Monday, April 10, 2023

Easter joy!

Monday in Easter Week




Easter joy
is the joy that speaks to the deepest grief
Easter joy comes in the morning after a night of weeping
Easter joy speaks our name

Easter joy changes the very foundations of the universe

and Jesus tells Mary Magdalene to Go!
because Easter joy in meant to be shared

Easter joy belongs to us
because we are beloved of God
because we have already received the promise
of new life and new hope

Easter joy bursts for with every
Alleluia!




Saturday, April 8, 2023

inconceivable

Holy Saturday

My sight has failed me
because of trouble;
God, I have called upon you daily;
I have stretched out my hands to you.
Psalm 88:10



inconceivably
morning dawns
on grief

on the ache
of brokenness

on the certainty
that things will never
be right
again

Friday, April 7, 2023

Treacherous

Good Friday
 
Be not far from me, for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
Psalm 22:11
 


trouble is at hand
distress and suffering
behind and before 
every step treacherous
every breath grief-laden
 
this day holds
no hope
and all the hope
in the world



Thursday, April 6, 2023

Dust: reprise

Maundy Thursday

When my spirit languishes within me,
you know my path;
in the way wherein I walk
they have hidden a trap for me
Psalm 142:3



feet that have walked
through dust and dreaming
of reprieve
of revolution
of redemption

feet tenderly held
washed
with humility
with tears
with hope


feet that will yet walk
through dust and desertion
denial, despair
desolation

and will arrive
inevitably
even at a distance
at the foot
of a cross

Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Lament

Wednesday in Holy Week
 
In the evening, in the morning, and at noonday,
I will complain and lament,
and God will hear my voice
Psalm 55:18



lament weighs down my soul
sits in my belly
unspent
a serpent
coiled

will it slowly strangle
or suddenly strike out
with pain
and poison

if I let go
it may overwhelm me

when I let go
my cry will join the river
of woe
of sorrow
of centuries

and now
as before
God hears



Tuesday, April 4, 2023

It takes time

Tuesday in Holy Week
 
The Lord knows our human thoughts;
how like a puff of wind they are.
Psalm 94:11
 


Things take the time they take
always

This Lenten journey has taken its time
so will this week
and this day
 
And all of my life
all of human life
all of creation
rests in God’s time
 
My thoughts-
even as I try to wrap my mind
around this week
this walk-
barely a tendril of a breeze
in the mighty tempest of the Holy


Monday, April 3, 2023

No safe distance

 Monday in Holy Week

Cast me not away from your presence
and take not your holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51:12



there is no safe distance

Judas, friend and believer, tries to distance himself
through betrayal 
and is still welcome at the table

James and John and others
abandon Jesus 
falling asleep in the garden
and then fleeing

Peter, having fled with the others, returns
trying to stay near Jesus
by keeping a safe distance
but is recognized
and then denies

Pilate, the governor
distances himself
denying responsibility

Mary Magdalene
looks on from a distance 
and is not safe from the witnessing the horror
and carrying the grief

there is no safe distance
there is only Jesus
truly God and truly human
dwelling with us
with all our dreadfulness and all our splendor
and as many times as we betray, 
abandon, deny, renounce
as many times as we fail Jesus
Jesus does not fail us



Saturday, April 1, 2023

Not yet

Saturday in the Fifth Week of Lent

My soul is athirst for God, athirst for the living God;
when shall I come to appear before the presence of God?
Psalm 42:2


The weather is warm and rainy, an odd combination that makes the day feel out of place. Which is just about right for this turn in the path. Spring bulbs and budding trees thirstily absorb the moisture, greedily soaking up the needed sustenance as they prepare to burst into bloom. But not yet.

Not yet. I have not yet completed this journey. I have not yet reconciled my grief-heavy heart with the promise of restoration. I have not yet assuaged my thirst for fullness, for redemption, for renewed vibrancy. I am not yet replenished.

Not yet.