validated

He arrives bound by this mortal coil. Repulses of each breathe, reminds him of the flesh that hinges on limits. He is is bound. Captions became geography and space enlarged in his diminishment. I imagine Him, feeling the rocks under his slumber, the urging of bodily obligations, the reduction of the senses.

There was a reason for this...

and it arrives in His name...

Emmanuel

God with us.

Distinguishable Outlines

Distinguishable Outlines
For Jamie on our half year as a husband and wife

Approaching a dusked corner on black winged skies,
I recall rough edges of memories
When absence widened my mourning

Yes, you arrive on vows that cry out

Piercing thresholds of muted voices

Yes, these scales, they are falling

Yes, your hands can free me of all these haunts I cling to

Narrowed days, when your body comforts in its sharing
Under shadows of voice
An uplifted arm

You teach me to ascend

Half-hearted slumber, a reluctant arrival,
You sigh into a crumpled kneeling
My eyes observe from a distance

And this beautiful miracle of sighing

And again, I am discovering a renewal of these vows
Surprised by collisions that echo

We hope
We live

We lament
We are here

Stumbling under this grace and

Knowing

This unveiling of a ragged life into something so

Incomprehensibly beautiful…

Advent reflections: Jesus as King and Priest

Zechariah 6:12-13 (New International Version)
“Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.'”

community

"If you look at every flower individually, they look quite miserable. Put them together in a vase and they become a bouquet and that is quite attractive. I think about our commuinty often in this way."- Henri Nouwen

discipleship

"We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes."-Oswald Chambers.

ordinary. the weightless identity. invisible. we cry out for acknowledgement. belonging. yet, we think that all this noise making. a facade. apart from God. we conterfeit divine work. we utter theology. shallow charity. pocket change of our hearts.

attempting to be Him

God

I am poor at this

in the end, there is this threshold...with the a beautiful image. the open arms of god....desperate for us to escape the futility of self-examination that will lead us....

to a place

that hints us to


hell.

weathered

"Sin is something I am born with and cannot touch— only God touches sin through redemption." Oswald Chambers


deliverence comes in spots of sighs. i pray for these chains. i say God is has been so long...so long that i struggled with this...may you deliver me? he responds...these chains have been there for a long time...but they are weathered and rusted...my rain of holiness have made these chains so weak...now walk...into peace...for your salvation will bring freedom. i pull away...and the chains become rusted and blow into orange dust. Mercy. Grace. Power. Majest.

equity

recovering. restoring by shingled sunshine of windows. i recall memories of shards of lives that i have contributed to their hurts. and i am convicted of my sin. congested memories of fatal insertions and bellowing tears. yet, the depths, there is restoration and redemption. that is the gospel story. forgiveness in the center of our despair. all that reduction becomes convergence...and i realize...that God is so merciful.