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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Monthly Archives: February 2013

Sacred Pauses

26 Tuesday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 14 Comments

Tags

boldness, breathe, gratitude, love, Sacred quality of life, spiritual practice, spirituality, wonder

deep purpleSometimes
When I turn the volume down
I hear the earth breathe –

An unmistakable longing
Reverberating from deep in the center of being
Its source unbound from all the limits we know –

And in the twinkling of an eye
I am overcome with gratitude
For the pure boldness of such love.

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2013 Dallis Day Richardson

Fasting and Feasting

18 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections, Sermon portions

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

blessing, Communion, compassion, desert wilderness, fasting, feasting, God's mission, grace, Jesus, justice, Lent, meister eckhart, sabbath, spirit, spiritual journey

548640866fA pear seed grows up into a pear tree,
a nut seed grows up into a nut tree–
but a seed of God grows into God, to God.
~ Meister Eckhart

Lent is an invitation to reflect on our faith experience, a time to delve more deeply into the spiritual meaning of our lives. We study the life and ministry of Jesus for clues about the will of God and the work of the Spirit in the world. We seek fresh insight into the basic patterns of the Christian life – prayer, worship, reading Scripture, and giving our selves as servants of Christ.

During this 40-day period, we begin with ashes and commit to a discipline that we believe will ultimately be resurrecting! It may involve fasting from certain foods or activities. But it will certainly involve feasting as we gather on the Sabbath and receive the bread and cup of communion with Christ as nourishment for this spiritual journey.

We have an opportunity in these forty days to renew the commitment of our way to Christ. This is our chance to put our faith into practice in new ways. This is a time set aside for us to “grow into God, to God.”

A short piece from the curriculum The Whole People of God provides an opening for us to choose how we will use this holy season. We are invited to…

Fast from pessimism, and feast on optimism.

Fast from criticism, and feast on praise.

Fast from self-pity, and feast on joy.

Fast from bitterness, and feast on forgiveness.

Fast from idle gossip, and feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from jealousy, and feast on love.

Fast from discouragement, and feast on appreciation.

Fast from complaining, and feast on hope.

Fast from selfishness, and feast on service.

Fast from fear, and feast on faith.

Fast from anger, and feast on patience.

Fast from self-concern, and feast on compassion for others.

Fast from discontent, and feast on gratitude.

Fasting and feasting – not just for the experience, but for the same reasons Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit following his baptism by John. Jesus was preparing for the saving mission of a loving God – the mission of restoring creation, the human family, the sick, the lonely and isolated, the marginalized and vulnerable, back into the truth of who they are, beloved ones made in God’s own image!

Just as Jesus was baptized and given a blessing, and then sent into the wilderness to contemplate that blessing, so it is for us. You and I – Christ’s body on earth – have a mission, to share God’s gracious love and resurrecting hope in every possible way!

The season of Lent calls us to choose: Choose life! Choose grace! Choose compassion! Choose justice! Choose blessing! In the desert experience of Lent, may God grant us to the grace to grow in wisdom and in love. In the wilderness of this holy season, may God lead us along the resurrection road to a place called hope.

What is your commitment this Lent? What do you choose to do or not do as a way to move toward the Center of this human adventure where we meet God?

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

 

Love’s song is already being sung

14 Thursday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

desire, Hawaii, laughter, love, love poem, melody, sensuality, song, Valentine's Day

lovebirdsI wrote this poem for my valentine ~ my wife Dallis ~ a few years ago! She has been and still is my personal muse.

Dallis took the photo while we were on a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii several years ago.

Love’s song is already being sung–

the deep resonant notes
grounding our affections to earth,

the vibrant sensual notes
keeping us in our bodies,

the light laughing notes
lifting us in unguarded moments,

the crucial melody line
honoring our need for constancy,

the sound of our own voices
blending easily into one,

the desires within us
getting lost in love’s song.

Words (c) 2010 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2007 Dallis Day Richardson

The Blue Edge of Time

09 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Asilomar State Park, eternity, Future, Sacred quality of life, Time

DSCN0493

Asilomar State Park, California

The Blue Edge of Time

My eyes, my heart, are often drawn to a distant line,
Where I am told the future lives, as yet unknowable,
Indiscernible, unrequited, like an artist’s blank canvas.

Always though,
I am pulled back from the blue edge of time
Through waters pulsing with life,
Over rocks the ages have sculpted,
Across fragile wind-blown dunes,
To the eternal now –
This wild and holy moment in the sun.

Words and photograph (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

A Rock of Refuge

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Reflections, Sermon portions

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

abundant life, assurance of faith, grace, hope, kingdom of God, lament, mercy, peace, praise, Psalms, refuge, suffering, worship

IMG_4417

I wrote this contemporary psalm based on Psalm 71:1-6 for my sermon today. It is a movement from lament to praise!

In you, O God, I take refuge
from the noisy clamor of this hectic life,
with its ubiquitous social media
and easy access to every imaginable entertainment.

My phone is always by my side
sounding off when texts or emails arrive
teasing me to open them asap!

My annual physical raises the alarm
of slightly elevated blood pressure
and high cholesterol.
The doc says, “Let’s watch ’em for a while,
and see if lifestyle changes make a difference.”
Okay, but I wonder – am I headed for a heart attack?
Is the pressure of meeting work demands
and the expectations of those I love
doing damage to my health?

Loving Creator,
Source of life and Ground of our being,
you are the one I run to in my need.
You are the one who offers peace in the storm.

Do not abandon me, I pray.
Enfold me beneath the wings of your grace,
that I might know the liberating strength
only your Spirit is able to breath into my life.

In your righteousness
you make known your will for my life:
that I walk in your ways
and observe your commandments,
that I choose life –
loving you, obeying you,
and holding fast to you (Deut. 30:16, 19-20).

You want nothing more for me
than that I embrace the person I am meant to be,
the creation of your loving and generous heart,
so that I can offer this world you created in love
the very best of myself,
the very giftedness I discover in you.

You call me to orient my life in your direction,
to strive first for the kingdom of God
and your righteousness (Matt. 6:33).

Deliver me, Lord, from the flashy allure of things.
Remind me often to use things and love people,
not the other way around.

Save me from my stingy self-centeredness –
the times when I think the world revolves around me
and I forget my sister or brother in need.

You have always been like a Rock for me,
a place of refuge where I know I am protected –
from life’s incessant demands, to be sure,
but also from my own inner strivings.

You save me from myself –
from thinking that I must achieve importance
when all the importance I really need
comes from joining you
in the unveiling of your gracious purposes for the world.

You are for me a strong fortress, O God,
and always have been,
shielding me from the harm others seek to do me.

In this world where evil so often flourishes –
where malicious viruses are set loose on computers,
where whole identities are stolen from people,
where those in whom we place our trust betray us
with lies that cheat us out of our life savings
or deceit that destroys our innocence
or violence that robs us of peace of mind –
you remain the one trustworthy place of refuge.

Rescue me, O my God, from all of the voices
that tell me to depend solely on my own strength,
that tell me to create my own life on my own terms,
that tell me I am not meant to be deeply connected to others.

Rescue me from the crass commercializing of life,
always throwing in my face the manufactured images
that falsely promise happiness and fulfillment.

Rescue me from thinking that I am immune to suffering
simply because I come to church
and read the Bible sometimes
and pray almost every day
and try to be a decent human being!

Rescue me from pious platitudes and cheap grace.

Rescue me from the polarizing influences
that pit neighbor against neighbor
in ideological battles
in which no one truly wins
and the fabric of society is torn and trampled.

Rescue me from those who spread misery
by their greed and lack of compassion.

Rescue me from the loss of hope
the loneliness of isolation
the trap of fear.

For you, Lord of life, have walked with me
from the day of my birth
when you took me from my mother’s womb.

You call my name
and seek my companionship each day.

You speak to me in whispers –
through the quiet breathing of a newborn,
the silence of contemplative prayer,
the breeze touching lightly on the trees.

You say that I am one of your own,
that I have always belonged to you.

You give me confidence enough
to trust in your tender mercy and amazing grace.

You, Lord of eternity, are my hope.
You are my refuge.
You are my strength.
I will not be shaken.

Praise wells up in my heart and soul.

Praise that your glory shines upon this world
in spite of our constant fighting
and our shameful willfulness.

Praise that the power of your love
dawns upon us as surely as the morning sun.

Praise that you fully know me,
and the content of my heart,
and still you love me.

Let praise be the language of my being.
Let hope be the attitude I carry into the future.
For just as my past has been lived in you, Lord,
so my future depends on your ever-flowing mercy.

You will comfort me again in my times of need.
You will guide me in right paths.
You will continually offer me abundant life.
You will give me faith’s assurance
even when I come face to face with my own doubt.
You will restore my soul.

You will manifest yourself in the world
through the witness of courageous people,
through the hospitality of strangers,
through the presence of the poor and the needy.

You will not allow me to forget
that ultimately nothing is able to separate us
from your love in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:39).

You will follow me throughout my life
with your goodness and mercy
so that I am able to dwell with you
my whole life long (Ps. 23:6).

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2008 Mark Lloyd Richardson

In Answer to Your Question

02 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

family, father-daughter bond, happy birthday, joy, key of A major, love, palindrome, Poetry, sweetness of life, yellow

Hannah and Me in San Francisco, 2007

Hannah and Me in San Francisco, 2007

In 2007, the year this photo was taken of my daughter Hannah and me, she asked me a simple question one day. So today, February 2, 2013, on her twenty-first birthday, I am sharing with you how I responded to her question that day:

In Answer to Your Question

You tossed your question deftly in the air
as we talked one evening:
“Will you write me a poem?”

I’ve been thinking about it, and
if I were to write you a poem,
it would be in the color of yellow, like sunshine
splashing playfully over a sea of ripe bananas.

Blooms_of_a_yellow_rose
I’d also plant a yellow rose in one of the lines
to symbolize the joy of seeing you blossom.

If I were to write a poem for you I would
put your favorite number 11 in it too — a number
with simple symmetry — like gothic columns
holding up a cathedral. In a happy coincidence,
your name is constructed in columns too …
H A N N A H
a palindrome of strength and grace,
the cathedral in which you live.

Mind you, these are just my initial thoughts, but
if I were to write you a poem it would probably be
in the key of A major, because that’s a joyful key
celebrating the sweetness of life and
offering wisps of hope for each new day.

You ask, “Will you write me a poem?”
Yes, my daughter, my little girl,
let me see what I can do.

Love, Dad

February 2013
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