tough things #4 (Deuteronomy 6)

it's so
tough
NOT to be God
that You decided we needed
lifelong
lessons on our
non-God-ness.

is that right,
Lord?

why do we SO
want
to be Your equal?

do we really wish on
ourselves
the power of
death?
life?

do we really wish the
power of time
was in our hands?

do we so want to
judge
the universe that we
forget
how little we
know?

are we really that insane,
Lord?

tough things #3 (Deuteronomy 6)

it's tough
NOT
to be God...

especially when
hatred
burns an anger-trail
inside us...a mile wide
and
we curse over
NOT
controlling the universe.

who
other than You,
Lord,
is worthy
of being God?

who, Lord?

tough things #2 (Deuteronomy 6)

it's tough
NOT
to be God.

but
even tougher
to be like Him,
as any parent
knows.

unlike You,
Lord...
we have no ability
to control
the lives of our children...

yet

like You...
we are often ignored by them
until
they run out of
something important.

tough things #1 (Deuteronomy 6)

it's tough
NOT
to be God...

any two-year-old
can tell you
this...along with
the rest of
us
when we are overwhelmed
with anger
or a greed
of any other kind.

who
can be trusted
to be God?

who, Lord?

anyone other than You,
Lord?

YaHWeH's Job #7 (Psalm 50:21)

Lord,
do our prayers sound something like this?

“Lord, make my life easy
make it simple
make the truth into
an elastic thing…
whenever I need it to be that way.”

or are those types
of requests
the self-taken task of the Evil
One?

why, Lord,
do we so often
agree with our Enemy
about You?

are we insane?

YaHWeH's Job #6 (Psalm 50:21)

what should You be
doing, Lord?

we think
peace...
our idea of peace
is what the world
needs:
if only everybody
could just get
along.

why don't You
MAKE
it happen, Lord?
You have the power,
right?

but
there is a deeper thing than
all this...
an order
in all that is...
everywhere.

deep inside, we know
this to be
true.

we know
there is a rhythm
in which You lead the whole
cosmos...
that
You wish to install in our soul.

your rhythm is the only
shalom
that can remake
everything.

overwhelm our resistance,
Lord.

overwhelm us.

woo us into Your great
dance.

YaHWeH's Job #5 (Psalm 50:21)

what is it,
Lord,
that You do in Your
day job?

do You laugh at us?
or
with us?

play games with us?
weep for us?
grieve over us?
enjoy us?
much at all?

are You concerned
for us?

do You even notice us
except in
anger?

the evidence is in...

Jesus,
You are ALL the evidence there
is.

You came to us with
YaHWeH's full-force-love
inside You...
spilling out of
You
all over us...and
it didn't matter to You
who drank of it...

Jew...
Gentile...
believer...
pagan...
poor...
rich...
strong...
weak...
You loved all & each
of us
regardless of our
packaging.

YaHWeH's Job #4 (Psalm 50:21)

what
is Your job,
Lord?

i mean...after
You created the cosmos...
what have You
been up to?

what
are You up to?

is all this
just a grab for
a bunch of thank you notes
from us finite folk?
are You looking
to have choirs & bands
telling everyone how
cool You are?

from time to time
it feels that way...
and
i know we act that way
giving praise out of
duty &
fear of bad
consequences
if we hold
back.

do we think
we can out-sing
the stars?

do we think
we can out-shout
the oceans?

do we think
we can out-paint
the sky's breath
at day's end?

You get so much
advice from us...
about everything,
Lord.

please love us anyway & forgive...

am i getting warm,
Lord?

YaHWeH's Job #3 (Psalm 50:21, the Message)

we think,
You, Lord, are just like
us...
only bigger maybe
or
a little bit smarter.

we say
You are good...
but
we act like You're a bully
so fearful are we of
Your plans for us.

are we fearful because we
have seen so much
mayhem?
grief?
tragedy?

or is it
deeper
&
simpler than that,
Lord?

how could we have forgotten
that the most repeated
command to people in scripture
is,
"Don't be afraid."

YaHWeH's Job #2 (Psalm 50:21)

our theology
gives the Almighty
a job description shaped by
our best minds
and
our lowest prejudices.

why else
would our prayers make us sound
like
spoiled children
demanding
their own way?

the stunning thing is
that You
do not disown us...
nor do You
ignore us...
instead
You wait for us
to come around,
Lord.

YaHWeH's Job #1 (Psalm 50:21)

Lord,
we
have always believed Your job
to be about
doing OUR will...
fixing
OUR lives.

so when You
did
show up here
among us,
You looked so much
like just another fast food
clerk...or
maybe a paramedic
that we missed WHO
You were...ARE...

only now do we begin
to see You...
to understand Your deep
grace.

we are blind &
short-sighted people...
forgive us,
Lord.

first #3

each meeting
of hearts and faces
is
an invention of the One
Who invented everything else
good...

kinda hard to believe...but
even harder
to NOT believe.

first, You make us,
Lord...
then, You help us
find
each other...
finding
in each other some
thing
that is missing
in Your original making
of us.

did You leave some
thing
out on purpose,
Lord?

or
did You just insert
such a wanting
in us
that forever we
would search...
if we could?

scars #4 (John 20:27)

why?

why, Lord?

why did You
let us get
to You?

you didn't have to...
i imagine that things
were probably going rather
well in heaven
without us,
Lord.

but...You noticed
us.
you took pity on us...
showing up
so much like us
that Your scars looked
just like ours.

except deeper...
each inscribed by love for
us...
none of them
a result of just looking
the wrong way...at
the wrong time.

love, grace & truth...
all & each
NEVER occur
here
accidentally...they
ALWAYS come from
a choice.

so i guess that means
You chose
freely
each one of Your scars...
didn't You,
Lord?

scars #3 (John 20:27)

are people themselves
ever
scars?

they do leave their
marks on
our bodies
our hearts
our histories.

are we Your
scars,
Lord?

when You look
at us...
do You think that?

when You look
at us...
do You mostly see
your pain
or
do You see
our story...
with You in it?

i think the latter,
to be the truest,
Lord.

scars #2 (John 20:27)

when You
look at the body
You lived in
for our sakes
so we could
see
You down here…
what do You
see?

remember?

do You
remember
the names
the ranks
the faces of Your
torturers?

do You
remember
the pain You
endured…for us?

after all, those scars
identify
you as the
ONE
Who is FULL
of grace
and
of truth.

scars #1 (John 20:27)

the marks on
our bodies
tell
our story in a way
nothing else
can.

past pain...
hurt,
cuts,
bruises,
bones broken,
burns & scrapes...
all
leave their mark...

am i right,
Lord?

what about
Your scars?

what do YOU
remember
about them,
Lord?

doing little (Matthew 4)

doing
so little as to
not
be noticed
or missed...
or significant to someone
else
is what we
as a people
seem to value...
isn't it,
Lord?

just
kinda getting
by.

well, except when
we get a chance
for an appearance
on a reality show.

which isn't very
real...

then...
we'll do any
thing.

is that
what satan tried
to do to You in
the desert,
Lord?

i thot so!

first #2

You precede me
into every room
i enter,
&
into every day
i see,
Lord.

is it any wonder
that
You nudge &
push
even poke me
so that i move
closer to the others
You
have made?

do we all
need something
You have buried inside
the others of us?

You know us
well, Lord.

so well.

first

You are the first person
in every
relationship,
aren't You,
Lord?

You are the One
Who thought
each
of my relationships into
existence…
Who still brings
each group of us
together.

regardless of size.

or importance.

for some reason
You seem to like us
being together...
are we that needy,
Lord?

or is that the way
You
shaped us?

anything

Our God
can do anything...

and He does.
every day.

it's called grace...
am i right,
Lord?