Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name superstitiously, or use it to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call on him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

What does this mean for us? We are to fear and love God so that we do not use his name superstitiously, or use it to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, but call on him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive.

But what does it mean for me to sweep the beach, besides the actual cleanups of which I’ve been a part?

Unexpected visitors occasionally show up and stay for a while, including some you’d really like to throw out!

Unexpected visitors occasionally show up and stay for a while, including some you’d really like to throw out!

Blessing of Rest

Curl this blessing
beneath your head
for a pillow.
Wrap it about yourself
for a blanket.
Lay it across your eyes
and for this moment
cease thinking about
what comes next,
what you will do
when you rise.

Let this blessing
gather itself to you
like the stillness
that descends
between your heartbeats,
the silence that comes
so briefly
but with a constancy
on which
your life depends.

Settle yourself
into the quiet
this blessing brings,
the hand it lays
upon your brow,
the whispered word
it breathes into
your ear
telling you
all shall be well
all shall be well
and you can rest
now.

For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

In a world where faith is often construed as a way of thinking, bodily practices remind the willing that faith is a way of life.

Into each life some rain must fall,

God invites us to come home: home to where we belong; home to serenity and peace and joy; home to intimacy and acceptance and affirmation.

God looks at us the way a mother looks lovingly at her newborn baby. If you can see the loving gaze between mother and child in your mind's eye, you can begin a small meditation on being held in God's loving gaze.

But I’m taking the day off. Quiet as a feather.

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.

“You are the sky. Everything else—it’s just the weather.”

“Virtual” will be an option for connection across the board, so no matter who you are, where you are, or when you are… you are always welcome at St. John’s, and especially at God’s Table.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

I give thanks for arriving
Safely in a new dawn,
For the gift of eyes
To see the world,
The gift of mind
To feel at home
In my life.
The waves of possibility
Breaking on the shore of dawn,
The harvest of the past
That awaits my hunger,
And all the furtherings
This new day will bring.

The old prayer speaks of God "in whose service is perfect freedom." The paradox is not as opaque as it sounds. It means that to obey Love itself, which above all else wishes us well, leaves us the freedom to be the best and gladdest that we have it in us to become. The only freedom Love denies us is the freedom to destroy ourselves ultimately.