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dreamprayact

~ Reflections of a preacher, poet, and contemplative activist

dreamprayact

Tag Archives: being human

Travelers

18 Monday May 2015

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Reflections

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

being human, Blessings, companionship, journey, kindness, life, love, sacred value

FullSizeRender

“Life is short. We do not have much time
to gladden the hearts of those who travel the way with us.
So be quick to love, make haste to be kind.” ~ Henri Amiel, 1868

To acknowledge the brevity of life
is to heighten the value of each moment.

You travel with me,
you take my hand and we walk,
you take my heart and handle it tenderly,
you take my loving and return it many times over.

We travel this road together,
you and I,
and who could be more fortunate?

(On the occasion of our 12th wedding anniversary)

This Wondrous Life

12 Saturday May 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

being human, God's creation, Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes, love of life, Oso Flaco Lake, surprise endings, unanswered questions

Oso Flaco Lake TrailTo be in love with this wondrous life
is to know that nothing is as it seems
there are no predictable outcomes
only complicated plots and surprise endings
you don’t know how long it will last
where you are you never expected to be
what you do you are surprised to be doing
even the person you are becoming
continues to amaze you
because you didn’t realize
all the feelings it is possible to feel
all the thoughts it is possible to think
all the puzzles that remain unsolved
all the questions that linger unanswered
all the places that pass by unexplored.

Words (c) 2007 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2010 Dallis Day Richardson
(Oso Flaco Lake Trail in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes)

All That Is Breaking

27 Friday Apr 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Poems, Reflections

≈ 19 Comments

Tags

being human, Breakwater (structure), grief, human nature, letting go, nature, pain, Poetry, risking

One should never explain a poem in advance. Having said that, I need to at least disclose that I wrote this poem several years ago during a difficult period in my pastoral ministry. Earlier experiences of watching the waves crash against the breakwater not far from our home became a metaphor for managing the mistreatment I was feeling.

Being human means being hurt, in big and small ways. It means acknowledging the pain when it comes, as it does to every life, in order to move through it and beyond it. Often by naming what we don’t understand or the ways we are tempted to play it safe we begin to understand that life is all about risking – love, talent, energy, friendship, certainty, ego, creativity, the inner voice – or it is not living! Often the risking involves letting go.

So, this poem may be an admonition of sorts – I am still unsure what exactly it is saying to me (or perhaps about me).

How about you? What does it say to you? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Pacific Ocean at Asilomar

All That Is Breaking

Swells crash against the breakwater,
leaping high in the salty air,
like flying walls of sea water.

We come to watch nature’s powerful display,
moving in just close enough to taste danger,
to take the risk of dread.

Otherwise we are more cautious creatures,
driving the speed limit,
minding our manners,
keeping our heads low,
risking only what we are able.

A day may come
when our own powerful natures confront us,
taking the waves of deep grief
swelling within our fluid bodies,

and watching them wash over
all that is breaking
along the turbulent shores of this life.

Words (c) 2009 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo (c) 2012 Dallis Day Richardson

Filled with Songs like the Sea

31 Saturday Mar 2012

Posted by mark lloyd richardson in Prayers, Reflections

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

being human, blessed, Christian life, faith, forgiveness, hope, journey toward freedom, Palm Sunday, Passover, prayer, Psalms, thanksgiving, worship

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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