5 July 2010
Welcome
I worry that this website will become just another daydream of impressing people. And yet... we live in a violently fractured and intensely lonesome world. I’ve chosen to live and worship in places where those rifts are very evident, and sometimes it’s overwhelming. But every now and then in a book or website I happen upon a kindred spirit and find comfort in knowing that I’m not completely crazy and I’m not alone. I hope this site might do the same for someone else.
If you've been here before, you may be wondering what’s new since your last visit.
The Manger and the Cross
Maybe it’s for the pure spectacle,
The earthquake, the darkness, the curtain torn.
Maybe we just can’t believe that God isn’t angry
And we need to hear about blood and nails and agony... (more)
Unmoved
I thought you wanted me
to be all flint and fury and gritted teeth inside... (more)
Household of Prodigals
I rejoice to be part of this household of prodigals,
these wanderers and squanderers welcomed home...
But the truth is I have been the elder brother... (more)
Remember
Jesus, descendent of the Canaanite prostitute and the Moabite widow,
Jesus, product of Tamar's deceit and David's adultery... (more)
You Are Here
This story has been going on for a long time, and we're right in the middle of it... (more)
The Bible is Like Lutefisk
And what can we do with these old frail pages
but tear them out
and chew on them slowly... (more)
Behind the Mask
“You are an abomination,” said the elder, “In the eyes of God and of man.” The fourteen prelates seated beside him nodded in silent agreement, and from behind his shoulders the eyes of God glared sternly down... (more)
Jar of Tears
God gathers every tear into the same jar.
So your tears are mingled there
with the tears of the child... (more)
God in Twilight
The sign on the gates of the city said,
"Come you who hunger, who violently, ravenously hunger
to be right, to be better
than everyone else... (more)
The Empty Room
Abba, why have you torn down everything I built?
Why have you taken all that I valued
and dumped it on the curb
and left this house inside me empty? ... (more)
An Urban Liturgy
Night falls slowly on the river,
where the water is more luminous than the sky,
and the gladsome sun catches windows one by one
to signal its farewell, and kindle lamps within... (more)
Trilogy
Then the mountains leapt up and quenched the sun,
and Abram fell face down on the ground
and tumbled into a deep sleep... (more)
Let My People Go
Brother Jesus, wounds still fresh,
stumbled down on pierced feet into the depths,
into the council of the great ones,
stood naked and bleeding before principalities and powers
and said, it’s over.
You’ve lost, he said.
Let my people go... (more)
Blood Brother
The Devil hated God. But to attack God is like clawing at a great sphere of polished granite: no chink in that perfection, no place to leave a mark. So the Devil had no outlet for his wrath.... (more)
Live Life Alive
I can understand the mountain trees,
greedy roots that pulverize stone
and strangle water from dry ground... (more)
Only Love
There was only pain.
It was not just the nails, it was everything:
the splinters, the struggle to breathe, the thirst... (more)