Category Archives: prayer

To speak in parables

To speak in parables: to open the teeth and loose the tongue, to taste truth beyond the metaphor, spit out outrageous similes for God, who is similar to nothing and almost everything; to explain them to his friends: to draw … Continue reading

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The having of forgiveness

It seem to me that the way to remain unforgiven is to look forgiveness in the face and to mistake it for something altogether other, like a child in a hall of mirrors who sees distortion as reality and recoils … Continue reading

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Sabbath

Sabbath jubilee: release for the withering will, slow unfurling of a sharply-curved grasp to rejoice in defiant mercy, revolutionary rest; the gift and obligation to lie down like a branch strewn before the quiet feet of God After a hiatus, … Continue reading

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Destined

One was destined to be lost so that the ninety-nine could wonder why a good shepherd would leave them alone to go looking for the lamb of perdition, imagining him already fallen beyond rescue into the valley filled with shadows … Continue reading

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How to command love

Can love be commanded?Does the demanding not crucify love?Gentleness can be commanded, surely – the salve, the oil – resistance, too, the other cheek slowly turned to point away from violence. Feed my sheep can be commanded, break the bread, … Continue reading

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What we learn from one another

A poem towards Maundy Thursday Some days later, stretching out his hand to pluck an olive to his puckered mouth he remembered her hands and her hair, how the scent of nard filled his mind, overwhelming the taste of the food with the sweet and … Continue reading

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And what of the colt?

It knew, as animals do, more than the crowd, felt beneath its hooves the blood of the branches, stones slickened with sap, the vibrations of voices hungry for release; heard the heartbeat of the man astride its back, how it … Continue reading

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Dove

Once upon a time,so long ago that time itself was barely begun,a thing with wings brooded over deep waters,moving the surface aside to revealcreation. A long time later,but so long ago that history was still in the future,the waters had … Continue reading

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Tell no one

On the mountain top, a conspiracy: Elijah, Moses, and Yeshua plotting to overthrow sin and save the world. Below the cloud line all is clear. In the valley, people die, live, love, and hate without once looking up. Here on … Continue reading

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Cast out

Demons shake and scream; for God alone my soul in silence waits. Something deep within mutters “unclean”; for God alone my soul in silence waits. Power demands authority, but humility whispers and spirits writhe. For God alone my soul in … Continue reading

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