Isaiah 50 (CJB)
Why was no one here when I came?
Why, when I called, did nobody answer?
Galatians 3:15-22 (MSG)
If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God’s will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.
Mark 6:47-56 (CJB)
..because the wind was against them.


Lonely God
The house is empty
dirty dishes in the sink
burnt pots on the stove
starving cat but
no evidence of disaster.
What imaginary monster did everyone escape?
Why?


Lifeless Laws
The courthouse is crowded
greasy gavel in hand
the judge pounds and pounds
flabby lawyers sit
bellies straining coat buttons.
Where is the bailiff to bring in the accused…

O, Distance-Keeper brilliance-edged, cloud-sustaining, sky-imprinting, Easer-of-Hearts—
O, Morning Mountain ruckled, massive, hollow-holding, horizon-lining, Interrupter-of-Grief—
I see you.

(This is an edited version of a discussion I had with my fellow Solitaries in the Community.)
“If you are to have a rule to guide you, who is to write that rule? You ask me to do so, but I am not qualified. I cannot claim to be any wiser than you, so I could not presume to formulate any kind of law for you to follow. Should Jesus write your rule? The teaching of Jesus must be the primary guide for any disciple. Yet Jesus did not give clear rules. Jesus gave us stories whose meaning is infinitely profound; and Jesus gave us sermons in which every sentence and even every word is pregnant with truth. We cannot reduce these stories and sermons to a set of laws…If you wish to formulate a rule you must listen to your own conscience and discern these principles. Write down with your own hand on paper what God has written with God’s hand on the human heart.” —Pelagius


I’m going sideways again, trying to ignore Old Man Zen over there in the corner, rolling his eyes.
I used to tell my Karate stude…

(This is not a Lectio Divina reflection. This is the plain truth of what happened to me today. You'd be surprised how often it happens.....)


If you suspect I'm clinically depressed,
I don't appreciate your kind dismay.
So what? I haven't had a meal today,
or made my bed, or even gotten dressed.
(Obsessed, I just neglected to ingest.)
I mined for words to prove in the assay:
the lode of metaphor that would convey
the deepest nuance languagemight suggest.


So don't you worry that I've lost my mind.
I never felt the hours passing by;
I didn't hear my stomach's aching groan.
I'd gone prospecting in a place behind
the world, where time's an evanescent lie
and every glinting word's a precious stone.

I see You—
I see how it’s more important for you to be angry
than to question your convictions.
I see You—
I see how it’s much simpler for you to buy a packaged meal
artificially pre-flavored with easy ethics and instant justice.
I see You—
What are you cooking?
I want to know!
Because when I look at you
I see You—
mixing and adding
your pain
your compassion
your fear
and blending all those real ingredients
into what’s already cooking
but I never saw the poisoner
I never saw anyone slip in behind your back
with an ampule of rage
and dribble it into the recipe you’re making.
I see You—
and I want to know
if you had seen that assassin
would you still serve that meal to the world?
Would you feed it to your children for their dinner?
I see You—
and I don’t believe that you could.