faith – Scattered Verses

A Psalm for Today

O God, do not keep silence;
do not hold your peace or be still, O God!

Jesus tells us that the entire Law and Prophets hang on these two commands1: “The Lord our God is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.”2 and “’You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”1 And Jesus also says, “But IContinue reading “Love Like Jesus Does”

Coward’s Power Play

These days, our reaction as a society to hypocrisy could be an illustration of hypocrisy itself. The entrenched on either side of an issue scream “Hypocrite!” at each other across a divide of their own making…to insure the increase of that divide. Like children choosing sides to play Red Rover, many of our politicians, ourContinue reading “Coward’s Power Play”

Got Hope?

Like Truth, like faith, like all that is noble, hope emanates from outside ourselves. Our society is in the throws of turmoil because too many of us wish to own those things that are beyond our individual selves. In the core of our beings we know that we do not have the capability of owningContinue reading “Got Hope?”

The Literal of the Word

One of the most immature ideas I ever had about the Bible was that it must be both literally and figuratively true at the same time. Jesus made the prophecies literally true. Much that is literal can be found in the poetry of the Psalms. ‘The Song of Solomon,’ however, definitively disabuses one of thatContinue reading “The Literal of the Word”

Hurricanes, Hardships, Tornadoes, and Tumult

Jesus, divine Brother of mine, I do not understand. You are merciful and faithful Yet, pouf, they’re gone. The grandmas and papas, the sisters and cousins, the brothers and uncles The aunts, the moms, the dads, the kids…and the critters The houses, the places of work and worship; of healing and learning. Pouf. Gone. IContinue reading “Hurricanes, Hardships, Tornadoes, and Tumult”

Innocence

A Lament and Prayer Good Shepherd, I beg of You Save Innocence. The world stalks her, lying in wait to snatch her from Your lambs. Please, O Christ, save her. Heal her from the ordeal. Innocence is the gift You bestow, that protects the growing– the forming– of Your littleContinue reading “Innocence”

An Extra One

A Prayer Gracious Father, I come to You on bended knee, Deserving nothing, yet asking—pleading for Your ear, To hear the outcry of Your children in imminent peril For them, Lord . . . for me . . . Your promise to keep. Blessed Christ, at the foot of Your cross, Gracious healer of theContinue reading “An Extra One”

Whack-a-mole, a Conundrum, and a Siren Song

Conclusion (part 4) The siren song that is but an substance-less refrain wafts through air: Judge not; do not hate; love, love, love… The Kernel of Truth ploy might be the oldest, heaviest hammer in the Deceiver’s game of whack-a-mole. Adam and Eve were felled by it. They did not fall lifeless to the fertileContinue reading “Whack-a-mole, a Conundrum, and a Siren Song”

Whack-a-mole, a Conundrum, and a Siren Song

Part 3 Let’s take a quick look at the gist of parts one and two: 1: The initial conjecture made is that we humans, Christians in particular, have been deceived. We have allowed Jesus’s teaching in the Sermon on the Mount – Judge not lest ye be judged1 – to be pervertedinto a diluted gruelContinue reading “Whack-a-mole, a Conundrum, and a Siren Song”