t he know what kind of woman that is,
Weeping all over his feet!

Jesus, I heard your words.
You said: God loves you.
You said: A bruised reed he will not break.
You said: Come to me and receive, receive forgiveness, healing, life…
So I’ve come. I offer you these tears,
Fruit of a wasted life.
I pour out this perfume -
The reason I have it is shameful,
But what else can I give?
If you are what I believe you to be,
You will understand.

Jesus said to me: Simon…
You’re shallow. You’re a show off.
You haven’t even common courtesy.
Your faith in God is a sham,
You know nothing about love.
Your life is all on the surface…
Well, he didn’t actually say that,
But I read it in his eyes.
It was like a black pit opening in front of me.
I could pretend I never heard him…
But what if…
One day…
He spoke to me as he spoke to her,
Saying so gently, so lovingly,
Go in peace.