yoke

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV)

If I am tired and weary, could it be because I am not listening to the voice of the One who says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”?  Could it be because I am not wearing His yoke, which is easy, and carrying His burden, which is light?  And if I’m not wearing the yoke of Jesus, and carrying his burden, then whose yoke am I wearing and what burdens am I carrying?  Could it be that I and weary and burdened because I am wearing the yoke and carrying the burdens of someone other than Him?

“Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you’ll recover your life.  I’ll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, MSG)

christmas blessings

“How great is his mercy, how divine his goodness, for he has torn everything from us in order that we may be more completely his.  So the sufferers are the happy ones through the goodness of God.  In suffering I give thanks.  May these days of Christmas festival bring you, in your suffering, I do not say consolation, but the blessings God intends for you.” ―Meditations of a Hermit by Charles de Foucauld

why do i pray 

for consolation

when it is suffering

that holds the 

greater blessing

good

if God is good

he’s good all the time

as long as everything

goes according to plan

we have no problem

trusting and thanking him

but the minute things go awry

trust disappears and faith fails

our belief in his goodness

turns into anger, frustration

and demandingness

if God is good

he’s good all the time

not just when things go our way

his goodness and his love are

big enough and durable enough

to sustain us whatever the circumstance

the thorn

if not for the struggle

i would never know the joy

if not for the weakness

i would never know your strength

if not for the stretching

i would never know the growth

if not for the groaning

i would never know the hope

if not for my insufficiency

i would never know your sufficiency

if not for the thorn

i would never know your grace

thank you for the thorn

 

sprout

“In those days and at that time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line.” (Jeremiah 33:15)

Sometimes how you show up can be nearly as important as if you show up.  That’s definitely the case with the Nativity.  The fact that God chose to come into the world he created is mind-blowing enough, but when you couple that with how he chose to come into that world, it’s even more amazing.  For he came into his world as a sprout.

It was not a big, splashy, showy entrance, but one that was meek and humble and subtle and hidden.  A sprout is kind of that way.  It is small and intimate and hardly noticeable.  You probably would not even see it if you weren’t looking carefully for it, particularly at the beginning.  A sprout is also weak and vulnerable and dependent.  It is connected to and rooted in something deep and life-sustaining.  A sprout is not something that happens fast, but something that takes time and space to grow into all it is to become.  Thus, sprouting into a Branch is a long, slow process. 

That is how the Almighty God chose to enter his creation: through the womb of a poor teenage girl, in an out-of-the-way stable, in the tiny town of Bethlehem, with the only onlookers being a few shepherds and some weary travelers.  On top of that, he spent the next thirty years in virtual anonymity before he ever stepped into the limelight.  He took time to deeply know the place and the people he was coming to.  Knowing and being known must have been very important to him.  Therefore, it should be important to us as well.

If that’s how God chose to come into our world, maybe we should do the same.  Maybe we should be more like him.  Maybe we too should show up in humility and meekness and hiddenness.  Maybe we too should show up in weakness and dependence and vulnerability.  Maybe we should plant our feet in a place and walk around for a while.  Maybe we should get to know people deeply and well.  Maybe we should walk and work side-by-side with them and get our hands dirty.  Maybe we should be so intimately connected with our God that we would begin to care about the things he cares about and love the things he loves.  Maybe we should be just a sprout, like him.

Lord Jesus, help me to be a sprout, just like you.  Help me to come like you came, to live like you lived, and to love like you loved.

prepare the way

“Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.” (Mt. 3:3) 

That’s what this season is all about.  Thus, each of us must do some soul-searching, some praying, and some seeking if we ever want to figure out what this needs to look like in our lives.

The truth that both Isaiah and John the Baptist proclaimed was that “the Messiah is coming, so you’d better get ready.”  Therefore, each one of us must invest some time and space figuring out just how to make the paths straight for his entrance, both within us and among us.  Otherwise, when he comes there will be no room for him in our souls, the same way there was no room for him in the inn. 

Prepare the way, O Lord, both within us and among us, for your entry into our hearts and our world.

too much

too many words

too much talking

too much doing

too much toil

too much worry

too little silence

too little listening

too little being

too little resting

too little peace

too little enjoying you

too little enjoying

you enjoying me

from nazareth to bethlehem

“So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and expecting a child.  While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.” (Luke 2:4-7)

There’s nothing easy about the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, especially if you are nine months pregnant at the time.  It is a dangerous and grueling four-day (minimum) journey, and that’s if you choose to take the most direct route through Samaria, which a good Jew never would.  Avoiding Samaria altogether turns it into a weeklong journey instead.  So, either way it is going to involve seventy to ninety miles, thirty-five hours of walking or riding spread out over four to seven days.

That’s the journey before each of us as the season of Advent begins.  That is the process we must go through in order for the “new thing” to be born in each of us.  There’s no way around it.  New birth always comes about as the result of a great journey.  A journey that will not be easy.  In fact, it might be more challenging and demanding than you ever imagined.  So, climb aboard your donkey and let’s get started.  Watch and wait and struggle and pray and imagine and hope.  The new thing that is to be born in you will make it all worth it.  It is a birth that is more beautiful and more glorious and more amazing than you could ever imagine, but it won’t be easy to get there.  It will be long and hard but will end in a glorious result—new life!

I am expecting my first granddaughter in June and couldn’t be more excited!  I spend a lot of time praying and imagining and celebrating, but really won’t know the full depths of her beauty and her life and her presence until the day she comes forth and is born into this world.  I cannot wait until that day!  I cannot wait to get my hands on this little miracle and pour out my love on her, the way I have with my two amazing grandsons before her.  That’s what the season of Advent is all about, it’s about that joyful, expectant, hopeful, excited waiting.  Thus, we can endure the hard and the painful and the uncomfortable and the exhausting, because God is doing a new thing, and we can’t wait to see it and hold it and know it and love it.  Thanks be to Him!

O Lord, give me the courage and the strength and the grace to embark on this journey of new life and new birth you are inviting me to.  Don’t let the hard keep me from pressing on to the good and beautiful.

and it begins

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will fulfill the gracious promise I made to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.  In those days and at the right time I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line; he will do what is just and right in the land.  In those days Judah will be saved and Jerusalem will live in safety.  This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.” (Jeremiah 33:17)

The days are coming.  Indeed, they are coming, just as they did for the ones who first received these words of Jeremiah’s prophecy.  Just as they did for those who were waiting and watching for the Holy One, The Lord Our Righteousness, to come to earth.

Once again, that season of hope and expectation is upon us.  The season when we receive the gracious promise once again and look forward to how it will be fulfilled in the days and weeks ahead.  The season when we look forward to God’s arrival, both among us and within us, and make time and space for that arrival to happen.

What is your deepest hope for the season ahead?  How are you longing for the Righteous Branch to sprout in your life and in our world?  How are you longing for the day of hope and life and love and peace and rest to come?

Come, Lord Jesus!

listen to his song

if you are not

still and quiet

you cannot hear

the song of love

he sings over you

thanksgiving 2024

“Rejoice always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

Most of us are content to be joyful when things are good, prayerful when they are not, and thankful only when we are happy and healthy.  But the Scriptures tell us a much different story.  God’s will for us is much bigger than that.

God’s will for us is to rejoice always.  That’s right, always!  Even when things aren’t going so well.  Even when we are sad or sorrowful or depressed.  The beautiful thing about joy is that it’s a choice.  It is not contingent on everything being rosy in our lives and our world.  Joy can coexist with sorrow and sadness and pain.  It is much deeper than an emotion; it is an attitude, a state of mind.  It is a determination to hold fast to God’s goodness and his love, even when our hearts are breaking.  Because joy is about trust, a deep-seated trust that God is always working for our ultimate and eternal good, and that he will take care of us just the way he promised.

Secondly, it is God’s will that we pray continually.  Not just every now and then.  Not just when we think we should.  Not just when we’re feeling guilty or dutiful.  Not just when we want something.  He wants to hear from us always, and he wants to be with us in continual, intimate union.  He is not just the one we turn to when we are in a jam or need a favor, but the one we are in constant communication with.  That’s what a genuine relationship is all about.  It’s ongoing, it’s give and take, it’s back and forth, it's speaking and listening, it’s being with.  In other words, it’s continual.   

And finally, God’s will is that we live a life of gratitude, constantly giving thanks.  Not just when things are going our way, but in all circumstances, knowing that he is always at work in ways we can’t see or understand.  Knowing that he is doing things in us and through us that can only be accomplished through struggle and strife and dependence.  The hard times are the ones that accomplish his deeper purposes in and through us, and that’s something to be thankful about.

Always, continually, and in all circumstances, that is your will for me.  Forgive me, O Lord, when I offer you so much less than that.  Thank you that your desire for me is so much bigger than that.  Give me the strength and the grace and the courage to accomplish your will.

the secret stairs

They all were looking for a king

To slay their foes and lift them high;

Thou cam'st, a little baby thing

That made a woman cry.

O Son of God, to right my lot

Naught but Thy presence can avail;

Yet on the road Thy wheels are not,

Nor on the sea Thy sail!

My how or when Thou wilt not heed,

But come down Thine own secret stair,

That Thou mayst answer all my need,

Yea, every bygone prayer!

~That Holy Thing by George MacDonald

How do you usually expect God to come to you?  In power and glory, with a show of might and brilliance, or down the secret stairs?

If the Nativity taught us anything, it’s that Jesus, most likely, is not going to show up in quite the way we expect him to.  In fact, He is likely to come as he did that first Christmas Eve/Day, in lowliness, in hiddenness, and in humility.

And since he chose to come to us in that way, it is highly likely that he wants us to show up in the lives of others in that way as well.  Not in a blaze of glory with spotlights shining, but by using the secret stairs.  Thus, how we show up is almost as important as if we show up at all.

God is not looking for a big presence who will take the world by storm, he’s looking for those who are willing to slip in the backdoor unnoticed, those willing to enter by the secret stairs and show up lovingly, humbly, and consistently in the lives of those who are in desperate need of him.

I am forever grateful, O God, not only that you came, but also for how you came.  Help me to do the same.

to the depths

from information to encounter

from intellect to intimacy 

from conversation to communion

from blowing a kiss to kissing

from bystander to bride

from pursuer to pursued

from seeker to sought after

from idea to actuality 

this is the movement of prayer

eyes

give me eyes to see

the true beauty of things

not just the surface

but down to the depths

for if you do not

give me eyes to see

i will not be able

to see beyond my own

fears and insecurities

advent 2024

Two great options for Advent, if you're looking for a good companion.

for love

What does it mean 

to do what you love?

What does it mean 

to love what you do?

Or is the real question 

What does it mean 

to do whatever you do

With love?

Then it is not about you

But about love itself 

his song of love

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17)

What song do you listen to each day?  Do you listen to the song of those around you who demand that you become like them?  Do you listen to the song of the voices within you who continually tell you that you are not enough?  Or do you listen to the song of the One who made you and wants you to know the depths of his delight and affection?  Because the song you listen to the most is the song that your life will sing to others.

“Is that a joyous choir I hear?  No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.” (Zephaniah 3:17, TLB) Listen to the song of delight and affection he is singing over you today.

your ways

sometimes i just can’t

understand your ways

much less explain them

they are too deep

and too mysterious

for my little mind to grasp

sometimes your ways

look too hard and too sad

and even a bit too harsh

to actually come from

your loving hand

but for some reason

you are the one

who brings beauty from ashes

who brings joy from sorrow

who brings life from death

who turns mourning into dancing

for how can we appreciate

beauty if not for ashes

or joy if not for sorrow

or dancing if not for mourning

for some crazy reason

you chose to bring about

the best things of this life

via the most painful

so instead of trying

to understand your ways

i will just keep on dancing

and keep on trusting

even when i can’t see

what you are up to

for your thoughts

are not my thoughts

and your ways

are not my ways

plans

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

If you want to walk with God, you had best check your plans at the door.  Life with him is as beautiful as it is demanding.  It is an amazing dance, an awesome adventure, and a challenging journey.  It is a journey in which we are not in control, he is.  We do not charge ahead with our agenda and invite him to come along.  We follow his lead; he doesn’t follow ours. 

Our job is to stay attentive to his voice, in tune with his will, and aligned with his purposes.  Life with him is about his plans, not our own.  Fortunately, his plans are to prosper us, not to harm us.  His plans give us “a hope and a future.”  His plans, although they might demand a lot of us, are always for our good, our benefit, and our growth.  We just have to trust in him.

mercy

hang on to the scar

the hurt you have caused

let it teach and guide you

into deep humility

and acute awareness

of your immense need

for divine mercy

but let go of the guilt and shame

or it will eat you up inside

it will leave you consumed

with yourself rather than

consumed with your God

you can’t fix this mess

because you’re not

supposed to be able to fix it

that is the work of hands

much bigger than yours

so the scar remains

as a reminder of the hurt

that is still being healed

but will one day make all

stronger than ever before

but with a different

kind of strength

welcome to this new land

the world of weakness

where living from your flaws

and failures and frailties

opens you up to His strength

and His divine mercy

shepherd and sheep

The Lord is my shepherd; I am his sheep.  He will take full and complete care of me; I do not need to worry.  In a barren land, he finds me green pastures and makes me lie down.  In a dry and arid place, he leads me to still waters where I can drink and be refreshed and renewed.  He guides me in the good way, so I don’t get lost or confused, all for his name’s sake. 

Even when the stench of death surrounds me and darkness overwhelms me, I will not fear for he is right in the middle of it with me, protecting me and directing me with his staff and his rod.  His love and his power bring me so much peace and comfort. 

He sets a table for the two of us to share an elaborate and intimate meal together.  He pours fragrant and healing oil on my head to show me that I am loved and valued.  My heart, just like my cup at his table, is always filled to overflowing with abundance and delight.  He pursues me unceasingly with his goodness and his unfailing love, so that I may live in his house, with him, forever.

little lamb arise

 I went out looking for Jesus one day.  My twelve-year-old daughter, the light of my life and the joy of my heart, was on the verge of death.  Jesus was our last hope.  I didn’t want to leave her side, but I was desperate.  So, after I heard that he was returning from the region of the Gerasenes, I went out to meet him. 

Unfortunately, I was not alone.  Thousands of people were waiting on the shore that day for his boat to return.  Word had spread; people were everywhere!  I’d never seen such crowds.  But I was determined.  If he could help my little girl, I would walk through hot coals to make that happen.  She was everything to me, the apple of my eye, and she was dying.  There are no lengths a desperate father will not go to in order to help his beloved child.

Luckily, I was able to make my way to him.  It doesn’t hurt, I suppose, to be a synagogue ruler after all.  Thus, the crowds parted and before I knew it, I found myself face down on the ground before him, pleading for the healing of my little lamb.  And when he agreed to come with me, I was overjoyed.  A glimmer of hope began to grow in my heart.

But before we had gone twenty feet, he stopped and started looking around.  He said someone had “touched his clothes.”  Of course someone had touched his clothes, there were people crowding all around him.  His disciples even reminded him of that.  But he insisted on finding who it was.

Then a woman fell down before him on the road and admitted that she was the one who had touched him.  She went on to tell him that she had been bleeding for twelve years and had tried everything to be healed of her affliction, but instead of getting better, she had just gotten worse.  He waited patiently as she told him the whole story—twelve long years’ worth.  The same amount of time my little girl had been alive. 

I was starting to get a little panicky and frustrated over the delay, until I heard what he said to her: “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”  He called her daughter.  This woman was someone’s little girl too.  In fact, he wanted her to know that she was his little girl.  She was God’s daughter.  You see, he was not just healing her body but also healing her soul.  She needed to know that she mattered.  She needed to know that she was valuable.  She needed to know that she was loved.  And now she did. 

From that moment on, I knew everything would be okay.  I knew my little girl was in good hands.  Even after some of my friends met us on the road telling us that my daughter was dead, Jesus was not deterred.  He never flinched.  He just kept walking. 

To make a long story short, he came into our house and brought peace to our chaos, joy to our sorrow, and life to our death.  He took our daughter by the hand and whispered in her ear, “Little lamb, arise!”  How could he have known that’s what I called her?  Absolutely amazing!  And as soon as he took her hand, our little lamb stood up.  She was alive again!  Jesus had entered into our desperation and brought celebration, taken away death and brought about life.  Only God could do something like that.  

That day I learned a valuable lesson: When it comes to life in the kingdom, desperation creates some of the very best soil for God to do his work.

a prayer of transformation

“Dear Lord, it does not take much for me to forget you. The world, my world, has so many ways of demanding my attention that I quickly allow myself to be turned away from you. You are present in this world, in my life, in all that happens. But your presence is quiet, gentle, and unspectacular. Silence, solitude, quiet prayer, a peaceful conversation, and reflective reading help me to recognize that you are with me, that you call me, that you challenge me and, most of all, that you invite me into your house of peace and joy. Yet the loud voices of the world, the endless variety of “musts” and “oughts” and the illusion that everything has the quality of an emergency, all these things pull me away from the place where you dwell and make me live as if I and not you have to save the world.

A few days away from this house of prayer has made it very clear how easily I am seduced into thinking that everything except you is worth time, attention, and effort. Lord, I pray tonight that you deepen and strengthen my awareness of your presence, so that I can live in the world without being of it. Let the last two months of my stay in this monastery make my encounter with you as strong and deep and lasting as that of Saul on the road to Damascus, so that I can see the world with the new sight you are giving me. Amen.” ~from A Cry for Mercy by Henri Nouwen

desperation and dependence

What is Jesus trying to teach you during this season of your journey?

For me it comes down to two words that are intimately connected: desperation and dependence.  Desperation is that “end of your rope” feeling that Peterson talks about in his interpretation of the Beatitudes: “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope.  With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” (Mt. 5:3, MSG) It is a feeling that comes from a deep sense of despair, an overwhelming feeling of helplessness and powerlessness.  And it leaves us with a very deep realization of our complete and total dependence upon something, or Someone, outside ourselves to come to our aid. 

Thus, desperation creates some of the very best soil for God to do his work in and through you because you are totally out of the way.  A stripping away of strength, adequacy, competence, pride, self-importance, and self-sufficiency has taken place and left us nothing to rely on except the grace and power and love of God.  Which makes us cry out, like so many in the Scriptures and beyond: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.”  Because mercy is where our desperation meets God’s unfailing love.  It is the stuff of genuine transformation.

So, what’s Jesus teaching you lately?  I would really love to hear.

sanctification

a stripping away

a peeling back of the layers

of strength and adequacy 

of self-importance 

and self-sufficiency 

until nothing is left

i stand naked 

and alone

before you

and you say

finally

i see you

the real you

and it’s the most

beautiful thing

I’ve ever seen

God's mercy is greater than my sin

Henri Nouwen once wrote: “God’s mercy is greater than our sins.”  Unfortunately, we don’t always live that way.  “There is an awareness of sin,” he continues, “that does not lead to God but to self-preoccupation.”  We get so focused on our sin that we take our eyes off our God.  “Our temptation,” Nouwen concludes, “is to be so impressed by our own sins and failings and so overwhelmed by our lack of generosity that we get stuck in a paralyzing guilt.  It is the guilt that says, ‘I am too sinful to deserve God’s mercy.’  It is the guilt that leads to introspection instead of directing our eyes to God.”  Ever been there before?  I know I have.

I get so preoccupied with my sin that I fail to even acknowledge (much less experience) God’s mercy.  I get stuck inside myself and can’t seem to get out, wallowing around in my guilt and shame to the point where I never allow God to come and bathe me in his mercy and love.  Instead, I get caught in a decaying orbit of gloom, despair, and hopelessness rather than claiming the love and life and forgiveness God offers.

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love,” say the words of the ancient prayer.  “According to your great compassion blot out my transgressions, wash away all my iniquities, and cleanse me of my sin.  For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:1-3) But I also know the depths of your mercy, and that makes all the difference.  Your mercy really is greater than my sin.  It is enough to cleanse me so that I will be clean, to wash me so that I will be whiter than snow.  Help me to truly believe that, O God.  Help me to believe that your mercy is, indeed, greater than all my sin.  For only then will I be free.

a prayer for silence

O Lord Jesus, your words to your Father were born out of your silence.  Lead me into this silence, so that my words may be spoken in your name and thus be fruitful.  It is so hard to be silent, silent with my mouth, but even more, silent with my heart.  There is so much talking going on within me.  It seems that I am always involved in inner debates with myself, my friends, my enemies, my supporters, my opponents, my colleagues, and my rivals.  But this inner debate reveals how far my heart is from you.  If I were simply to rest at your feet and realize that I belong to you and you alone, I would easily stop arguing with all the real and imagined people around me.  These arguments show my insecurity, my fear, my apprehensions, and my need for being recognized and receiving attention.  You, O Lord, will give me all the attention I need if I would simply stop talking and start listening to you.  I know that in the silence of my heart you will speak to me and show me your love.  Give me, O Lord, that silence.  Let me be patient and grow slowly into this silence in which I can be with you.  Amen. ―A Cry for Mercy by Henri Nouwen

 

doors

there are doors

that open in our lives

and if we have the courage

to step through them

we will be met by Jesus

on the other side

he will lead us deeper

into his great heart of love

and what looked like a crisis

becomes a conversion

an invitation into

intimacy and affection

beyond our wildest dreams

every crisis offers a conversion

if we are willing to embrace it

and meet Jesus in the midst of it

nothing

Lord

i am nothing

apart from you

i can do nothing

except by your

grace and mercy

and i long to be

filled with nothing

but your unfailing love

be everything

in my nothingness

attunement

O God

may my heart

be your heart

may my eyes

be your eyes

may my soul

be one with you

may my hope

be in you alone

may it always be

all of you and

none of me