a psalm in two parts

1. 
to 
leave 
behind 
is to
      grieve

2.
to 
start
afresh
is to
      believe

apple

your life-fruit sustains me,

I know yet still don’t eat.

you long to rename me-

this pile of dust at your feet

crying,

     “abba…..” 

artistry

this artistry astounds me-
the way you shade me in
with a rush of colour-glow
like I was made to begin
with a brush from this love-echo
the way your arms' far-reaching span
can reach me standing where I am
in this heap of debris-
you sculpt something lovely out of me.

common prayer

God of Love

We recognize that daily, injustice stains our actions.

We lament our dogmatic, democratic chains-

And where they’ve caused us to let go of love.

We confess our dehumanizing view of “the other”,

Our attachments to religious certitude,

Our careless destruction of the earth.

We confess that we are masters at the art of exclusion.

Oh God of love,

Let us rise above the stench of death-

For we are alive.

God of Love

We recognize that you offer deep healing for this land.

We realize, we open our eyes-

To your blatantly beautiful story of change.

A story in which equality relocates both the weak and the strong,

In which a perfect love has adopted us all,

In which we root our life in creation’s rhythms.

We see that your path is one of profound inclusion.

Oh God of love,

Let us be swept up into this story-

For it is your catching force of life.

God of Love

We recognize that our complacency is no longer enough.

We commit to justice beyond a cause-

And desire to justly live.

We long to generously share, laying down unequal privilege,

To create spacious grace within our faith,

To seek restoration for this one gift of earth.

We long to heed your inclusive call.

Oh God of love,

Let us be drawn together, coloured by our communion -

For we long to proclaim your Kingdom. 

earthquake

for my neighbors in Turkey-

fear hides
under the rubble,
behind your eyes
as we crumble
under grey skies
and hope some God or other
hears our cries.

garden poem

sometimes I seek out the silence
planted in my heart's soil,
the garden home to my soul.
I move wordlessly,
upon the earth you tend to,
the earth you've breathed into
me.
Perusal.
in amongst the tallest trees,
I feel your breeze
my arms sway
stray blossoms make their way down
from the branches high above
they rain on me.
Pursual.
I am stirred by your song,
notes ring lovely and long
your voice-call
walls between us fall down
from around this planted heart
you reign in me.
the Gardener, my Garden Father.