{Simeon said to Mary}, “and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” – Lk 2:35
only when we walk a mile
in someone else’s shoes
only when we can identify
with their condition
only when we are pierced
by the same sword
only when we can feel as our own
the pain of their suffering
only then can we understand
the thoughts of their hearts
compassion: shared suffering; from Latin com + passio meaning suffers with
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. – Jn 3:17
IF God were only a god of truth
and loosed sin upon the world
why did He let the world
condemn the Sinless One
IF God were only a god of justice
and punished with serpents of death
why did He let the world
judge and punish Life Eternal
MAYBE just maybe
it is the world that learned
only of our own free will
to sin and to judge each other
as long as we continue
to judge and condemn each other
the Kingdom of Heaven remains afar
no matter what beliefs we profess
God is Truth and Love
God is Justice and Mercy
He came to reconcile all
whose hearts are open to Him
the Kingdom of God is here
for those who seek Truth
for those who embraces Life
for those who follow the Way of Love
So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead. – 2 Jas 2:17
seeds that don’t sprout
fig trees that don’t bear fruit
only fit for cursing
“I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, listens to my words, and acts on them. That one is like a person building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when the flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.” Lk 6:47-48
This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. – 1 Tim 1:15
He raises up the lowly from the dust;
from the dunghill he lifts up the poor. Ps 113:7
here i am, Lord. safe and sound in my house built upon the foundation that is you. i have dove beneath the waves of popular culture and dug even deeper through the sifting sands of doctrine that hides the bedrock that is you. here i am at last in the temple that you built in the beginning of time for those that listened and heeded your commands. i am grateful that you came for a sinner like me. you lifted me up from the vise of powerlessness. you carried me, bathed me, nursed me, fed me, encouraged me, and gave me your life. without you, i wouldn’t have arrived here. when i tried to climb the mountain of guilt and indebtedness you leveled it so that we are standing eye to eye. with a simple embrace of unconditional love, you set me free. for the first time in my life, i know what i want to do. why are you smiling, my Lord? will you accompany me, Lord? if you lead, i will follow you into the storm…
“Why do you notice the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the wooden beam in your own?” – Lk 6:41
the object of my blindness
was my sinfulness after all.
though it wasn’t a punishment
meted out by a tyrant God
but the result of my own
choices. it was the wooden
beam that prevented me
from seeing anything but
my brother’s splinter. thank
you, Lord for forgiving my
sins. it was your love that
has cured my blindness.
my God, my God what have
i done! it should be me upon
that cross – not you. can’t
you see, that’s my wooden beam
and my brother’s splinter and
his brother’s, and the whole
world’s.
He died so that we can see.
He died so that we can be
free. we are free to choose
to go back to our lives and
remember this moment only as
an interesting marker in our
history where the keeping of
time changed or we can choose
to follow the Teacher and cure
the blind, feed the hungry,
forgive the sinners, and unchain
the unloved.
Longing For Water 