"Soul's Imperative"

Let in the light,
Banish the darkness,
Throw open the curtains
dusty with disuse,
Tear down the blinds
that hid the day
and face the bright stranger
with squinted eyes.

Soak in the piercing clarity
with pale cheeks uptilted,
Sweep clean forgotten corners
and drive away the fear
that cherished gloom
and guarded ash
and stifled souls
but could not conquer.

Fling wide the barred door
and reclaim your rightful home.

~ARH 10/30/08~

flickr.com/photos/70818488@N00/2426397140

"Top 10 Ways to Write Bad Worship Song"

Zing!

Top 10 Ways to Write Bad Worship Songs

(From Worship Matters blog)

Happy thoughts

This past weekend, I got to go home to California for Fall Break - the first time I'd been to SoCal since last Christmas. Sunshine, good food, Disney, the beach, the parents, the bro, the lazy mornings... ahhh.... a girl could get used to that REAL fast. But a girl could also not get any studying done right before midterms.... oops. Oh well. Some snapshots of the good times:

Despite the unbelievable number of times I have been to Disneyland, it's still special to come with my Dad.

We didn't exactly plan our wardrobes that day thinking we would pose for a picture in front of a ginormous winking pumpkin.

I may forget it sometimes, but I really am a California girl at heart.

Oh, the bro. I could have posted some normal pictures of him... but where's the fun in that?

Reflections on Pain

"And Take"

Deep wounds
invisible bruise--
surface contusions carefully concealed.
Common-place
Profound
Particular
Ecumenical

We the wounded walk in fear
of the glaring critical eye, or hand, or tongue--
sword of those past pain recruited
to join the monstrous ranks
of the life-feeders, the damning--
defense masks gashed souls,
turn about is fair play
in the war-games of the world.

Love--
bears all things (the anguish!)
endures all things (the ravage!)
hopes all things--impossible.

We the silent sufferers
absorb offensive defensiveness
of our sharper brethren,
confusing self with Cross.

~ARH, June 2008~

I have spent a great deal of time over the past year reflecting on pain, particularly on how easy it is to hurt others when we have been hurt. So often, pain generates more pain, just as sin tends to generate more sin, and evil more evil. In a world in which this vicious cycle often runs unchecked, what does it mean to love others? Does it mean simply suffering in silence, absorbing hurt without lashing out? No. This is a wrong definition of self-sacrifice. Christ is the one who absorbed our pain and sin, and who has conquered it. How do we seek justice for ourselves without wronging those who have wronged us, in our attitudes and words? We are never, ever utterly blameless; we are always both sinner and sinned against. What does it mean for us to live into the reality of the cross, to bring our hurts to the light, to others, and especially to God... redemptively?

Lord God, You alone are holy. Christ Jesus, You have borne our sins; You have suffered alongside us; You alone are the blameless one. Give us the grace to love those who have wronged us, even as we challenge the wrong-doing. Give us the ability to see the ways we contribute to the problems that bother us the most. Lord, use us in this pain-filled world to bear witness to your strong, unconditional, truth-filled love.

Above picture: 'Cross on Mt Erebus', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/erebus-cross, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 15-Nov-2007

"Forgiveness flounders because I exclude the enemy from the community of humans and exclude myself from the community of sinners."

Gotta love the Volf.

~Miroslav Volf, "Exclusion and Embrace: Theological Reflections in the Wake of 'Ethnic Cleansing,'" in A Spacious Heart: Essays on Identity and Belonging, 57.~

An Annotated Psalm

Psalm 63

1. You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you, [Yes, Lord, this is exactly where I am tonight]
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water. [Yes, Lord, I am so thirsty in this place]

2. I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory [Yes, Lord, thank you for the privilege of seeing you work at my church, of participating in your work there!]
3. Because your love is better than life
my lips will glorify you. [Wow, I can barely comprehend what that means - but it resonates within me! And yes, may it be!]
4. I will praise you as long as I live, [Yes, Lord, I will]
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods, [fully satisfied - wow, that's powerful]
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. [Yes, Lord - thank you for the joy of singing to you with all my might!]

6. On my bed I will remember you; [that's exactly what I'm doing right now]
I think of you through the watches of the night. [it amazes me when a Psalm hits so dead-on with where I'm at]
7. Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings. [Wow - I've never thought about this verse before - "singing" in the shadow of His wings - I bet that'll come to mind the next time I lead in worship]
8. I cling to you; [yes, Lord]
your right hand upholds me. [thank you, Lord!]

9. Those who seek my life will be destroyed;
they will go down to the depths of the earth.
10. They will be given over to the sword
and become food for jackals. [Verses like these always remind me that the Psalms were NOT written just for my personal devotions.]

11. But the king will rejoice in God;
all who swear by God will glory in him,
while the mouths of liars will be silenced. [Lord, even though these verses don't make me "feel" like I'm connecting with you in the same way so much of this Psalm does, I thank you for them. And I thank you that justice belongs to you, and that you watch over those who fear You. Help me live in such a way that I rejoice and glory and rest and work and trust in You!]

Collect

One of the best things about planning music for church is that I get a sneak preview of where the Lectionary will lead us each week. I find this week's Collect particularly powerful (from the BCP).

Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Lectionary Page