Posts Tagged With: forgive

What Jesus left out

,

Have you ever noticed how

Jesus left a few things out?

Like when he picked up a scroll

And started reading

Isaiah 61

In the synagogue?

He left out the vengence of God.

How he wouldn’t stick to the script?

Or stay within the rules of protocol

Or status quo?

Remember how 

He didn’t pray for God

To slay his enemies

But prayed

Father forgive them

At the cross?

He even taught us

To love not only God, neighbor, and ourselves

But also our enemies

He wasn’t afraid of stepping

On anyone’s toes or

Provoking their anger

He disrupted their narratives

And challenged their self-assurance.

He wasn’t afraid of anyone,

The truth, or even death.

He wasn’t just being contrary

Remember he loved these people

And wept over them

He must have hoped

His shaking and poking holes in

Their thoughts and prayers

Would wake them up

Move them to action

Turn them around 

To follow him.

Julie Clark © January 2024

Categories: Faith, God, Hope, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Call to Prayer

Sometime before we reached Mumbai

The crickets started their part

in the great symphony of the night.

“We’re still here!  We’re still here!”

They sang and called me to God.

 

A song rose in my heart in response

that I could not sing aloud.

What would the taxi driver think?

He may have thought I was a little off.

 

So I let it sing inside of me:

“Lord forgive us.

We have not honored you.

We have not cared for your creation.

We have not loved one another.

We have not cared for the poor and the weak.”

 

We reached Mumbai.

Waited for hours to be told

No room for you on this plane.

We were escorted out of the airport

and put in a taxi

by some kind airport officials.

The taxi drove off.

The driver and his co-worker

working the phones to get us

on another flight or into a hotel

in the wee hours of the morning.

A call came,

“You are lucky! Confirmed seats

available!”

They raced us back to the airport.

Same kind officials

escorted us quickly through

the lines and waved good-bye.

There was room on the plane

after-all.

We made it, last to board,

walking in a dream.

Very grateful.

© 2014 Julie Clark

Categories: borderlands, Faith, God, Life, Poetry, Prayer, Travel | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Worlds

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

 

Categories: borderlands, Faith, Life, Love, Paths, Poetry, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

My Measure

Let my measure be large

Not of cake or pie

Or gold or silver

Or stocks or bonds

Or oil futures

But of

That which I give away

Of love and mercy

Kindness and peace

Forgiveness and acceptance

Then I will be like

My Father in heaven

And what could be better

Than that

© 2011 Julie Clark

“Give and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Jesus

Categories: Faith, God, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Listening is a healing solace

Listening is a healing solace.

We talk about being God’s hands and feet

Can we also be his ears?

There are stories in need of telling,

Locked away for lack of listeners

Who will hear and not be judging.

It’s the first step to understanding.

With understanding grows compassion.

Listening is an act of peace.

If we listen to those who are different

We will get a new view

Of the world

Through their eyes.

When I listen to you

I stop hearing all my wants and needs

To give space to hear yours.

Peace can start

In the heart

Through the ears

When I listen to you

And you to me

And we both

Desire peace.

When understanding grows

Into compassion

I can give a little

And you too.

We can forgive

The wrong.

Start afresh

And be free

From the terror

Of hatred

And revenge.

© 2011 Julie Clark

Categories: Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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