zugunruhe

a restlessness is stirring
deep down within
birthright of migratory unease
and the taste of original sin
an anxious syndrome emerging
the fruit of deceit inbred
but God has another trajectory
new Life for us to tread

wafting scent on the breeze
restive if not rare
rife with expectation, we cannot bear
courage in the anxious grip
of a Living Spirit’s care
yet on the run again
God in search of us
such an evanescent love affair

this constant migration
when will it ever end?
or are we transitory forever
a seasonal portend
but Hope is ever steady
Son of Man to descend
redemption and mercy
in the remission of sin

Creator and Redeemer
He seeks and dwells in persistence
giving some meaning, some purpose
for our shared fragile existence
an encounter with the ancient message
as we take flight all together
the mark of beauty
and an unseen tether

awakening

in a blanket of white
i lie in my bed
of enduring morning
awakened by the dawn
that has given rise
to the chirping of
diligent and industrious creations
…feathers with talons…
chasing their collective dreams
southward

i would join them…however
i chase my own
shifting in and out of slumber
in a time-between-times
while sight blurs
with visions unbound
as frosty flakes
cling to stained glass
little by little
mixing the colours anew

a sincere beginning

child at breast

eyes struggle to open

a sincere beginning

i wrote this little clumsy haiku two years ago at around 9:30am or so, just after our youngest, iris elizabeth, was born;

she was nursing and then stopped and looked up trying to focus on the sounds of chaundra and i talking about our precious new arrival and meeting her and praying for her and dreaming about who she might become and the great friends her elder sisters eve and meg would be to her

...precious, treasured memories

happy birthday iris!

VAST - Vineyard Anti-Slavery Team

...just wanted to let everyone know about the newest way to connect with others who are fighting modern-day slavery and want to end trafficking: the VAST Facebook Group (Vineyard Anti-Slavery Team).

there are almost 400 members as of this morning…if you are on facebook join in and keep spreading the good word about this group and inviting other like-minded people to join.

our team is also developing a tool kit for churches that will help in getting involved and show you ways to bring awareness to this issue and engage people in your church to take action. Stay tuned for more information and updates.

sustainable faith

…if you haven't taken time to consider the sustainability of your faith journey and embracing what it takes to journey through life with sustainable faith, my sacred companion and good friend dave nixon, also my mentor and teacher at the sustainable faith school of spiritual direction, regularly blogs at the sustainable faith blog, although currently he has an obscure guest blogger scribbling there...

dave is an erstwhile founding presence and leader at that most awesome and hospitable faith community they call vineyard central…

peace

requiem agnes

wordcraft for the feast of st. agnes:

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy

lament in silence
clouds cover a grieving moon
innocent Agnes

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy

clouds cannot cover
the witness of her Saviour
enter rest pure lamb

Lord have mercy
Christ have mercy
Lord have mercy

chaste victim proclaims
hosanna in the highest
embrace true Love’s Reign

how to deliver an historic benediction

power, justice and love

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

fragile

fragile is my contemplation

deliberation diluted by diverse diversions

fragile is my consideration

awareness and attention acutely adrift

fragile is my reflection

rare reward in raging rumination

fragile is my meditation

echoing evidence of escaping expression

what is church?

...my erstwhile acquaintance down in south florida, mike bishop, has at last finished his book.

i give you: What is Church?

of course, shouldn't we know the answer to that question? yet there are people all around the world who are wondering if church should be something more than what we have experienced.

perhaps Jesus had something different in mind from our typical answers to the question, "what is church?"

there are many books being written about why the church should be different or how it should be changed, but where are the voices who have lived this transition?

For the past seven years, mike bishop and his friends have been living change among small communities of faith. Their story is not about the next great north american church movement, but rather the simple-and revolutionary-discovery of God's Kingdom in a changing world.

...check out the foreword from todd hunter

...also, the introduction

peace and seek the kingdom first!!

exodus cry

...my heart weighs somewhat lighter today...it's amazing what a little encouragement can do, huh?

for a few years now we have been working and praying and seeking after the Lord to stir His Church, to break their hearts for the injustice of human trafficking...

well, some answer recently:

• first: we are meeting with love146 to seek to put together a ministry toolkit regarding how to get involved and what to do

• the second: i'm thankful for emerging ministries like exodus cry...below is a little about them, and be sure to check out their mission briefing, which is profound, and the trailer for their documentary called: nefarious merchant of souls

Exodus Cry is a decentralized community of intercessors focused on praying for the ending of Modern Day Slavery. Our vision is to raise up a global prayer revolution to confront the powers of injustice that are enslaving our women, and children. Our desire is to bring that which has been done in secret into the light of God’s presence as we beseech Him day and night for the release of speedy justice for the oppressed slaves of the earth.

_______________________________

...late edition:

for those who have been asking (not that anyone would ever leave a comment instead of e-mailing me), here is the link to our documentary: love justice

awaken, inspire, act!

i hope everyone has been following new york times reporter nicolas kristoff and his series concerning human trafficking...if you haven't, be sure to check out the most recent article, and this latest video piece tells the story of long pross...check out the whole series from this page, look for recent articles midway down the page on the left side...

Life is the gift of our Creator...and it should never be for sale. There is a wickedness afoot in the world...and it has taken root in our own backyard.

That wickedness is modern-day slavery...let's join the Father in fighting human trafficking and let's end modern-day slavery together in the power and name of Jesus Christ!

pray for our little vineyard network of those fighting trafficking and ministering to the victims and survivors; we are meeting this week to consider how to awaken and inspire churches all over to join the Father in the fight against trafficking...

peace

beyond avoidance...deep generosity

Jesus talked more about money as an obstacle to God during his ministry than he did about crime, sex, bad family relationships, or drunkenness.

...but we get so wrapped up in our anxiety about money that we sometimes can't hear what he's really saying.

or, better yet, we think: yes we can! like, perhaps, we think we can serve mammon and God, or at least let me try it out...

in telling of the rich man and the beggar lazarus, Jesus points to one aspect of riches that we at times miss: riches and the pursuit of riches or even a serving of mammon to maintain the status quo can blind us.

we see that the offense of the rich man was not in being outright cruel to poor lazarus...the rich man did not drive lazarus away from the gate

...it's just that the rich man apparently gave him no thought at all.

the offence of the rich man was that he was so distracted or even jaded that he didn't take time to notice poor lazarus at the gate. the fact is that with money, we can isolate ourselves. riches can separate us from those who are impoverished. a gulf develops between the rich and the poor...and we drive right by them in big suv's and trucks and hummers, well-protected and filling our space with talk radio or music or a million other distractions and custom additions to our rides

...and we push the button and the garage door opens and i do not have to interact with one person anywhere along my many journeys...

let's confess it: our wealth makes it possible to avoid them...and we do

...to keep them out of sight and out of mind.

in turn, when we do not actually know any poor people, it's easier to demonize them and to neglect those "outside the gates"

[related: and this goes for others issues like racism as well, i contend that if we personally actually had friends of multiple other ethnicities and race, then our perspective would not be totally skewed by the latest hyped-up by-line from fox news!!]

this is the natural consequence of the logic of currency and exchange as the foundation of worth and value: if worth is based upon what one has or knows or achieves, those who have little by society's standards become worthless and expendable, and thus objects of neglect and stereotype because you control how much (if any) interaction you have with them.

i live in one of the wealthiest societies in the world's history, and in a culture that equates money with success. those who acquire and possess wealth enjoy the greatest benefits and status. one's worth is often measured by one's ability to generate profit. certainly we can see this in that we pay advertising executives much, much more than we do teachers...i think that clearly points to what we value. (we value manipulators on the mass scale, not those who are instill values and a knowledge base for our dearl;y loved children...our future)

...in american society (ok, western society in general) we are taught to live by the speculative logic of the market.

value is determined by exchange in the marketplace.

[aside: in fact, the marketplace has become the overriding and overwhelming metaphor and foundation, taking the place of the deeper reality that the marketplace exists within a context and upon a foundation that does not let the marketplace determine "good", "evil" or other deeply held beliefs...yet we have given the marketplace more than it's place now and it has taken to determine "good" and "evil" and a whole mess of other things...like re-thinking issues like the immorality of debt]

everything becomes a commodity to be used and depleted, hoarded or cast away. but as much as he talks about money as an obstacle, Jesus also sees that value of a renewed relationship to money that can bring many blessings if invested for His Kingdom, in which the deeply held beliefs might look closer to the this quote from maquinna, nootka chief, from early 19th century:

"Once when I was in Victoria, I saw a very large house. They told me it was a bank, and that the white men place their money there to be taken care of, and that by and by they got it back, with interest. We are Indians, and we have no such bank; but when we have plenty of money or blankets, we give them away to other chiefs and people, and by and by they return them, and our hearts feel good. Our way of giving is our bank."


...or do we remember another rich man from the scriptures...zacchaeus?

sure maybe those of us who went through traditional sunday school remember him more for his short stature - 'wee little Zacchaeus' - than his reaction to the good news of the kingdom of God in Jesus Christ.

what was zacchaeus' reaction? (see luke 19)

"And Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much."

...and what does Jesus respond to this profession by this wee little rich man? 'Today, salvation has come to this house...'

[another aside: makes you kinda think about our concepts of "salvation" or "conversion" or "letting Jesus into your heart"...doesn't it?]

thus we hold this truth self-evident: the gospel is not only for the tall, dark, and handsome. it's also for the short and scrawny and fabulously wealthy. it is for the jaded rich as well as for the hopeless poor.

i believe there is a reason that luke put the story of zacchaeus just before the parable of money usage: good stewardship and a renewed heart for the poor are connected.

we have to take an honest assessment of ourselves and ask why Jesus pays so much attention to mammon, to the weeds of anxieties and riches and pleasures of life as thorns that choke out the fruit of God's kingdom.

even so, in Christ Jesus we can resist the vulgar reduction of life as commodity...yet we still enjoy the things money affords us, because God has given us these things because he wants us to be blessed and happy...and then pass on the blessings to others (see deuteronomy 14 - especially verse 26 - for the kind of kingdom partying God likes to set up!!)


yet, i have to ask: how do faith communities and families pass on the convictions and practices of radical Christian discipleship to the next generation?

in the face social and media pressures toward consumerism and american individualism, or just plain greed or violence...how can we (with God) open up the kingdom-paradigm and help people learn the upside-down kingdom values of Jesus?