401 reverie

The wooded hills beckon in the evening sunfall
The bare brown carpet invites spring
invites me to come up and commune
with the strength of the oaks and the
delicate beauty of the birch child
Amethyst clouds light the ridge above
and elvish whispers stir the leaves to a hesitant dance

The woods are not awake yet
But their clear blood begins to rise
in the warmth of lengthening days
They give to us a taste of the first sweetness of spring
Pouring their joy out from wounds
Drink from the promise of hope
and let your tongue sing our song
Shadows of geese sail though the sundogs
which circle their master three times before
sinking to the horizon's bed

The woods will sleep another night

~lg

Intercessions - April 1

Father of peace and healing,

You are the one who breaks insurmountable dividing walls. Make a footbridge of peace over troubled waters. Where disappointment and bitterness wedge souls apart, bind them together with cords of mercy and the balm of Gilead. Be near to the brokenhearted, and save the ones who are crushed in spirit. Gather their pieces in tenderness and speak healing to their brokenness. May your gentleness make them great. Restore souls and rescue the estranged from division. Be their peace.

Amen

Ps 18:35; 34:18


~lg

my internet

In the effort to detach myself from the computer over Lent, a new pile emerged on the coffee table. I came to call this pile (which varied over the weeks) my "new internet." These were the pages I surfed, with a sense of satisfaction I never get from reading off a screen. As you can see, it was a little of this, and a little of that, reflecting my current interests: theology, PEI, L. M. Montgomery, Hadrian's Wall, good stories, topped by my Bible and journal, which help make sense of everything else I read. Lent is over but the pile (slightly changed) is still there, a welcome stack of paper friends. The only thing missing from the picture is a steaming cup of coffee!

~lg

spring floods

The Forks of the Credit are swollen with the force of spring. Heaven’s thoughts, hurled down in the rain and snow, are now converging to water the earth. The waves are high, higher than the banks, higher than our thoughts can hold them. We are frightened by their icy strength, until we can hear the undercurrents of joy. The northwest wind breaks over the mountains and hills, waking up the trees of the field. Their bony applause welcomes the wind and the rising waters. Clap your hands, put on your rubbers, you cannot hold back the impetuous vernal flood.



God . . . has infinite treasure to bestow, and we take up with a little sensible devotion, which passes in a moment. Blind as we are, we hinder God and stop the current of His graces. But when He finds a soul penetrated with a lively faith, He pours into it His graces and favors plentifully; there they flow like a torrent which, after being forcibly stopped against its ordinary course, when it has found a passage, spreads itself with impetuosity and abundance.
(Brother Lawrence - The Practice of the Presence of God)

~lg

giving up computer time

I've been slow to post because I've given up much of computer time for Lent! In the absence of the glowing screen and its habitual power over my free time, I've had time to think some lovely thoughts, but they haven't made it to a word processor yet. One of these days...

~lg

nature knows

The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. (Psalm 19:7)

One of the ways I believe God’s word is perfect is in its timeliness. Just as Jesus came at the fullness of time, so God sent his word to his people in the fullness of time. The fact that the words of Scripture were given to the Hebrews and to the early Christians at the time they were is no accident. God has tied the revelation of his nature to particular periods of history, to particular modes of expression, to a particular way of seeing the world. God’s word is living, so it always speaks to every generation. But God chose people to express his word in oral tradition and in writing in their own language and idiom. So we must treasure the language of the Bible. We must dig deep into its figures of speech, into the comparisons made, into the methods of expression and the metaphors used to describe the ways of God.

We live in a world that is at times completely out of touch with the earth. No longer tied to the seasons and rhythms of the land and the sea, we forget or ignore the lessons nature has to teach us. The ancient writers did not have this luxury. The Scriptures are filled with creation as a living testimony and witness to God. The mountains shout, the trees applaud and the heavens declare. Too easily we can dismiss nature’s appearance in the Bible as mere metaphor and the crude anthropomorphisms of an ignorant culture. But I happen to think they were on to something, or rather, that God was on to something.

We need an understanding of the natural world viewed both as God’s creation and God’s revelation. Yes, we do make the distinction between “special” and “general” revelation. Christ falls in the first category, and creation in the second. But for those who know Christ – in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, in whom all things are made new, in whose being all things in heaven and on earth are summed up and made perfect – we have been given an incredible treasure in the works of nature. If we listen closely, we can hear the story of Christ in the rivers and wrens. Creation whispers the secrets of the kingdom of God for those willing to listen.

(See previous posts talking trees, secrets and rara avis.)

~lg

theology

After I finished my thesis, I took an unofficial break from theology, at the least on the level to which I had been accustomed. Burnt out, with another big writing project to finish, I think I was just too tired to think anymore. My rows and rows of theological books temporarily lost their luster. (horrors!) But then I started reading a book which was given to me by my wonderful Aunt Karen. It's an autobiography of a woman named Leanne Payne, who has been influential in my aunt's life. Her writing is both theological and deeply spiritual, the perfect mix to spark the synapses I had sent on an extended vacation. Long story short, last night I picked up Alexander Schmemann's For the Life of the World, a book about the sacraments that I really should have finished long ago. I read the first three pages and I was hooked again. I thought about it as I drifted off to sleep. I thought of the book when I woke up this morning, wondering if I could sneak a few pages in with my devotions this morning, or when I come home for lunch. I even wrote a blog post about it. Yup, the signs are all there. I'm in love.

~lg

Beauty

"But the fear of God reigning in the heart is the beauty of the soul; it recommends those that have it to the favour of God, and is, in his sight, of great price; it will last for ever, and bid defiance to death itself, which consumes the beauty of the body, but consummates the beauty of the soul."

~Matthew Henry, from his commentary on Proverbs 31:30

Time

"Time is a sheer gift, the soil in which the soul's understanding buds and blossoms and virtues can be realized."

~Leanne Payne, Heaven's Calling

The archer

I feel the weight of the quiver
A gift and a burden of fire in my bones
The forest is silent and I pluck the bow
It sings like an instrument

I reach back to feel feathers
Drawing out smooth and straight
The heart of a tree
And a red tip

I hear the oak leaves shiver
And suddenly I can smell the earth
In the meeting of taut string and limb
My arms strengthen

I do not shoot
I am waiting and watching
Learning the names of my arrows
Tuning string to match strength

When the wind blows again
The trees will open a path
With clear eye and steady hand
I will be ready

~lg

Proverbs for a Recession

Wise words ring true in troubled times;
They bring contentment to those who listen.

All the days of the afflicted are bad,
But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Better is a little with the fear of the LORD
Than great treasure and turmoil with it.
Better is a dish of vegetables where love is
Than a fattened ox served with hatred.
(Proverbs 15:15-17)


~lg

bread recipe

"Knead dough until smooth and resilient, about 8-10 minutes."

I made bread last night. Well, I set it to rise last night and baked it today for Sunday lunch. It was good. There's nothing like homemade bread. I don't often make it, but when I do, I like it. Aside from feeling like a superior homemaker, I just like to get my hands in the flour and play around. I always cross my fingers when the yeast is rising, and try not to peek till it's doubled, which proves that it is indeed "active." The arms get a workout too, stirring in all that flour till the mixture forms "a soft and shaggy dough." But my favourite part is kneading. All 8-10 minutes of it. There's something about the rhythm which puts my mind at ease. I feel like I am really and truly making something, something wholesome and worthwhile. I am coaxing the goodness out. There is an immense satisfaction when I have turned it into a smooth ball of anticipation. Smooth and resilient. Hmnn. Those words stick in my head. That's what dough has to be before it can become good bread. It has to make you smile. I think I will need more than 8-10 minutes before I become soft and resilient. Fortunately God's arms do not get tired. I wonder if he likes kneading too.

~lg

more imagination

Here are some articles from John Piper's website on imagination:

God Is Not Boring

Jesus Is Precious Because We Yearn For Beauty

This idea of Christian imagination is something that has been simmering in the back of my mind for quite some time. I think it's often a neglected aspect of Christian life. We crave imaginative descriptions and depictions of the truth and beauty of God without even knowing it, and when we come across them they permeate both the mind and heart.

~lg

imagination

I came across this quote on one of the blogs I read and thought it was a good one:

The imagination calls up new words, new images, new analogies, new metaphors, new illustrations, new connections to say old, glorious truth. Imagination is the faculty of the mind that God has given us to make the communication of his beauty beautiful.
–John Piper

(and this is the blog article)


~lg

Spirit poem

Spirit.
I know you breathe even now, all around me, in me, and through this thing we scientifically call aerobic respiration. You are the Lord and Giver of Life, my life, our life on this green and blue globe. I breathe, and I know you are here.

Spirit of God.
You are God’s own breath, the Lion’s warmth on my cheek. You give new life, breathing into existence a realm where I live in Christ, breathing a space where Christ lives in me. Are you in my veins and arteries? You cannot be limited there, but you must be there too if you are here at all. I have a new pulse, and I know you are here.

Creator Spirit.
Your invisible colours are weaving a tapestry outside the window. You prick me with your needle so I may be a thread in your fluid hands. You are making all things beautiful, even bloodstains. You whisper in my imagination, in my garden, in my bread as it rises. I am woven through your imagination till I see the colours you create. I think, and I know you are here.

Holy Spirit.
You sanctify the ordinary. I live and move and have my being, I love and laugh and cry, I work and eat and sleep, and it all matters. You are the bond that ties it all up into God’s life, into God’s love. I am woven into a divine mystery. You breathe, and I know you are here.

~lg