Captivated by Grace

A grace note embellishes music
like the necklace he slipped on
my neck that morning in church

Surprise! After a good cry
then a prayer and hug from a friend
you, turtle, greeted me in the garage

Can you lasso the clouds?
or tether the dragonfly?
Can I lace the moonbeams
through my fingers?
Or finger wear the firefly light?

You sprinkle diamonds over dewy grass 
and hide pearls in shells at sea

You call the stars by their names
You created us,... me

My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

    intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

    the days that were formed for me,

    when as yet there was none of them.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God.

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

Psalm 139:15-18a

But my sin,
How I can put my fingers in my ears
Scream back at Him
Turn my back, slam a door,
Running reckless
Selfish
Hurting those around me
Not caring

But God,
 being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:4-7

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace—
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

So I stand,

beneath this waterfall of grace

My cup fills, re-fills, splashes over

You own it all, You share it all...

Your love knows no limits

It found out me.

Easter Poem

"!Feliz Pascua de Resurrreccion!"
"Happy Easter!"
I smile to Juan, from Colombia,
who bags my groceries

"Happy Easter!"
I smile to the Pharmacist
Gladness exuberates
in flowers

We play mini golf
small boy with long
flowing locks
darts past

The dad and a friend
capped, bearded
fringed tallit trickles
down the waist

Blue thread reminds
to keep God's commands
(Numbers 15:38-41)

I ask about his little boy
"We cut hair at 3 years,
it's our tradition."
"In India there is a similar practice,"
I say

"It's our Passover week,"
he says
I know this means strict
dietary laws, Seder feast,
and no lamb.

"We are celebrating Easter,"
I say.     They nod.
"The Passover Lamb."
Did you hear me?
I wonder

"God bless you!" We say
to each other and
depart

"Pascua"

I love this word in Spanish
"Easter" and "Passover"
inextricably linked

Lamb's blood
saves us
Smeared on the doorposts
of our hearts

The Innocent One
Sacrificial Lamb
His life for ours
His blood for ours

When Christ agonized in the garden
Did it seem Good Friday to Him?

When His disciples betrayed,
abandoned and denied Him
Was it a Good Friday?

When He was mocked,
scourged and nailed to the Cross -
Was it a Good Friday?

When the whole world and
even His own Father
turned His back on Him -
Was it a Good Friday?

Or when the sky darkened
the rocks split
the temple curtain rent twain

And all of Satan's folly
was crushed under
Christ's heel

When, after that 1st awful Day
The 2nd day of waiting and wondering
Then, the 3rd day - at Sunrise.....

The rock pushed away
Angels attending

We came with our
anxieties and questions

And He calls us
by name

Now it is "Happy Easter"

He has risen victorious
He will reign victorious
till all His enemies
become a footstool
under His feet

His Spirit is sent
Lives within us

Together we will cry
with the host of heaven,

"Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain...."!

Holidays and gardening

I knock on her door
every holiday

I want to tell her
about Jesus

I bring her our
traditional baked goods

St. Patrick's day 
is no different



Irish soda bread and
a cut out green shamrock

St. Patrick was neither
a saint, nor Catholic, I say

He was captured and enslaved
Escaping after 6 years

When he was 40,
God spoke in a dream

Ireland. Take my Gospel
to Ireland, the land of your
slavery

The first convert?
His former master.

God's Spirit enlightened
the whole nation.

Hundreds of small churches
sprung up like the shamrock
that grew there.

Believers pinned shamrocks
to their coats, showing their
allegiance to this Triune God:
Father, Son and Holy Spirit



How will I show my friend
these holidays are what
the ancients called "holy days"?

I want to pull her outside now
as I sit by my mailbox
with dirt in my hands

I've been yanking fist fulls
of dirt and weeds out
so this bed will be
beautiful again

Mindlessly, I yank,
one patch left and I
look at it. Stop.
Glance at my fist again

No. It's three-leafed clover?
Little shamrocks sprinkled everywhere?
Spreading endlessly through the grass

Father, Son and Holy Spirit here?
In my hand? Under my feet?
About to be tossed out as weeds?

Mind racing -

Willaim Blake
"To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower,
 hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour."

King David
"The heavens declare the glory of God...
day to day pours out speech,...
their voice goes through all the earth"... Psalm 19:1-4

even Jesus said that if we are silent in our praises,
"the very stones will cry out." Luke 19:40

All of creation cries out in His praises to God,
"the mountains and the hills...shall break forth
into singing and the trees of the field will clap their hands."
Isaiah 55:12

Gerard Manley Hopkins
God's Grandeur
The world is charged with the grandeur of God
It will flame out, like shining from shook foil...
And for all this [man's smearing of creation],
Nature is never spent;
Their lives the dearest freshness of
deep down things...

My friend is neither American nor "Christian",
I can't expect her to understand
our holidays and traditions

But I want her to know the why -
the background -
the history -

Peeling off layer and layer
of man-made traditions -

Is the pure seed

Luke tells us,
"The seed is the Word of God."
Luke 8:11

John,
"In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God"
John 1:1

Come here
Dwell among us Lord
I see your presence, O Triune God,
in the sky and in the grass.
We greet You
We praise You  

Pain

What is pain?
Anguish of soul
or body

They're inextricably mixed

I cry out
"Why God?"
"What did I do wrong?"

He answers me in
the sweet silence of
Pain.

Pain is
knowing where you are
and not running from it

Pain accepts
because you cannot escape

Pain crushes
       wounds
       humbles us

Pride, the unwelcome guest
packs up and leaves

Pain releases the
tight fist and
opens us up

to Life

Compassionate eyes
for all suffering

Grace comes

My 6 year old, Raja,
slips his thin arm in mine
"I'll help you, mommy!"

My dear hubby
signals me to see
the golden haze
outside

Rain washed slab stones
shine

Surprise!!

"Come quick, everyone!"
They rush to see

We beckon our neighbors
with an insistent knock

"Look, look" -
It's a double rainbow!

Glorious, bright and full
it fills our sky

"I'm so glad you showed us,"
they say,
"We would've missed it!"

In five minutes it's gone -
Clouds burn with envy

Later, suds flying
Grimy plates washed clean

and, Surprise!

Globe of liquid rainbows
rests on the soap bottle

A wink and a promise

God is in control
And all is well.

The beach at sunset and sunrise

Ocean Sunset

St. Pete Beach, FL

WE RUN BREATHLESS
GIGGLING

GOD’S GRANDE FINALE
THE ORCHESTRA TUNING

THE CYMBAL CRASHES
THE ORBED FLAMING SUN
DESCENDS

IT’S GLORIOUS
A WATERCOLOR PAINTING
OVER THE OCEAN

THE SUN FLAMES ORANGE
COLOR THAT BLENDS
RED WITH YELLOW

THE SKY BLUSHES PINK
COLOR THAT BLENDS
RED WITH WHITE

GOD DIPS HIS BRUSH IN
THE SEA: TURQUOISE -
BLUE WITH GREEN

HE’S PAINTING
       PAINTING

WE WATCH
UNTIL THE VERY END

HE REACHES FOR AN INKWELL
DIPS A FOUNTAIN PEN IN
AND DRAWS LONG STRAIGHT LINES
ON THE WAVES

THE LINES COME TOWARD US
ONE AFTER THE OTHER
LIKE THE UNSPOKEN LYRICS
OF HIS SONG

I WANT TO LEARN IT
MEMORIZE IT
SING -

HE’S INVITING US
AS LINE AFTER LINE
PUDDLE AT OUR FEET

SEA BIRDS AND CLOUDS
ARE NOW SHADOWS
FLYING AWAY

WE LINGER
WATCHING THE CREDITS
HEARING THE SONG AGAIN
JUST FOR US

SAND IS STICKING TO MY FEET
I DON’T WANT TO SHAKE OFF
THIS MOMENT
THIS TRANSIENT MOMENT OF GRANDEUR.

Ocean Sunrise

The sun’s descent last night
Ignited our desire to see
it’s ascent this morning

We started our day with vigor
Laced up tennis shoes
and running, running,
running

We can see a sunrise
on our Atlantic coast
but this is the Gulf Coast

We run
the sun creeps up behind us
behind the tall swaying palms

Sun's rays warm our backs
Lengthen our shadows

I let Derick run ahead
He’s faster, determined

I linger slower
Captivated by the
charm of the sea

It’s a rippling shell
Glistening in bright
iridescent hues

The water's edge
scallops

Foam disperses into
intricate woven lace
at my feet

Then I notice the
sea gulls in day light

They are unlike
their East coast cousins

East coast birds
emit a cacophony of noise
Fighting over limited
offerings from bystanders

Gulf coast birds
are quiet and docile

Each bird is self-possessed
and a king in his own rite

They huddle in groups
discussing the merits
of clam souffle and
clam cheesecake

I laugh, turn,
lean into the sun
glance again at the
new face on the sea

The sea has moods
expressions
faces

It is only a reflection
rippling and splashing back
at the sky

Derick waits for me
we run together
each sand dune a hurdle

Hope

There are little signs:

Pursed lips

Words cut short

Standing aloof

Age old pity party

My perception of a scarred relationship

Is really a sickness

Carving out my loved ones personality

My heart is turning crisp

Like dry leaves

I'm looking for hope

A sign

Does he still love me?

I'm sitting in front of the computer screen

My back to him

Across the room

The unexpected starts

HOPE

Lingering light in the distance

I want to stiffen

But I feel icicles

Dropping from my heart

The guitar is lightly plucking

It's my song

The song I wish someone

Would ask me to sing

at Church for Christmas

He asks me to sing

I walk over to him

Each step an unshackling

I swallow the lump in my throat

Hold back tears

I sing

It's pitched high

I am like a schoolboy choir

I have only sung the 1st and last

stanzas before.

"O Holy Night..."

"Surely He taught us..."

The 2nd stanza

New to me

Suprisingly sweet

What I need to hear,

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

I lay my weapons down

I humbly say "thanks"

to the God of Relationship

With HOPE in my heart

I accept this.

I accept Him.