Relationship

Alpha to Omega Design on a Communion Pix

Gifts from Alpha to Omega…

Many of the tasks that come this time of year can be all encompassing. It can be tough trying to escape the frenzied pace and increased traffic volume, by both road and wire, created by the “shop until you drop” atmosphere that often rises to a peak and can easily over take one. A constant stream of advertisements, promotions, discounts, etc. seem to be blasted from just about every possible direction. Finding gifts, and if not gifts, even the words, that capture or convey one’s sentiment, can be challenging at any time of year, never mind what seems the busiest time of year. Perhaps because there is so much that can pull or push us to distraction. So much that can lead us to remain fixed on the questions of what, when, and how, rather than pondering that which begs our attention—why.

While there is nothing wrong with planning, strategizing, and taking steps to get a bargain, societal conditioning toward getting the best deal one can get and toward a mindset that more is better can lead one further and further away from the gift that is already there. Underneath the façade of all the hype synonymous with this time of year, deep down, there is a universal need… a need to cherish and to be cherished… a desire for Love; best served not from the wallet, but from the heart.

“The only gift is a portion of thyself. Thou must bleed for me. Therefore the poet brings his poem; the shepherd, his lamb; the farmer, corn; the miner, a gem; the sailor, coral and shells; the painter, his picture; the girl, a handkerchief of her own sewing…” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Second Series: “Gifts”

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“I am the Alpha and the Omega, ” says the Lord God,
“the one who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty.”
– Revelation 1:8

Tapestry…

Just a few months ago it would have been hard to imagine such a pattern or striking array of color replacing the multitude of green leaves that seemed to be all around. And while the scene seemed so rich back then, it seems even more so now. Though the leaves will be falling soon, with the addition of greater diversity, they paint a splendid picture that brings a sense of joy along with hope and promise.

It is amazing how it can be so easy to appreciate the contrast, depth, and value provided by the many differences found in and among nature. That same beauty exists in a wide array through the variety found in humanity, yet oftentimes it is not seen as such. Whether it be difference in appearance, opinion, or fact, there is always a pearl to be discovered, something of great value to be learned.

Sometimes we can work together and other times we need to work apart, going in different directions. What we end up becoming or what we feel moved to do may look very different. When it is all said and done though, like the leaves on the trees, our uniqueness brought together creates the picture that is priceless, but only when we remain rooted in the Source.

Love the LORD, your God,
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5

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This Alone…

As a child, I remember being struck by the great change in Moses’ appearance at one point when he came down from the mountain. Moses, as portrayed by the actor Charlton Heston in The Ten Commandments, now had a face that was aglow and silver streaked hair. I recall watching intently and listening, wanting to know more about what had happened between him and God. It was clear that Moses’ experience was a pretty big deal, changing not only his appearance, but also seemingly strengthening his resolve and helping him to journey onward once more.

In the Book of Numbers (chapter 11, verses 25-29), it is written that the Lord imparted some of the spirit that had been given to Moses unto a number of others, seventy elders to be exact. Just verses before that, Moses had asked and questioned the Lord about the current situation. He also expressed his thoughts and feelings regarding the struggle to lead the people through the wilderness while trying to deal with their growing unhappiness. In verse 11, Moses said to the Lord, “I cannot carry all this people by myself, for they are too heavy for me.”

The Lord hears Moses and responds, lessening the weight Moses feels upon his shoulders, reminding him that he is not alone, and providing what he needs to continue his part in carrying out God’s will. Eldad and Medad, who we are told were on the list of the seventy elders, but who were not in the group that had gathered to receive the spirit, also began prophesying. When this is reported to Moses, Joshua, his “assistant,” is of the mind that Eldad and Medad must be stopped at once. However, Moses, his heart fixed on God’s will and his desire to cooperate with it steady and strong, is not only able to see the truth, but also to speak it.

We are all God’s people… all called to be prophets… all called to participate in carrying out, and cooperating with, God’s will.

Moses believed and bought into God’s grace, placing it, rightfully, above human judgment and understanding. He took the leap. Do we?

Knock, and He’ll open the door
Vanish, and He’ll make you shine like the sun
Fall, and He’ll raise you to the heavens
Become nothing, and He’ll turn you into everything. – Rumi

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The LORD came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses.
Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses,
the LORD bestowed it on the seventy elders;
and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied.

Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad,
were not in the gathering but had been left in the camp.
They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent;
yet the spirit came to rest on them also,
and they prophesied in the camp.
So, when a young man quickly told Moses,
“Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp, “
Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said,
“Moses, my lord, stop them.”
But Moses answered him,
“Are you jealous for my sake?
Would that all the people of the LORD were prophets!
Would that the LORD might bestow his spirit on them all!” – Numbers 11:25-29

A Walk in the Woods…

As we entered the woods, we were drawn from one path to another. The hustle and bustle of the everyday was left behind, replaced with sounds of a different… simpler… more pure kind. The further we walked, the more deeply in touch we became with our surroundings.

With each step, we traveled closer to the center, quietly, gently becoming part of a different world. We were surrounded by life, even in that which seemed at first glance to be without it. Layers of decaying leaves, fallen branches, and tree trunks, all returning to the earth, carrying nutrients from the past through the present and into the future. A reminder that when we remain in union with Creation, when we live and breathe Truth, all is One; there is no difference between life and death.

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it within us, or we find it not. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

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On the Edge, Greatness…

At the beginning of the week, as I looked out the window and scanned the back yard, I spotted a doe, yes, “a dear, a female deer,” at the edge of the grass path that leads to the woods. Although tempted to step away to get my camera to try to capture the moment, instead I stayed and watched. For quite some time the doe just stood there in its peaceful, patient way, nibbling at the leaves of a branch. Every so often it lifted its head to glance all around, surveying and taking in the environment with its big, beautiful, pensive eyes. Then, in what seemed like a flash, it was gone, heading off deeper into the woods.

Thinking about this experience, I am struck by the faith that is needed to go into, or to return to, the wilderness. Yet, it is this very same faith that calls creation to the place that is less familiar, less comfortable, or perhaps altogether unknown. Even more, it is the same faith that assures us, moving us toward peace and patience, and helping us to know, we are never alone.

True faith awakens and arises us, calling us closer to the edge, and whispering: Come. Come deeper into the mystery that is God.

In Every Age – by Janet Sullivan Whitaker

Long before the mountains came to be
and the land and sea and stars of the night,
through the endless seasons of all time,
you have always been,
you will always be.

In ev’ry age, O God,
you have been our refuge.
In ev’ry age, O God,
you have been our hope.

Teach us to make use of the time we have.
Teach us to be patient even as we wait.
Teach us to embrace our ev’ry joy and pain.
To sleep peacefully,
and to rise up strong.

In ev’ry age, O God,
you have been our refuge.
In ev’ry age, O God,
you have been our hope.

You have been our refuge
You have been our hope.

OnTheEdgeGreatness

Because it’s the right thing to do…

“Why? I don’t understand why we have to do this?” To which the father responded, “Because, it’s the right thing to do. I can do my best to explain it, but whether or not you, I, or anyone understands, we are doing it, because right here, right now, it’s the right thing to do.”

We all experience moments in life when it can be hard to put something into words or to provide reason or logic. However, even when one cannot understand, there is always a reason. At those times, the challenge is to take what is felt in one’s bones and trust it. Give it whirl, allowing it to have a voice, letting it come to life, and seeing what happens.

Oftentimes, sticking to what we “know,” what we think we know, or what we have been told, takes us further away and pales in comparison to what we may be headed toward or on the brink of discovering… learning… experiencing.

In June of 1949, Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard was buried in Notre Dame Cathedral, alongside archbishops by whom he was predeceased. He had entered formation, despite not having the support of his pastor. He went on to become a priest in 1897, professor, bishop, and eventually Archbishop of Reims in 1930.

In 1942, Cardinal Suhard found his way to using his voice publically against the Vichy government, its deportation of the Jewish people of Paris, and essentially its collusion with the Nazi government. The Cardinal was detained for his actions which went against the clergy and the government of his time and place. However, this was not the first time, he paid consequences for the doing what he felt was the right thing to do.

In his lifetime, Cardinal Suhard was also instrumental in the creation of what was referred to as the Worker-Priest movement. Although the movement was originally supported by the church hierarchy as a means to bring people, specifically the French working class, back to the church, it took on a life of its own.

The priests were sent out into everyday life in the everyday world. The ones who participated in the movement worked in the factories of Paris and other cities. As they experienced the environment and conditions of their fellow workers, they could not help but become involved in trying to make things better. In doing so, they came to be seen by the factory owners, and were reported to the church, as being divisive for their efforts to improve the injustice and wrongdoing they saw and experienced. As a result, the worker priests were told to return to their churches. Some did, and some did not. As for the movement, it went through various stages, including some years of being halted altogether, but has essentially carried on in one form or another.

Emmanuel Célestin Suhard became aware, discovered, and listened to what was in his bones, his God-given purpose. It is always the right thing to do.

“To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one’s life would not make sense if God did not exist.” – Emmanuel Célestin Suhard

On the Edge…

The drops of water lay so gently on the flower’s petals, leaving no evidence of the heavy downpours in the hours before.

Currently, in the state of Hawaii, there are rumblings underground through which lava is flowing. Where there was no evidence of faulty ground visible to the eye, where once perhaps there was what seemed steady, tolerable or even glamorous, now there is disruption. However, depending not on where one stands, but on how one stands, the ground, though it may be cracked and shaking, remains intact.

When Peter and his fellow Apostles were carrying on after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the ground was shaky. The future was unknown, yet they remained intact. They were able to proceed despite differences, disputes, and disruptions. They remained rooted even when the ground was moving.

The Apostles stood firm in their love of God. This was the manner in which they lived—how they stood, wherever they stood. Their love of God and desire to be faithful to God, impassioned them. It opened their hearts and minds, enflaming their spirits and their willingness to listen and to be guided by the Holy Spirit, despite their prior understanding or personal thoughts on the way things should be.

When Peter entered, Cornelius met him
and, falling at his feet, paid him homage.
Peter, however, raised him up, saying,
“Get up. I myself am also a human being.”

Then Peter proceeded to speak and said,
“In truth, I see that God shows no partiality.
Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly
is acceptable to him.”

While Peter was still speaking these things,
the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening to the word.
The circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter
were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit
should have been poured out on the Gentiles also,
for they could hear them speaking in tongues and glorifying God.

Then Peter responded,
“Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people,
who have received the Holy Spirit even as we have?”
He ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

– Acts 10:25-26, 34-35, 44-48

While the Apostles lived so very long ago, the way they lived… how they stood, is much more than history. It is like drops of water on a flower petal, waiting on the edges of every experience. It is Wisdom for the ages.

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“It is at the edge of a petal that love waits.” – William Carlos Williams

Fruitcake…

At each step along the way, whether rocky and disjointed, or smooth and sure, invitation awaits, promise exists, and fulfillment is upon the horizon.

“We are constantly invited to be who we are.” – Henry David Thoreau

Who we are, and who we aspire to be, can lead us in many different directions. Sometimes it can be hard to know which way to go. It can be tempting to go only where the path is more predictable and “certain”, to be drawn into misplacing priorities, to hold onto that which may be intended to be temporary, or to let go and walk away too easily.

Despite all that occurs in the world, or in our lives, and that can cause parts of us to become rigid, who we are calls us to be flexible. While there is much in society that attempts to pull our hearts toward being secure in or through ourselves and others, rather than in and through God, who we are calls us to be fluid… open to guidance and direction, nurturing and pruning, by God—the vine grower (John 15:1).

Jesus said, “Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” (John 15:4-5).

Jesus is reminding us, who we are. Telling us who our lifeline is, and that if we’re going to hold onto, grasp, or cling, let it be to God. Let it be to the Love that sustains and gives life.

Each of us is created in the image of, and out of, Love. A Love that calls us to embody itself and be a presence of love in the world. At the same time, we are also called to allow ourselves to be loved by others. For Love is the source of all fruit that is born.

Love is the driving force of life. Not just a passing affection or surface desire, but a deep, never ending Love. One that connects all living things to one another, and that is neither bound by space nor time.

To love well, or to bear much fruit, requires honest work and cooperation. It is ongoing. It stretches, builds, and challenges us, and can only be truly done in communion with God and one another. It cannot be accomplished in a vacuum, or on an island, so to speak. Nor can it be only alongside those who seem more pleasant to be around or more agreeable. Attached to the Vine, amid many branches, and all through the Vine Grower, there are many ways of bearing fruit as well as many kinds of fruit to bear.

Bearing fruit… extending Love in its many splendid forms to all is the essence in which we are created. It is who we are, who we are called to be, and what we are called to honor. It is to be at all times, and in all places, and most importantly, it is always through the grace of God.

 

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The Good Shepherd…

On one side of the pond, it was overcast and drops of rain were falling to the ground. Yet, across the pond, in between the water and the darkness of the trees, and the dense clouds above them, was the sun. Light in darkness, peacefully, quietly reaching out and waiting to be received, both amid the clouds and within body, mind, and soul… an open invitation to all.

One calling out in both the rain and the dry: Seek refuge in the Lord who is Love… God whose tenderness fills all needs; comforts all sorrows; heals all wounds; carries, lifts up, and strengthens all who desire.

The Good Shepherd sheds tears alongside us. Also, shares in our laughter and joy.

The Good Shepherd is always breathing life… always present.

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Love Never Fails 

Love is not proud
Love does not boast
Love after all Matters the most

Love does not run
Love does not hide
Love does not keep
Locked inside

Love is the river that flows through
Love never fails you

Love will sustain
Love will provide
Love will not cease
At the end of time

Love will protect
Love always hopes
Love still believes
When you don’t

Love is the arms that are holding you
Love never fails you

When my heart won’t make a sound
When I can’t turn back around
When the sky is falling down
Nothing is greater than this
Greater than this

Love is right here
Love is alive
Love is the way
The truth the life

Love is the river than flows through
Love is the arms that are holding you
Love is the place you will fly to
Love never fails you

Songwriters: Brandon Heath / Chad Robert Cates
Love Never Fails lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Capitol Christian Music Group

Hope Restored… Bridges Rebuilt… No Thing Impossible…

These days there is much that can cause one to say, “I see it, but I don’t believe it!” The unbelievable and unreal seem so common place. It is so much so that the far out or absurd is no longer shocking, but rather quietly, silently absorbed into what seems like the disintegrating fabric of society. However, amidst the clouds of confusion and within the fragments of sense and sensibility, there is faith. Sometimes waiting to be discovered or rekindled, sometimes on the verge of becoming more broad or deepened.

The community of believers was of one heart and mind,
and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own
but they had everything in common.
With great power the apostles bore witness
to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus,
and great favor was accorded them all.
There was no needy person among them,
for those who owned property or houses would sell them,
bring the proceeds of the sale,
and put them at the feet of the apostles,
and they were distributed to each according to need. – Acts 4:32-35

Unbelievable! Not only a community of believers, but one of the same heart and mind working and living side-by-side. Unity… accepting differences, learning from each other, and using the ways in which we are unique (our God-given gifts and talents) to strengthen us as we strive toward a common goal (to love God, and to love one another). Unity! So wonderful, but seemingly impossible in our times. One might say, “I won’t believe it, until I see it.”

The disciple Thomas essentially said, “I won’t believe it, until I see it” (John 20:19-31). Perhaps all that he had experienced and witnessed in his life along with his knowledge of Jesus and the crucifixion, coupled with dashed hopes and shattered expectations, led Thomas to the conclusion that things were broken beyond repair. Perhaps, “I won’t believe it, until I see it,” was, “My hopes have been crushed…my trust broken. My heart cannot take any more… I need to see it (proof) for myself.” And what is Jesus’ response? He gives Thomas what he needs, and then reminds him, as well as us, to keep the faith—believe. Despite what you may or may not see, believe.

With God, there is always hope and, where there is an open heart and mind, there is nothing… absolutely nothing beyond some kind of repair.

Our life is full of brokenness – broken relationships, broken promises, broken expectations. How can we live with that brokenness without becoming bitter and resentful except by returning again and again to God’s faithful presence in our lives.

– Henri Nouwen

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