Well, Gang, We Made It

Well, Gang,
We made it.

All the way to this Gettin' Up Day.
When stones of hate and fear.
Are rolled away.

Oh, but those stones felt so good.
So righteous and so strong.

Stones of faith hardened by harshness.
Stones of dogma carved by hypocrisy.
Stones of righteousness backed up by bible quoting.
Stones of collusion between Jerusalem and Rome.
Stones to keep away the new thing God is doing.

Uh uh, dear friends, no surprises here.
The powers-that-be won't put up with it.
When politics and religion collude, death arrives on time.

But somehow or other, God breaks through.
The Spiritual Presence moves mountains and stones.
And the living reality of grace, mercy and peace.
Faith, hope and love.
Arises from the death we gave.
The death we love:
The death of another.

Life cannot be so easily defeated.
Yet damage is done.
Real and sad.
Christ shows the scars of his trial and his travail.

Changed forever.
Yet Christ remains:
The light of the world.
Our hope for all the years to come.
Living water and stout bread.
The shepherd of our souls.
The peace that passes all understanding.

This Gettin' Up Mornin'.
Tho't it would never get here.

But it did.
And it will.
Again and again.

To push away the stones we still have.
The stones we love more than life itself.
The stones we have in-waiting.

To bury the new.
The fire.
The love.

And the new, the fire, and the love.
Will suffer and will die.
By our own hand and many a righteous lie.

And we'll hurry up and put it all away.
In a tomb of our own clever making.

And there it will rest until an early morning.
With the dawning of a new day.
To shove the stone away.

The good prevails.
With scars to reveal.
To remind us:
Not to fear.

Not to fear our own days of hurt and grief.
When we follow in his love.
With words and deeds that beckon to life..
And shove away the stones of strife.

A glorious, profound, and ever-bright Easter.
For all creatures, great and small:
A Good Morning to each and to all!

Holy Week Musings

Weekend musings ...

I've never understood why this day is called "Good Friday" ... it should be called "Dark Day" ... or "Hell's Victory," or "When We Killed Jesus because We Didn't Like What He Said or Did."

Everything that goes wrong in our time, went wrong in the last week of Jesus' life ... using imagery from "Something Wicked This Way Comes," the Carnival won ... or from "Ready Player One," the corporate machine won ... in both of these provocative stories, it's the children who are at risk.

I suppose we'd rather not be confronted with all of this, so we dress it up a wee bit, make it a little more palatable ... we call it "Good Friday," and hurry over it, and hurry through Waiting Saturday, the time in between (when no one was certain of anything), to get to the bunnies and bonnets. Whoopee Ding Dang, ain't it grand!

We don't have to live in a state of constant apology for being snotty, snooty, and selfish, but we do need to spend some time pondering how clever we are with avoiding the truth ... so that we can keep on being snotty, snooty and selfish and not feel so bad.

We need to stand at the foot of the cross, with some realization of the the dark materials in our times, and in our lives, and say, "Yup, I did this, too. I waved my palm branches on parade day, but, in the end, Barabas seemed the better deal when I weighed it all up."

Tomorrow, Holy Saturday, we wait ... because we're simply not sure what God will do with all the junk.

As for Sunday, well, God willing, we'll see ya' there ... but let's remember, it was the Resurrection that turned a whole lot of the world upside down, and folks weren't too happy about that, either, and when we see the Stone rolled away, the Stone of political power, the Stone of religious stubbornness, the Stone of wealth, the Stone of the status quo, the Stone of pride and bigotry, the Stone I use to control things and keep things in hand, manageable and tame ... my Stone, your Stone, and should God mess with our Stone, we all get a little nervous.

The challenge for us is to be mindful ... serious when needed (much of the time) and playful, too (when elements of joy and hope and peace seem so real, so close at hand, we can touch them) ... we keep on keepin' on, because what else should we do?

I believe, but LORD help my unbelief ... on this Dark Day, and with Tomorrow's uneasy waiting, and the Light of a Tomb that holds the energy of both death and life, life anew, and God said, "Let there be light."

And so it goes ... in this world of cabbages and kings ...

Resurrection Ahead ...

Dear Friends and Members of Calvary Presbyterian Church,

Because Christ is Risen from the dead, we are, too.

There are many dimensions to resurrection:

1. A personal dimension. In Christ, we have courage to face the many trials that come our way; we have patience in dealing with difficult situations; we extend grace to others who are troubled and sad; we are quick to forgive, even when others can’t apologize; we are quick to offer apologies when we’re wrong; we’re humble about our achievements, because everything is a gift of God, and whatever we have is only for God’s glory and the blessing of others. Our life, here and now, is held in the arms of the everlasting God, and it’s God who tells us to keep our eyes upon Christ and keeps our feet moving in the right direction. Because of Christ, we do not give up!
2. A missional dimension. We reach out with the gospel, and we invite others to look to Christ and join with us in God’s effort to redeem all of creation and lift people out of despair. We join with others of good will and peace all around the world. In God’s wisdom, a world of many languages is the best of all possible world. We send out missionaries to tell others of Christ, and in the telling, we dig water wells, we build hospitals, we help nations fight AIDS, we promote peace and we build bridges of understanding. We cannot and will not look upon others in a way other than seeing everyone as a child of God, whatever their persuasion or faith or color or creed might be. When we look for good will we find it; when we seek peace, we see it; when we offer forgiveness, we are forgiven, when we build up, we are built up, too.
3. A citizenship dimension. In Christ, we are people of peace and reconciliation. We are not impressed with military might or corporate power. We are sensitive to God’s creation, and all God’s creatures, great and small, and we work for a healthier planet. In the Risen Christ, we see God’s love for all the world and for all the nations, and we are careful about over-exuberant flag-waving and sword rattling. In Christ, we are wise about the sins of our own nation, even as we’re humbled by our personal sins. Furthermore, we are citizens of this land and this place, and as Jeremiah counseled the people to seek the welfare of the land in which they were living, so we seek our nation’s welfare, too. Not at the expense of others, but in concert with all of God’s creation. We pay our taxes, serve on juries, pray for our elected and appointed officials, spread good cheer and practice hope.
4. A fellowship dimension. In the triumphant love of Christ, the Holy Spirit builds bridges of love all over the place. We look upon one another through the eyes of Christ, and through our eyes, Christ looks out upon the world. As Paul says, We no longer regard one another from a human point of view … as just so much flesh and blood and bone, but we see one another as God’s precious people, each created in God’s image and endowed with fine gifts. We are pained by the ways religion and society can exclude people. In Christ, our arms are open to all, and all are welcomed at the Table of the LORD. On the local level, right here at Calvary on the Boulevard, we live out the fullness of God’s love by loving one another: we open our homes and hearts to one another, we give and receive our talents, we hold hands in prayer, we hold one another up in sorrow, we walk arm-in-arm in the great work of Jesus Christ.
5. A worship dimension. Our worship is joyful and hopeful. Because God is at work in all things for good. We gather for worship to celebrate the love of God and the world that’s coming our way. It’s a good world, and every prayer we utter, every good deed we offer, every kind word and every positive thought makes a lasting difference. And we’re serious, as well, because sin and oppression are real, and we take these seriously. We do not ignore the dark materials that flow around us and inside of us. We weep with those who weep, and we rejoice with those who rejoice. We confess our sin and the sins of the world and embrace the power of forgiveness.
6. An eternal dimension. Death doesn’t have the last word! Yes, we all must die, because we’re mortal, and “dust to dust” is still the truth about life. But God loves the dust; indeed, God loves all of creation, and God promises a new heaven and a new earth. The end of all things is Christ. A Cosmic Christ, the Creator Christ, the Word of God, in whom all things are being reconciled – when there are no more tears, no more sorrow, no more separation and no more hurt. Only light and peace and goodness and joy. This is where it’s all headed, and by the grace of God, no one is left behind!

 To God be the glory! Christ is risen.

Early Easter

Not since 1913 have we had an Easter as early as March 23 and that is before most of us were paying attention. Easter can happen as early as March 22, but that hasn't happened that early since 1818 and won't again until March 22, 2285. Even this year's date of March 23 won't happen again until March 23, 2160.

Pay attention to time ... it's precious and full of grace. "Time is money" someone once said, but I'd rather say:

Time is love.
Time is hope.
Time is peace.
Time is service.
Time is sacrifice.
Time is Christ our Lord!
Time is Life with one another!