The first candle

As the darkest night approaches, we look for the single candle in the dark. Hope.

We see it faintly on the horizon, beckoning winter weary hearts. We draw near to its bright flame, and though we hobble on frostbitten toes, fingers numb from wrestling in the cold, hope’s warmth begins to thaw us. Hope’s light reminds us the dark night of the soul will not last forever.

And unlike so many vain promises, this hope will not disappoint, because it is lit with an everlasting love, the blessed assurance of One who has descended into the depths of sin’s chilling darkness and has emerged in radiant dawn.

“A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices, for yonder breaks a new and glorious morn . . ."


~lg

don't clear the table

My first impulse is to clear the table. Things should be a little tidier, don't you think? Last night's dishes, this morning's now cold coffee, the rice cereal splattered all over the table and floor, the camera from taking pictures of Arden's 6 month milestone. But no. I push aside the oven mitts, the paperwork I haven't filed, and I open my Bible. This is where it fits. Because if it doesn't fit in the middle of my messy life, it's not worth opening at all.

~lg

Solomon's echo

Yahweh be with me,
Uncontainable God, dwell with me.

Let these words rise to open ears,
let them be near to You.

Open Your eyes toward me,
for You have placed Your name within.

Incline my heart to You,
this heart that You alone know,
till it be wholly devoted to You.

Let your eyes and your heart be perpetually here.


~lg

I remember

Today I remember…

That we cannot pretend there is no such thing as sin,
that it does not grip and destroy hearts and nations.

That the capacity for evil exists within all our hearts,
warring against all that is good and from God.

That war is hell, not glory,
that war will never save us.

Today I remember ….

Only peace will save
Only goodness will deliver
Only Love will look war in the eye and conquer death


~lg

Letters to Arden - November 10, 2010

Dear Arden,

Today I am struck by the very fact of your existence. It’s crazy to think that not so long ago you didn’t even exist! And now you’re here, a living little creature with your own spin on God’s image. You have your own way of being in the world that is unlike any other. The way you chew your toes, the way you laugh at the cat, the way you stomp your foot, the way you reach your arms out as if to grab the whole wide world and see what it tastes like – your way is truly unique. I think I understand a little bit of what God felt like in Genesis 1. What a marvelous thing to bring something into existence! I’m giddy just thinking of who you’ll become today, tomorrow, and the next day. You’ve turned our existence upside down, that’s for sure. And you’re totally worth it.

~lg

strange hospitality

Wow, it’s a scorcher Abraham. Have I been here before? And by here I mean now. This day. It just feels familiar – the way the flies are buzzing, the position of the sun in the sky, the drowsy cattle. Those three guys coming toward us . . .

It is rather astonishing, even the second time around. Three strangers, three measures of fine flour, one choice calf, and one outrageous announcement. As they sat to eat beneath the trees, I couldn’t help but feel as if the tables had been turned. I don’t suppose you’ve yet heard the phrase “entertaining angels unawares.” I think you coined it. You bustled them into your home and brought out the best of your hospitality, but it is they who served you. You became the guest of the divine.

Now Sarah is doing the dishes, alternating between silence and nervous laughter. She sweeps up the bread crumbs with wrinkled hands. The air is cooling, and you are gazing into the darkening hills with a kind of glow on your countenance. Their presence still lingers. And I am left to consider the strangers in my own camp. Who will I find in their faces? I know what it is like to feel like a stranger. So I will give the invitation, and perhaps meet Yahweh at my own table.


~lg

The Body – a reflection on totus Christus

We are His body
We fill Him as He fills us

He fills and we expand
Rushing into many parts
He moves us into action
One body in perpetual motion

We fill and He expands
Limbs full of life and vigour
Open hands, lovely feet
Animated by the Spirit within us

We live and move and have our being
In symbiotic beauty

We are His body
Bruised and broken
Lazy and listless
Divided and diseased
Self-deflating in ignorance and apathy

We stumble and He falls
Sinking breathless to the ground

We are His body
Needing a miracle of surpassing greatness
The mighty power of resuscitation
To quicken this mortal body

We are His body


~lg