Resurrection

The word "resurrection" has for many people the connotation
of dead bodies leaving their graves or other fanciful images.
But resurrection means the victory of the New state of things,
the New Being born out of the death of the Old.
Resurrection is not an event that might happen in some remote future,
but it is the power of the New Being to create life out of death,
here and now, today and tomorrow.

                         Paul Tillich, The New Being

 

 

 

 

Can these bones live?

The Eternal had a hold on me, and I couldn’t escape it.
The divine wind of the Eternal One picked me up
and set me down in the middle of the valley,
but this time it was full of bones.
God led me through the bones.
There were piles of bones everywhere in the valley—
dry bones left unburied.

Eternal One: "Son of man, do you think these bones can live?"

Ezekiel: "Eternal Lord, certainly You know the answer better than I do."

Eternal One: "Actually, I do. Prophesy to these bones.
Tell them to listen to what the Eternal Lord says to them:
'Dry bones, I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive.
I will attach muscles and tendons to you,
cause flesh to grow over them, and cover you with skin.
I will breathe breath into you, and you will come alive.
After this happens, you will know that I am the Eternal.'"

                      Ezekiel 37:1-6, The Voice Bible translation

Dry Bones in the Valley sermon by C. L. Franklin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yERGhtz8hv8

 

 

 

Generosity

Taking pain to remove the pain of others
is the true essence of generosity.

         Abu Bakr, Abdul Jaleel Qureshi

Poem: i dream of rivers

i dream of rivers now,
rivers in the night flowing,
starlight reflected in them--
i dream of rivers
and i dream my death
floating in some lost inlet
under trees, face lifted skyward,
moved by the waters.

the face is that of a man
who has arrived at certain conclusions,
is no longer afraid,
the face of a man who understands
what part beauty plays
and what part silence,
a man who is not afraid to decide
and who does not hesitate to revise.

i dream of rivers
and my imminent demise

               Albert Huffstickler

The fire of Spring

Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
     Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
     To flutter—and the Bird is on the Wing.

          Edward Fitzgerald, Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Safe assumption

You can safely assume
you've created God in your own image
when it turns out that God
hates all the same people you do.

              Anne Lamott

 

 

 

 

Responsibilities and trusts

We have an obligation to one another,
responsibilities and trusts.
That does not mean we must be pigeons,
that we must be exploited.
But it does mean that we should look out for one another
when and as much as we can;
and that we have a personal responsibility for our behavior;
and that our behavior has consequences
of a very real and profound nature.
We are not powerless.
We have tremendous potential for good or ill.
How we choose to use that power is up to us;
but first we must choose to use it.
We're told every day, "You can't change the world."
But the world is changing every day.
Only question is...who's doing it?
You or somebody else?

                 J. Michael Straczynski