Heaven

Heaven
is the suntouch
of God’s presence
weighing like motes of gold
the cups of my heart,
a shelter now
that will last the blast
of death.

Source of strength

Help doesn’t just come
from outside.

There is a hidden place inside
where heart energy
holds life like a fire,
burning any dross that touches it
and replenishing peace.

A follower of God

To be a follower of God isn’t to exchange a life of sin
for a life of safety.

It is to know the fire that birthed the universe,
to be transformed from an image breaker to an image maker,
co-creating with God.

It isn’t to celebrate history and ritual
but to dance so hard with a celebration of life
that it stamps upon injustice
and calls out the celebrant in others.

To be a follower of God
is not to build walls around a belief group
but to be part of the community of creation.

It isn’t to expect beds of roses without thorns
but to know that beds of thorns will have roses.

It is a prophetic call to see and hear,
to respond with compassion and not fear anger.

It is to change the world by changing my life.

It is to be the face of God in my time.

The emotions of God?

What are the emotions
of God? What are the tides within
the navy night of soul that carries
God’s name? Do they feed
each other, joy playing banjo
on sorrow’s strings while love holds anger
like a crown?
What are the swellings of breast that charm
the bees upon the blossom, that fire
the voyagers’ return?

I have heard it whispered
that night after night
God sits holding tenderness
on soft knees
while murmuring our name.

Mystery

Scientists and theologians have a lot in common.
They see, they question, they explain.
Theories and theologies, boxes in which to fit reality,
seen and unseen,
a comfortable, controllable world.
But if there is no mystery
it doesn’t feed the heart.

Mystery is as much part of the universe, and God, as fact –
breath and bones, shadow and substance,
secret and revealed.

To know someone well is also to know
their difference from me,
to respect their secret places.
It’s the same with God, and with our planet.
Approach both with awe and wonder as well as
science or certainty.

For some things candlelight is better than spotlight
and not knowing is better than understanding all.