Entombed

John 11:1-44

Jesus, I think of you crying at the grief of your friends,

Martha and Mary, and over the death of Lazarus.

Even in your tears you were disparaged by others.

We can be so cynical and mean to each other.

Maybe your tears were also because of that.

Today, Christ, you still cry for those entombed and those

who love them, whether the tomb is death,

prison, disease, oppression or fear.

You cry for the cynics, the proud and powerful who

do not even know they are dead, who are unaware

they are entombed by their pride, their power, their hate.

The stench is terrible and you cry.

But you do not turn away.

You remove the stone.

You call us out of the tomb.

You unbind us and set us free.

You have the power to speak us into life.

Are we listening?

A Prayer

Mark 14:36

On the other side of suffering, I see your transforming work, O God. But when I read this single verse, Jesus’ plea to you, I go back to my season of suffering and my wish to run away from it.

A wise guide spoke hard truth to me when she said to stay with my pain. Let it be my teacher. I did not want to hear those words, but I received them. I lived them, through days and weeks and months, walking the thin line between despair and hope.

I did not numb myself to the pain, but felt it as fully as I was capable of feeling it. And even for that, I was derided by the same ones whose words and deeds had already exiled me.

But because I did not numb myself, did not avoid the pain, I now sing with unfettered joy the song of salvation and new life. I am redeemed and reborn! Thanks be to God! Amen.

A Lived Psalm

Psalm 23

Loving God, I have lived this psalm.

Not the flowery King James Version, but the straightforward Common English one.

You have kept me alive through my darkest hour,

leading me to restful waters—the river, the marsh, the lake—

when I was so very dry within,

when tears had wrung me out.

When I lost almost everything

I came to know that you are everything.

I lack nothing for I have you.

Though others proclaimed me worthless,

you welcomed me to a lavish feast,

feeding me love in heaps and mounds,

overflowing, extravagant love.

You bathed my broken soul with oil,

gratitude spills out of my full heart!

I now know that you never stop pursuing me.

We will always dwell together.

My home is found in you!

Deliverance

Exodus 6:5-8

Lord, I have lived under burdens,

making bricks without straw, taking on

impossible tasks, struggling under demands

too great for me. I have forgotten

who I am,

who you created me to be, falling

instead into a shape ill-fitting my soul.

I have not lived as your chosen,

but have chosen instead to enslave myself

to an image not mine to live.

You saw my predicament.

You heard the cry of my soul, even before

I was aware that my soul was crying.

You delivered me with signs and wonders,

feeding my starved soul with love, with community,

with your presence and peace.

My soul is taking the shape of your chosen, the shape

you dreamed for it.

Who I am is seen and known and I am learning to listen

to my soul’s whispered truth.

Your faith in me is making me well.

I live to sing your praise with my life!

Redeemer

(A poem based on Isaiah 62:1-3)

Trampled, torn, a dirty scarf,

looking more like a rag.

Kicked to the curb, future hope

washing into the storm drain,

forgotten, faded, forlorn--

until you came, picked me up,

cleaned me, healed my broken,

buffeted soul.

A splendid garland you named me,

held as treasure in your tender hands.

No longer cast aside, I adorn

your scarred head, high and lifted up,

shining like the sun.

For Zion’s sake I won’t keep silent,
    and for Jerusalem’s sake I won’t sit still
    until her righteousness shines out like a light,
    and her salvation blazes like a torch.
Nations will see your righteousness,
    all kings your glory.
You will be called by a new name,
    which the Lord’s own mouth will determine.
You will be a splendid garland in the Lord’s hand,
    a royal turban in the palm of God’s hand.

                                                                Isaiah 62:1-3