Month: July 2019

That tree, you know the one

Post author By dw
Post date July 29, 2019
3 Comments on That tree, you know the one

This is the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — disgust with the things we have misused and hatred of ourselves for misusing them.

— Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island, Sentences on Hope

That tree, you know the one,
where Eve got sucker punched
and Adam melted away,
didn’t even stand up for her,
distracted, maybe, by the spectre
of knowing her nakedness
apart from her soul,
thus beginning the dehumanizing
of one image of God by another,
the desecration of created things,
the discounting of God who made them;

That tree, you know the one,
that bides its time
while we distract ourselves
knowing the distraction will quiet
and we will one day stare and swallow
at the noose our own demand
to experience something other than God’s provision,
the difference between Good and Evil,
has tied for us –
we the condemner and the condemned;

That tree, you know the one,
where our discounted God
hung on our behalf
to show us pure Good,
to cut us free.

Photo by Grant Whitty on Unsplash

Tags condemned, cross, freedom, God, hanging, Jesus, No Man is an Island, Thomas Merton, tree of the knowledge of good and evil

hope love Poetry

Locking ourselves in prison

Post author By dw
Post date July 21, 2019
1 Comment on Locking ourselves in prison

It would be a sin to place any limit upon our hope in God. We must love Him without measure. All sin is rooted in the failure of love. All sin is a withdrawal of love from God, in order to love something else. Sin sets boundaries to our hope, and locks our love in prison.

— Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island, Sentences on Hope

Sin:
exchanging our greatest love
for something less,
hoping for less than what we have assurance of,
settling for even less than we hope for,
accepting a story of non-provision,
covetousness rewriting hope’s history
into a bleak tragedy
of love beyond our reach
just outside the bars
of the unlocked cell
we are dying in

Photo by chris panas on Unsplash

Tags covetousness, God, hope, love, No Man is an Island, prison, sin, Thomas Merton

Current Events Music prayer Prayers

Pray

Post author By dw
Post date July 13, 2019
No Comments on Pray

I’m so distraught today over how people are treating each other in our world. I pray that God would ‘change the prevailing winds’ – in my heart, in the hearts of his people, in our culture, in our politics. I’m overwhelmed and at a loss for words.

In the past when I’ve felt the way I do now, I’ve turned to music – to beg, to listen, to find comfort, to believe. Today I’m sharing here music I’ve titled The Strongest Prayer I Know (for the little ones). When I first wrote it, I had in mind the millions of little ones who were not allowed to be born alive; afterward, I realized it is about many more ‘little ones’ – all who are neglected or despised and considered of little value. This music has often been my prayer when I have no more words to pray – other than “Lord, have mercy”.

There are three parts: the first is a repeated cry for God to hear; the second is Jesus giving us a quiet wake up call, a chance to listen and change our ways; the last is reminding us that, in the end, our Great Shepherd will lead his little ones to the place he has prepared for us.

Here is a link to the music, posted on my other site. I invite you to listen and pray with me.

The Strongest Prayer I Know