In Plain Sight

 A cookie cutter

a glisten of sugar

a remnant of lace

a length of ribbon

a rose from a long-ago corsage

bits and bobs gathered

bring out of hiding

more beauty than we ever guessed was there.

Musings

Part of the sin of anger is that it's often a cover for more vulnerable emotions. To the extent anger isn't anger, it's a lie.

The only person who got to say "It is finished" about His own life was Jesus. 

What God went through to get the gospel accurately passed down the millennia to us is exceeded only by the cross itself. 

Prayer for February

 

Dear Father, we often give little thought to February except to call it dreary and short. Lacking the frosty diamond brightness of January, and anything more than the wimpiest tease of spring, it's the sag in winter's middle, soggy and slushy with a slap of wind. 

Unless, of course, we're willing to see with different eyes.

To the beauty of charcoal branches against palest gray, the hush of mist and haze, the patience of transition as the earth sleeps. To the invitation to slow and breathe if only we will, to know that waiting has value, tomorrow is not promised, and today, even today, with You in it, is beautiful in its time. To the revelation that living and watching February, day by day, is faith practice, the substance of Your promises hoped for, the evidence that spring will come. And February, though worthy and necessary in itself, is Your nature's reminder that though sorrow lasts for a night, joy comes in the morning. 

Lord, I pray that what we may see as the gloom of February bears much fruit in our lives: forbearance, simplicity, hominess, appreciation for not just what will be but what is. Help us make it a special interim of Scripture, prayer, and quiet contemplation of You to which You will draw near. Help us remember, and experience, that when the world fades and grows dim, You never leave us or forsake us, and You are what matters. 

Father, thank you for your grayscale, silvertone, interlude called February, and use it to speak to our spirits. Amen. 

When Your Gift

 

When your gift doesn't make room for you

usher you anywhere at all

even though the word says it will--

wait

look 

it'll come:

the small chance 

seize it

fill that gap 

with your gift.

No one noticed? 

On the main road, maybe not, but

along that dusty path

around back

over the bridge

through the tunnel

years and a half from now

someone, God-appointed, sees

and says,

"Aren't you...? Didn't you...?"

The small chance comes again

different shape

place

time

seize it again

fill that gap

with your gift.

And someone else,

even if only one someone else,

sees.

While you wait, perhaps God waits too

for others to learn

they need what you have

for you to learn

it belongs at His feet

and the door to the holy place

opens a crack

and one greater says,

"Aren't you...? Didn't you...?

"Would you...?"

When your gift makes room for you

ushers you in

because God said it would,

go in on your knees

go in with your readiness

go in with integrity

go in, in Him

because you've been ushered

into the presence

of the Great.