Living in
Breathing in
Two worlds
Visible and the invisible
Intersecting
Reflecting
Sometimes rejecting
The other
Light and darkness
Competing for
Our allegiance
Our loyalty
And our attention
Choose a path
To love another
Speak a kind word
Comfort a broken heart
Share meal
Pray a prayer
Forgive
The two worlds
Become one
Your kingdom comes
Your will is done
© 2013 Julie Clark
I am in the middle
Of a long walk
With God
A journey
A pilgrimage
From those ahead
I receive these assurances
“Yes, it gets
Sweeter and sweeter
His face
Becomes clearer
His love
Thickens the air”
I have already
Tasted
That thickened air
And I give those same
Assurances
Back down the path
Behind me
A few warnings as well
Watch that curve
Slow down and rest
I have crashed right there
And stay clear of that
Mud hole
I was stuck there for a while
Don’t give up
It’s worth the climb
Green pastures
And still waters up here
The view is spectacular
The air is sweet
© 2013 Julie Clark
Close all other doors
But one
Step through that one
And watch
The infinite amount
Of possibilities
Arise and emerge
Unfolding as
You move
Forward
Yesterday, in-between watching CNN, I sat down and wrote a blog on building Parent/Child Connections: http://faithfullparenting.wordpress.com/ This was one of my responses to the unfolding drama in Boston. I know it is just one piece, the parenting piece, in the complex array of broken pieces in this tragic story.
Why did this happen? There is the emigrant story, the broken piece where the emigrant does not assimilate to the American culture and life. To understand this more Mary Pipher does an excellent job in her book: The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community
Then there is the broken piece of radical religion. How does loving God mean doing something like this? It does not. God is love and this is not love.
Perhaps another cultural broken piece is family loyalty trumping everything. An older brother influences a younger brother to join him in an atrocious act. We could find and name so many broken pieces.
It is important to work through these questions on the road to recovery. Along with this, in order to heal we need to choose our response. There is a lot of hard work ahead to do in order to heal. Will we become haters? If we choose that route we align ourselves with the same spirit that motivated the terrorists and they win. We become like them. Anger is a normal response to grief, but we can’t stay angry and let it poison our souls. We must move beyond it to the hard work of grieving, sadness, and the seemingly impossible process of forgiving. Hate, revenge, and bitterness are not the answers we need for healing. They never are. They will only destroy us and turn our hearts to stone.
Dear Boston choose the harder path of healing and recovery and you will find yourself surrounded by heaven ready to help. Our prayers are with you.
I find myself
Hacking my way through a jungle
I cannot see clearly
But my heart compass is set north
Deep calling to deep
All of a sudden
Breaking free
Onto a well-worn
Path
Sprinkled with Saint and Angel dust
I am not alone after all
© 2013 Julie Clark
Remain in Me
Keep in step
Keep in touch
Take my hand
Don’t lag behind or rush ahead
No lolly-gagging or reckless driving
Stick with Me
Close to Me
Stay connected
Abide in me
Walk with me
Every day
Every hour
Every minute
Breathe me in
Like your breath
Breathe me out
To another
Don’t slough me off
Disregard me
Close your ears
When you get tempted
Or enticed
Don’t veer off to the left
Or the right
Take a detour
Or a short cut
Don’t get caught in an eddy
Don’t get stuck or left behind
Double your efforts
To rest in me
Fill your thoughts
With thoughts of me
Love me
I love you
Let my love flow in you
And out of you
Come back for more
There’s always more
You in me and I in you
And this is what it means
To live a life
Of prayer
© 2013 Julie Clark
How can I get through this,
Seemingly impossible situation?
The eye of the needle
Becomes the way of the cross
Stripped down
Bare essentials:
Me
Following the light
At the end of the tunnel.
© 2013 Julie Clark
The farmer’s life is one of great patience.
Sowing seeds does not result in instantaneous miracles.
Although, when the first seeds sprout and break through the ground
It certainly feels like one, (which of course it is).
We just do not get to see what has been going on,
Microscopically, beneath the surface of the earth.
Sow people! Beloved ones!
What do you want to see more of in your lives?
Don’t be surprised at the fiery ordeals that come your way.
They expose the unwanted seeds of destruction.
Instead, cooperate with the fire and let it burn away
Focus on the good seed at hand:
Love, joy, peace, kindness, wisdom, patience and
All the good things you see and desire.
It’s one act or response at a time.
Living is becoming.
Life does not stay stagnant,
We move forward in one direction or the other.
We get to choose by our sowing
Which way we want to grow.
© 2013 Julie Clark
It started with a morning prayer: “Teach me Your Ways.” Unexpectedly on the way to church an elderly woman crossed the road. The temperatures were below freezing. We turned around and gave her a lift to the grocery store a quarter of a mile away. She needed some essentials that her group home didn’t offer. I felt uneasy leaving here even though she assured us she wasn’t far from home. So we left for church where we had other duties, and frankly we love joining in worship with our small, informal, fun community. This was the Sunday many in our area struggled over the Seahawks game at 10:00 or church. Some went to church and some stayed home to watch the game. For us this wasn’t a huge issue, although we do like to watch football sometimes, but we had made a commitment to go, so off we went thinking that was our personal test. No, the real test was were we going to care for an elderly woman out in the sub freezing weather. Of all people, I who am trying so hard to not be a religious person, but a loving person missed it. Well, to be fair I got half of it, but how much better would it have been to wait for her to do her shopping and take her home. I am grateful my prayer was answered even though it was painful to see where I still need to grow. So I will keep praying to learn and practice the ways of Jesus and hope I do better next time. A sweet ending to the story for us was that after we left the church building we wandered down the Ave. with our son looking for a place to eat and perhaps catch the last few minutes of the game. Sure enough we heard hooting and hollering from a pub. We walked in, found a spot and were able to catch the last minutes of a very exciting game, albeit disappointing for Seahawks fans. That’s what I love about walking with Jesus: it’s grace upon grace, no condemnation, just a steep learning curve to be like Him.
Backfromtheborderlands's Blog 