home place

there’s a stream

that flows

by the side of the road

where the grass

is the greenest green

choke cherries bloom

white 

and the morning dove

the dove of

mourning

coos softly

I've been spending a lot of time at the home place lately. Though it’s a beautiful spring there, it’s the season of winter in my parents lives. Change is in the offing. And with that,  in a few days we will be celebrating the marriage of our youngest son. Joy and sorrow mingled. What could convey that paradox more than the presence of Good Friday and Easter Sunday back to back in the pages of history? 

Happy Easter friends. In the end, JOY wins out. 

“Behold, I am making ALL Things new!”  Revelation 21:5

late march

truth be known

i enjoy

winter

but this one

has been extremely 

long

and i too

am ready 

for birdsong 

and blossoms

a tiresome virus

has kept me in

even on nicer days

but at last 

i am feeling good again

and ready to embark

on a leisurely walk

so it’s off to the park

getting out of the car

i glance up 

to the tops

of yet bare trees

in their nakedness

they charm me

offering a beauty

never seen

when  summer’s leaves 

are lush

and green

Look up my friends. See the silhouettes of branches bare…..while there is still time. :)

"Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore.There is always something to make you wonder…..in the shape of a tree or the trembling of a leaf."  Albert Schweitzer

february light

it’s hazy today

and i lazily stroll

down the path

somewhat subdued

by the tilt of the earth

at this season

the mood of the trees

and their reason

of nakedness

does not winter

diminish us all

does she not 

lay us bare 

too?

Prayer….

Thank you Lord that when we are diminished, we are most in need of your grace.

And that even in february there is light.

Writing this post reminded me of a great old hymn: He Giveth More Grace….I especially like the 2nd stanza:

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,

When our strength has failed ere the day is half done;

When we reach the end of our hoarded resources,

Our Father's full giving is only begun.

James 4:6

He gives more grace. Therefore the Scripture says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."

bearing gifts (the snow)

in the stillness of snow
we can let go
of so many things

in the whiteness of snow
we are given to know
grace

"How many lessons of faith and beauty should we lose, if there were no winter in our year."
                                      Thomas Wentworth Higginson, 1861

December 26, after Christmas walk

it was warm 

for a december afternoon

and rain fell steady

inserting my ear phones

i started the walk

to the songs of les mis

another christmas 

had passed

i couldn’t help but wonder

if it would be the last 

with mom and dad

or might tragedy 

of another kind

befall 

before the halls

were decked again

then came the voice 

of young cosset

i slowed my steps

to listen well

and while 

her fragile words

settled in my heart

the weight of dread

took flight…

“there is a castle 

in the clouds

where no one’s lost

and no one cries”

(where there are

no sad goodbyes)

the song

like a snowflake,

faded quietly away

but other words

ancient and few

surfaced 

from memory

“FEAR NOT”

“For behold!”

how 

had i forgotten 

so soon?

“Behold!” 

“Behold”

and be held

all you who know yourselves

to be poor

“a baby 

is born!”

And He 

is the lamb

of God

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. “

                                                              ~John the Baptist

“He shattered the space between heaven and earth 

and came naked and breakable for you in a creche.  

Then he lay naked and broken by you on a cross. 

You don’t have to try to save yourself.  Behold Him everywhere and be held.” 

                                                        Ann Voskamp, The Greatest Gift

My “word” for 2019 is remember. :)

What’s yours?

december evening, annunciation

my plan was a 

a ten minute

walk

out the back door

down the driveway

and up the gravel road

just for a fresh breath

of air

but within

a minute of setting out

the revelation began

(cries of

geese filling the air)

i scanned the horizon

in every direction

nothing

finally

turning my face

directly upward

i saw them

flying 

high and away

into the pink feathery clouds 

seemingly heaven bound

light from the great star

reflecting from their underbellies

then 

just before fading from sight

they turned

and  circled back

directly overhead

again

this time

so low 

i could hear 

the beating of their wings

north

they flew

the air was warm

the world 

still

“Every human being is “formed to be a spectator of the created world and given eyes that he might be led to its author.”  John Calvin

“So go to the window. go to the hills, the desert, the corner, the back door and be ravished and taken and awed.” Ann Voskamp

*This season of advent, i am reminded again of how at a particular point in history God came “low”. So low that one could actually hear the sound of his footsteps. 

kneeling

everything i saw
that morning

seemed to take a knee

in protest?
no

in awe, it seemed

(believing that nothing
was deserved or earned)

leaves gave way
to autumns breeze

mums bent low

and even the strongest
boughs

bowed down

to kiss
the darkened
fertile

ground


"The happiest man is he who learns from nature the lesson of worship"
                                             ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Pride is about my glory; humility is about God's glory."  ~Mark Driscoll