Messenger

Sometimes the messenger

needs to remember to

not shoot the messenger.

When the Message is heard,

the messenger is polite –

without rudeness, direct,

without smoke and mirrors.

Life is conflicting Truth…

thwarting community.

Love holds opposing Word…

dancing with divergence.

When the Message is real,

the messenger must educe –

a heartfelt response, not

unfeeling reaction.

Integration is hard –

Truth and Word together

spoils cooperation,

foils collaboration.

When the Message prospers,

the messenger must restore –

never transactional,

always cultivating.

Don’t shoot the messenger,

listening intently,

rejoining carefully.

mountaintop

what we seek

is seen from the Peak

the ascent is alarming

and the threat exhausting

but the beauty beheld

on the Way is enchanting

the precipice menaces

as we cling to a cliff

and teeter on the brink

we embrace the Divine gift

we cannot procrastinate

and continue to climb

to see what is beyond

we commune with the Sublime

the descent is dangerous

while atop we savor

but must take the next step

for harmony with the Savior

from the peak

we go to what we Seek

Hear Me! (Psalm 120)

I call on you, my God, in my distress,

   please answer me.

   save me, my God from the lying lips and

    deceitful tongues of the willful, who surround me.

Their lying is not helpful,

   their deception is unkind,

Make them listen,

   their unfaithfulness is hurtful.

   pierce their hearts with tenderness,

   burn their souls with truthfulness.

In the meantime, woe is me,

   I am a stranger in a strange land

   I am living among those,

   who savor hate

   and do not yearn for peace.

I am a person of comfort and joy;

   but they only pretend to listen,

   and act without regard for the truth.

Help! (Psalm 130)

Out of the depths I cry to you,

My God, hear me.

Be attentive

to my cry for mercy.

If you, kept a record of offenses,

My God, who could stand?

But, with you there is forgiveness;

therefore, you are feared.

My soul waits for you, O God,

and I need your protection,

My soul waits for you, O God,

and I put my hope in your promises.

Let us all put our faith in our God,

for with Her is love always in all ways

and with Her is full restoration.

She will forgive our offenses,

and save Her people.

Lighthouse

On life’s way, there are many ports,

our destiny is a journey

with stop-overs and passing-throughs.

Some places I have to be…

and others I want to make

On the way, I hug the shoreline,

keeping watch that the coast is clear,

letting the current carry me.

The lessons learned while a sea…

make possible peace on earth

Sometimes a lighthouse shows the way,

a beacon that prevents shipwreck,

a pilot promoting passage.

Where to go helps who to be…

getting there shapes when to be

On life’s way, there are some unknowns,

the lighthouse beacon illumines

the dark and dispels the danger.

Speak the truth and be sincere…

heart and soul are not alone

Lighthouse beams don’t shine their own way,

often secluded and remote,

they guide the wayward and the found.

All need the light’s helping hand…

its embrace is rest assured

Faith’s Fruit

Joy comes from security.

Joy is built for tranquility.

“What must I do to have eternal life?”

“You know the commandments”

“I have kept them since I was a child”

“Sell everything you have then…

come, follow me.”[1]

When I answer the Call,

rapt with a fearful Faith.

When I am well with God

and one with Divine Will,

the fruit of the Spirit is Joy.

“To have faith! To scatter it,

to teach it, to bring others to it!..

This is work you must do.

When done just think of the joy

that suffuses your whole being.”[2]

Indeed, a permeating joy

saturates faithful living.

Happiness imbues

the have-to and unites

my heart’s desire with God.

Joy gives the person peace.

Joy makes the soul safe.

[1] Mark 10: 17-21

[2] Father Judge Meditations p138

Tincture of Time

What if…?

Can subdue study –

Can weaken resolve –

Can reduce practice –

Good answer –

accept change

and admit chance

with watchful waiting

Good answer –

review outcome

and transform firmness

with attentive imagining

Good answer –

transfigure presence

and metamorphose life

with heartfelt expecting

Final answer –

affect with a slight amount

and imbue with a small measure

of a tincture of time

Apostolic Spirit

Apostolic is a practice

of love and zeal

regardless of fatigue

and inconvenience.

Spirit is a doer

of good and kindness

with detachment, openness

and purity of intention.

“Love your enemies,

and do good to them,

without expecting a return,

for you are children of God… [1]

What foils it?

Anxiousness distracts the mind.

Worldliness withers the heart.

Selfishness enslaves the soul.

“A fiery furnace is the world

twice blessed are those souls

that are plunged into it

and take on its burning.” [2]

Apostolic spirit dwells with Charity,

attending to neighbor’s needs,

nurturing the spiritually abandoned,

cultivating the socially marginalized.

[1] Luke 6: 35

[2] Father Judge Meditations p158

Tree Lessons

Adaptation changes colors –

vividly reflecting the times

it celebrates seasons

Shedding sustains being –

detaching a little at a time

makes for a long life

Dormancy practices stillness –

listening to a cold wind

keeps possibilities open

“Out” is naked and vulnerable –

exposure does not cancel

it respects truth and goodness

Blossoms renew relationship –

it takes a village

to make an orchard

Fruition harmonizes –

harvesting disrupts

cultivating restores

Rain

“One can find so many pains when the rain is falling.”[1]

Rain, rain… go away

“Umbrella is comfort, rain is life!

You must often leave comfort to touch life!”[2]

Come back another day

“Those who say sunshine brings happiness

have never danced in the rain.”[3]

Rain, rain… soak away

“If you pray for rain, you have-to deal with the mud too.”[4]

Stuck in the muck today

“Raise your words, not your voice.

It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”[5]

Rain, rain… drench away

“If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!”[6]

In the bow, I will play

“After the rain, the sun will reappear.

After the pain, the joy will still be here.”[7]

Rain, rain… cleanse away

“Rain showers my spirit and waters my soul.”[8]

With the storm’s blessing, I pray

“Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.”[9]

Rain, rain… rain away

“Singing in the rain. I’m singing in the rain.

And it’s such a glorious feeling.”[10]

There is bliss in rain’s foray

[1] John Steinbeck

[2] Mehmet Murat ildan

[3] Unknown

[4] Denzel Washington

[5] Rumi

[6] Dolly Parton

[7] Walt Disney

[8] Emily Logan Decens

[9] Gilbert K. Chesterton

[10] David Levithan