Friday, January 16, 2015

Mark 1:14-15

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’

A mind of joy

The sun sinks slowly behind

a line of trees, bare branches

breaking the orange glow

of a winter-weakened sun

into a thousand angled windows

of fading light, each cherished

as day light slips into January cold.

Sitting in the wonder of light

the heart travels far beyond sun

to the Light who is Light,

the Source of moments

of watching and feeling love

for the blessing of day,

for the light that finds chilled

cheeks and warms hearts

with the joy of being, the

ecstasy of being here …

in the orange glow of winter

sun as day gives way to night.

From what mystery comes

this joy, this love unexpected,

rising up, filling the heart,

spilling tears warmer than

any sunny day?

Tomorrow, a different sun will

rise, a new day, unknown,

simply given, to be welcomed

for whatever it brings. But

already the glow of day’s end

awakens hope that tomorrow

will be as full and graced as this.

Why?

Why this joy, this love,

this hope? Are our hearts tuned

to joy that the Joy of the Infinite

One might warm the hearts and

awaken tears at the sight of

setting suns, such a common

thing, happens every day?

No, not so common, each day

is miracle, each atom of light

a wonder, each moment of sight

a joy for hearts tuned to see

holiness and gift in the light of

winter suns. The kingdom of Love

is here, present among the tree

branches farming orange winter

light at odd angles as jet contrails

plow cobalt skies and fade into

wisps in winter’s bitter cold. But

there is no fading here, in this heart

that sees and knows, this mind

of joy, awakened by Love to the

good news of the holy kingdom

not far but here in every moment

kissed by Love and loved for whatever

small blessing it brings.

For the mind of joy, awakened

by Love, time is fulfilled, as full as

this heart in orange winter glow.

Pr. David L. Miller

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Psalm 139:13-16a

For it was you who formed my inward parts;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
   Wonderful are your works;
that I know very well.
   My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
   intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes beheld my unformed substance.

Where the search ends

Daylight falls heavily on the heart:

Will time run beyond me, before

heart and hand hold the fullness

of my truest longing?

Sixty two years I have been,

and still I am not me, only becoming,

wondering if I will have enough time

to be what I am, finally to arrive

at the destination, a heart fulfilled,

completed, at peace, joyful and content

with what I am and what is mine,

driven no longer by passion for More.

Is this how you made me, knit

together in my mother’s womb,

always wanting, doubting if ever

my soul shall find peace and rest

in the Love that alone quiets

every longing, filling the heart

so that wanting is gone and holding

is all that is? Is there an end here

or is the heart doomed,

a restless hunter for what it cannot

finally, fully make its own?

Is this the way you made me

from my mother’s womb?

If so, even so … I praise you. Great

is your name and the mystery

of your ways, for my longing heart,

my eager and hands have searched

and held and known the Love who

holds me, stirred by longing

for what it could not name but knew

it must have. Moments surprised

when searching melted into finding;

longing arrived at its destination

and disappeared for all else was lost

in Love and wonder at the Love

that found and welcomed me

to surrender searching and know

hope fulfilled, heart completed, at rest,

united in joy with the Love who

made me for Love, and fashioned me

to be satisfied with nothing less.

Pr. David L. Miller

Monday, January 12, 2015

Psalm 139:1-3 

O Lord, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
   you discern my thoughts from far away.
You search out my path and my lying down,
   and are acquainted with all my ways.

I know … you

Light flows through south

windows, and I know …

as light embraces every space

warming and filling each far

corner so is your knowledge

of me, all I am and all that is.

Nothing is left out; wounds

and scars from childhood,

places I protect, secrets

we hide, sorrows unexpected

moments awaken and trouble

the tender heart; light

finds them all.

And troubles need not be

for it is you, Loving One,

who know me. Your knowledge

of this soul is not fearful, for you

are Love and your knowing is

a lover’s knowledge of this life,

this soul, the times of my living

and hidden corners of heart.

In your knowing, … I know ..

I live in the light of your knowing,

the light of your loving,

the warmth of utter compassion,

the delight of your eye that never

ceases to see and know and love

each moment of my days

from the child I was--wounded, afraid

and alone, to the soul you have grown

from earliest moments, yes even

from pains I would have fled,

given the chance.

You look at it all and say,

“Yes, even that, even there,

even then I knew you. Look …

with me … at all of it … and

love it … for I see, it all

and love it all, for from it all I have

made a heart that is true with love,

hope and joy. I know and love …

you. Come, enter the joy of living

in the light of this knowing.

Pr. David L. Miller