Monthly Archives: March 2012

Filled with Songs like the Sea

31 Saturday Mar 2012

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On Palm Sunday, a portion of Psalm 118 is read during worship. For all that God has done in the past, all that God is doing in the present, and all that God will do in the future, the psalmist gives thanks and praise!

It’s very possible that in Jesus’ final Passover celebration with his followers, they sang this psalm in accordance with Jewish tradition. They joined their voices to history’s choir to lift up God’s faithfulness in the past and their confidence in God’s help in the future.

On Palm Sunday, we hear the crowds echo the words of the psalmist: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord” (Ps. 118:26; Mark 11:9-10). And we hear also Jesus echoing this same psalm, reminding the people that the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone (Ps. 118:22, Mark 12:10). The triumphal procession with palms spread across the road eventually leads to another road, a road of suffering.

God’s enduring love is revealed in the life and death of Jesus, who is the Passover lamb for us in our journey toward freedom. The Christian faith is a “way of life” more than a belief system. Christ initiates a new community in which all are welcome and transformed by grace!

Gary Wilburn says the Christian life is …
“a way of being human in an inhumane world,
of living in love not hate,
of faith not fear,
of hope not despair,
of forgiveness not revenge”
[The God I Don’t Believe In (Stamford, CT: Progressive Pub, 2008), 70].

So we gather in worship, and with the psalmist we say, “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!”

Here is a Jewish Passover Prayer that expresses beautifully our thanksgiving to God:

Even if our mouths were filled with songs like the sea, our tongues with joy like its mighty waves, our lips with praise like the breadth of the sky, if our eyes shone like the sun and the moon, and our hands were spread out like the eagles of heaven, if our feet were as swift as the hind, we should still be incapable of thanking you adequately for one thousandth of all the love you have shown us. Amen.

Words (c) 2012, Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photos (c) 2012, Dallis Day Richardson

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An Untroubled Heart

29 Thursday Mar 2012

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled.” ~ Jesus

From a Christian point of view, your heart is who you are as a child of God. It not only reflects your affections and your intentions; your heart is the core of the person you are, and are becoming, in the light of God’s grace!

Jesus speaks of having an untroubled heart even as he himself prepares to face the very troubling consequences of a world wracked by hatred, intolerance and violence.

After a lifetime of doing my feeble best to follow Jesus, I still find it difficult to get my mind around his absence of fear and worry as he stared the prospect of death in the face.

Some of my fellow Christ-followers would ease my mind by easy talk of Jesus’ divinity. Our spiritual tradition, though, always keeps Jesus’ divinity in tension with his humanity.

Jesus’ humanity is evident throughout the gospels as he wept with those who were suffering. Jesus felt compassion for all who were hungry, whether for food or justice. Jesus became angry with people who were so focused on appearing pious they had lost track of their inward spiritual compass. Jesus condemned the taken-for-granted bigotry in the world – the sexism, racism, and classism masquerading as holiness.

Jesus was a human being whose divinity was expressed through a deep and abiding communion with God, whom he addressed as “Abba,” a term of familial intimacy.

Jesus was at peace with the path of his earthly life because he knew that all of life is ultimately blessed and encircled by God’s steadfast love, now and for all eternity.

Jesus invites his followers, then and now, “Believe in God, believe also in me” (see John 14:1-7) ~ an invitation to be in relationship with the Divine. Jesus assures his followers that this act of trusting God is the way to discover a “dwelling place” with God – a place of refuge, safety, and peace!

As we approach Holy Week, and consider the meaning of Jesus’ life and death, spend a few moments recalling Jesus’ untroubled heart, and let his words of peace roll over you like streams of living water ~ “Do not let your hearts be troubled.”

You are a beloved child of God. You have a place in the circle of God’s care. Your life, and all the life you see around you, is held within the abiding and steadfast love of God!

 

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson, Yosemite

A Monday Morning Prayer

26 Monday Mar 2012

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Is it really Monday again, Lord?
Sometimes it feels like there’s more than one of these a week,
with its vast landscape of work spread out before me,
and the realization that a lot of it
doesn’t have any chance of getting done.

I’m glad for Mondays though, don’t get me wrong!
Mondays humble me.
They cause me to prioritize the precious gift of time
and to imagine what I’d like the week to look like ~
knowing full well that life will again surprise me
with its laughable unpredictability!

On Mondays, more than most days, I seek your help, Lord.
Grant me courage, I pray, to navigate this week,
caring less about what I get checked off my to do list
and more about the person I am becoming by your grace!
Amen.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson
P.S. ~ Sadly, as many of you know, we lost our little Sadie (pictured above) in January, and are still trying to adjust to life without her. Photos and happy memories are what we have left.

Love is my name

23 Friday Mar 2012

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“Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.’” ~ Genesis 1:26

20th Century mystic, Thomas Merton, once wrote: “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. If, therefore, I do anything or think anything or say anything or know anything that is not purely for the love of God, it cannot give me peace, or rest, or fulfillment, or joy. To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God” (Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation, 60-61).

It is possible to fill our days with lots of new experiences, and imagine that in the midst of all our experiencing we are being fulfilled.

It is possible to fill our homes with belongings designed to satisfy our physical comforts, and suppose that these belongings will deliver the happiness promised.

It is possible to fill our calendars with a wide-ranging array of activities, and pretend that the sheer weight of busyness gives our lives meaning.

What if the reason for our existence is to more fully embrace the image of God within us?

What if our real life task is to live into our true identity as bearers of God’s love?

How would that perceptual shift alter the shape of your life?

Still I lie down

21 Wednesday Mar 2012

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Dallis and I followed up our annual eye appointments in Los Osos recently with a quick trip out to Montana de Oro State Park (about 5 miles from our eye doctor’s office) on the central coast of California. After hiking along a trail overlooking Spooner’s Cove, as we made our way back to our car, Dallis spotted this bobcat. While she snapped several great shots (this is my favorite), I fumbled around with my camera and got nothing!

However, I did write this poem, inspired in part by the environment we were in and in part by the look in this bobcat’s eyes!

I open my eyes to the morning,
To the sky bursting with light,
The massive ocean-seared rocks,

The rolling bluffs covered in scrub.
On this bright, enchanting day,
The earth spins in desperate want,

And I am awake to its sorrows.
Still I lie down in soft blades of comfort,
Grateful for all that is seen and unseen.

Words (c) 2012 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson

These Mountains of Gold

19 Monday Mar 2012

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There is a hidden jewel on the central coast of California called Montaña de Oro State Park. In English, it would be translated as Mountains of Gold State Park, and in the spring that is precisely the image that comes to mind as the poppies come into bloom and cover the bluffs in brilliant orange overlooking the Pacific Ocean. For ten years we lived just a few miles away from this gorgeous corner of earth, and I logged thousands of miles running the park trails. It became a kind of sanctuary for me.

In celebration of the first day of spring, here’s a poem I wrote about the unique beauty of these mountains of gold as I experienced them, accompanied by beautiful photos taken by  my wife Dallis! The poem was originally published in our area newspaper, The Tribune, in April, 2010.

These Mountains of Gold

If you stand here
and lean against the sky
you see a field of poppies
stretching toward a distant blue,
their golden petals outshining
even the morning sun.
In these mountains of gold,
black tailed deer graze in glory,
snowy egret stand in serene repose,
regaling you in their white gowns,
and choirs of chaparral
chant ancient anthems
rising from an ancient sea.
If you stand here
this place becomes a temple
and clothes even you in awe.

Words (c) 2012, Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photos (c) 2012, Dallis Day Richardson

An Invitation Cleverly Disguised as a Blessing

16 Friday Mar 2012

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Tomorrow is Saint Patrick’s Day, and of course, the Irish are known for their blessings!

I am not Irish, but I have heard that on this day of celebration, we can all claim to be Irish for a day! In that spirit, I share the following blessing. After writing it, I realized the words were an invitation or challenge to more fully appreciate the blessedness of all life.

 

An Invitation Cleverly Disguised as a Blessing

May you find room in God’s irreplaceable creation
to fully explore life’s paths of being and becoming!

May you grasp the immensity of God’s love for you –
a love opening wide the door for you to live your best life!

May you dare to be real, and understand the greatest gift
one person can give another is one’s authentic self!

May you be blessed with steadfast friends
who love you in spite of your imperfections!

May you comprehend the holy adventure that life is –
an adventure demanding your utmost devotion!

May you recognize in this glorious gift of being alive
a measure of your responsibility to live deeply into grace!

Photo above by Dallis Richardson, taken at Ragged Point, north of San Simeon, California.
Words (c) 2012, Mark Lloyd Richardson. All rights reserved.

God of pelicans and emus

06 Tuesday Mar 2012

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God of pelicans and emus,
God of wetlands and deserts,
God of strangers, neighbors and friends,
yours is a world of astonishing grace.

When the morning sun creeps silently over the hills,
and the day begins to hum with activity,
we remind ourselves that this day too belongs to you.
Our lives are wrapped in the movement of time
stretching all the way back
to the day you first called forth light.

With an Artist’s hand you drew the contours
of land and sea, hillside and valley,
and a sky that stretches beyond human imagining.
Yet you left room for other artists, made in your image,
to add their interpretive strokes of shadow and light.

You encourage us to observe the beauty in and around us,
so that we too can create places where hope shines through.
Yet some days we grow tired
and our partnership with you seems like mere duty.
Some days our eyes grow weary
and we cannot see the world in hopeful ways.

Grant us your vision,
God who is Spirit,
God who is Artist,
God who breathes life into our lives.

Help us to see anew the possibilities before us—
to welcome the stranger in our midst,
to welcome the beauty of this day,
to welcome the grace that is life with you and one another.

Photos taken by Dallis Richardson at Montana de Oro State Park near Los Osos, California. Words by Mark Richardson.