God is God (Joan Baez)

God is God

I believe in prophecy.
Some folks see things not everybody can see.
And,once in a while,they pass the secret along to you and me.

And I believe in miracles.
Something sacred burning in every bush and tree.
We can all learn to sing the songs the angels sing.

Chorus:
Yeah, I believe in God, and God ain't me.


i've traveled around the world,
Stood on mighty mountains and gazed across the wilderness.
Never seen a line in the sand or a diamond in the dust.

And as our fate unfurls,
Every day that passes i'm sure about a little bit less.
Even my money keeps telling me it's God I need to trust.

Chorus:
And I believe in God, but God ain't us.

God,in my little understanding, don't care what name I call.
Whether or not I believe doesn't matter at all.

I receive the blessings.
That every day on Earth?s another chance to get it right.
Let this little light of mine shine and rage against the night.

Just another lesson
Maybe someone's watching and wondering what I got.
Maybe this is why i'm here on Earth, and maybe not.
Chorus:
But I believe in God, and God is God.

What distinguishes us one from another is our dreams,
whether they be dreams about worldly or unworldly things,
and what we do to make them come about. We do not choose
to be born. We do not choose our parents, our historical
epoch, or the immediate circumstances of our upbringing.
We do not, most of us, choose to die; nor do we choose the
time and conditions of our death. But within this realm
of choicelessness, we do choose how we live....Josheph Epstein

Look to this day
for it is life
the very life of life.

In its brief course lie all
the realities and truths of existence
the joy of growth
the splendor of action
the glory of power.

For yesterday is but a memory
And tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived
makes every yesterday a memory
of happiness
and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well, therefore, to this day....

~ ancient Sanskrit poem ~

"No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees." (Merton)

Relish

"Unless one learns how to relish the taste of Sabbath while still in this world, unless one is initiated in the appreciation of eternal life, one will be unable to enjoy the taste of eternity in the world to come."

["...the Sabbaths are our great cathedrals."]

-------Abraham Joshua Heschel

Memo Book

As a true, nerdy, slightly dis-organized, slightly frustrated writer, I'm never without a little spiral notebook in my pocket, where I can jot down phone numbers, Emails, and ideas and quotes I want to save. One lasts me two or three months. Now, before I toss my latest one into a drawer, I want to save a few items:

What age is the person you once were that you wish you could reach across time and hug? How about slap and give a good talking to?

"A prophet is one who cuts through great tangled knots of lies." (Merton)


When i grow up I want to be a window.
(Everybody says I make a better door than a window!)

Yahweh = God-for-us
Jesus = God-with-us
Holy Spirit = God-within-us

To live in the mornings, to appreciate them and extend them
as far as possible into the day; to drink your morning tea in the afternoon.


Nouwen: "The word "passion" is derived from the Latin verb PATIOR, which means "to undergo." It is related to the word "passive."
So your passion can be something that overwhelms you,overtakes you, makes you feel out of control--- a wonderful thing in ecstatic love-making. But if anger or hatred or bias is your passion you can see why Greek and Roman philosophers wanted to put reason above emotion, a dualism which has hung heavy on all of us.

"Resentment and gratitude cannot co-exist, since resentment blocks the perception and experience of life as a gift." (more Nouwen)

I'm past the age where mirrors and photographs do me any favors.

Lillian

"Now in time and space, the glory of God would be revealed for all who had eyes of faith. Every bush could be seen as burning, every sunbeam containing some manifestation of the divine."

--------Bishop Robert Morneau

Sunsets through church windows produce little visions!!

The Angel on the Creche


The Sun in My Office



Sanctuary Light

Henri Nouwen on “Ministry”

One of the things I like to say is that if you are living in communion with God and in community with people you cannot do other than minister. Ministry is not something you do next. I have a terribly hard time with ministry as something that consists of techniques you have to apply. Ministry is the overflow of your love for God and for your fellow human beings. Someone said to me, “ministry is when two people toast their glasses of wine and something splashes over. Ministry is the extra. The question is not, “How do I bring all of these people to Jesus, or how do I make these people believe, or how do I now do the hard work of ministry?”

Jesus never did much ministry. Jesus spoke what his heart was full of. And anybody who touched him was healed. He didn’t sit people down and diagnose them, or say to them, I can help you but I can’t help you.” People touched him and were healed. He was even wondering what was happening. You cannot but minister if you are in communion with God and in community with other people. People want to know where your energy comes from. They get the overflow. It’s not something that requires professional credentials. Ministry isn’t something you do for certain hours during the day and then you come home and relax. Who knows? Ministry might happen while you are relaxing.

…The whole incarnation thing, God-with-us, Emmanuel, is first of all being with people… Ministry is being with the sick, the dying, being with people wherever they are, whatever their problems.

That is the mystery of ministry. You can’t solve the world’s problems, but you can be with people.


(“Parting Words”)