Hold tight. My covenants break; I cannot hold myself, my trust. My word unbinds before I bind myself to it. Yet this is mine, this is enough: Jesus my own and His brother. What world may fling, what failings ring against me count for nothing. This is enough. My God, my covenant, my binding joy.Continue reading “Lent: Enough 2”
Tag Archives: Jesus
Lent: Enough 1
Hold tight. Hold me tight: what coverings I have sought, what fig-leaves, cannot disguise my nakedness. My shame burns garments – yet You clothe in righteousness. Hold tight. Hold me tight; You are enough, yet I am afraid, and turn to fig-leaves when rightly I should bathe myself in You. O Lamb,Continue reading “Lent: Enough 1”
Lent: The Wait, the Weight 3
Held down by denial, oppressed by oblivion, as torrents break we fancy them a whirlpool. Nothing prepares for this crisis of self, when the spirit, crying, How long, how long? hears instead the call to crawl into the dust and weep. To whom have You dealt thus? Yet no better are we who bear YourContinue reading “Lent: The Wait, the Weight 3”
Lent: The Wait, the Weight 1
Waves drag, anchor fails – my God my God why In this torpor, what lifts? The heart, bird-like, hovers – an albatross, a vulture? Yet a dove dives deep and holds; it coos what cannot be cried. My God my God why – too heavy for words, yet hands can be raised, barely, above theContinue reading “Lent: The Wait, the Weight 1”
Lent: Man of Sorrows 6
And keep – keep me, keep watch, keep hope. The pains that crush me are like pricks beside Your agony, and yet You hold arms out as though to gather in more pain, more shame, and thus more me. Man of sorrows, what a name, what a scheme thatContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 6”
Lent: Man of Sorrows 4
Lay me down – slow me down and lay me down upon the Cross, in Jesus’ hands. Slow my heart and silence all the numb self-serving of my pleas; stifle pride, unlock the clench of fists deep in this fickle dust. Lay me down, my soul; lay down my soul in Jesus’ hands. Their scars haveContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 4”
Lent: Man of Sorrows 3
Obedience is a crown of thorns. The earth’s the Lord’s; He does as He pleases, and it pleases Him to wear these thorns. Joy set before Him, He endures; joy not instantaneous, I yield. Obedience is a crown of thorns, and I despise this crown. Go into the wilderness; see all earth’s kingdoms laid atContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 3”
Lent: Man of Sorrows 2
My God, my God: head full of wounds, You cry. My God, my God: what rupture in the godhead makes perfect veins now burst? What depth of love plumbs so low that even earth shakes at impact? My God, my God, have mercy. I wound my head and choose these depths; yet, Man of Sorrows,Continue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 2”
Lent: Man of Sorrows 1
What fuels my pride is nothing like what You gave up – true God, true man – when you bowed as low as bowing goes, as low as heaven spans. What strikes my face is feather-like beside the spear that pierced Your side; my burdens roll onto the floor beside the death YouContinue reading “Lent: Man of Sorrows 1”
Lent: Humility 3
The serpent bites deep; venom lurks where least expected. The heart has chasms, labyrinths, unknown even to itself. What way out have we but to weep? Deceitful beyond all things, the heart’s lie is more twisted than you ever thought. Good intentions pave Destruction’s road; who will rid me of this body of death? FollowContinue reading “Lent: Humility 3”
The Consolations of Writing 