On the Way

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
~ Psalm 84:5

Thursday, May 28, 2009

eating sour bread

2 friends quoted this powerful passage to me from Isaiah 30 in the past week.
I had already posted this on facebook this week-

20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. 21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left."
~ Isaiah 30:20-21

Sometimes, the Lord brings us such horrendous trials but then he promises to send us the Teacher during such times to reveal to us His Word and promises to guide us during our difficult pilgrim journey. Blessed be His name!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

wisdom from sirach

my good friend sent me this today---he may have been inspired by my recent facebook posting from baruch (also from the apocrypha). (i can't quite be encouraged by this now b/c i'm depressed and angry but here it goes):

My son, if you come forward to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for
temptation.
Set your heart right and be steadfast, and do not be hasty in time of
calamity.
Cleave to him and do not depart, that you may be honored at the end of
your life.
Accept whatever is brought upon you, and in changes that humble you be
patient.
For gold is tested in the fire, and acceptable men in the furnace of
humiliation.
Trust in him and he will help you; make your ways straight and hope in
him.

Sirach 2:1-6

Let your love be strong

In this world of news, I've found nothing new
I've found nothing pure
Maybe I'm just idealistic to assume that truth
Could be fact and form
That love could be a verb
Maybe I'm just a little misinformed

As the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our sky's tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired

(chorus)
Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your love

Let the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my whole world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellites

Let your love be strong, and I don't care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your sky's
All that i am hanging on, all of my world resting on your love

4:12 ~ switchfoot again

You've been having trouble staying asleep
You been waking up at 4:12
You roll the voices over in your head
Then you try to put them neatly on the shelf

You watch the sun rise
You saw the darkness had no choice before the dawn
With your own eyes
And then you broke out laughing from a yawn

You said, "I'm so sorry I've been so down
I started doubting things could ever turn around
And I began to believe that all we are is material
It's nonsensical"

So you walk outside and everything's new
You're looking at the world with new eyes
As if you'd never seen the sky before this blue
As if you'd never seen the sky in your whole life
And then the phone rings
As it turns out you are already late
And now you're wondering
Is peace just a temporary state?

Waiting tables and parking cars
You've been selling cell phones at the shopping mall
And you began to believe that all you are is material
It's nonsensical

I'm so sorry I've been so down
I started doubting things could ever turn around
But I still can't believe that all we are
And that all of our dreams are nothing more than material
Souls aren't built of stone
Sticks and bones

Souls aren't built of stone

Souls aren't built of stone
Sticks and bones
And souls aren't built of stone

obama

I voted for him.

circles ~ switchfoot

Another day
Another sunrise
Another factory call
Another night
Another sunset
Another freefall

Am I alive?
Am I on purpose?
Within the weakness
Within the weakness...

Spinning out in circles
In circles, in circles
Spinning out in circles
In circles, in circles

Another day
Another lifetime
Another engine stalls
Another line
Another freeway
Another freefall

I've lost all that I wanted to leave
I've lost all that I wanted to be
Don't believe that there's nothing that's true
Don't believe in this modern machine!
The modern machine

In circles

Psalm 73

21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was brutish and ignorant;
I was like a beast toward you.

23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will receive me to glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 For behold, those who are far from you shall perish;
you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
that I may tell of all your works.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

still a part of the plan

still a part of the plan
still a part of the plan
i am still
i am still
your boogie man

Friday, May 22, 2009

so long self - mercy me

Well if I come across a little bit distant
It's just because I am
Things just seem to feel a little bit different
You understand
Believe it or not but life is not apparently
About me anyways
But I have met the One who really is worthy
So let me say

So long, self
Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long, self
There's just no room for two
So you are gonna have to move
So long, self
Don't take this wrong but you are wrong for me, farewell
Oh well, goodbye, don't cry
So long, self

Stop right there because I know what you're thinking
But no we can't be friends
And even though I know your heart is breaking
It ends
And come to think of it the blame for all of this
Simply falls on me
For wanting something more in life than all of this
Can't you see

So long, self
Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long, self
There's just no room for two, so you are gonna have to move
So long, self
Don't take this wrong, but you are wrong for me, farewell
Oh well, good-bye, don't cry
So long

Don't feel so bad (don't feel so bad)
There'll be better days (there'll be better days)
Don't go away mad (but by all means)
Just go away,go away

So long, self
Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else
So long, self
There's just no room for two, so you are gonna have to move
So long, self
Don't take this wrong, but you are wrong for me, farewell
Oh well, good-bye, don't cry
So long self
farewell, goodbye (so long self)
farewell, goodbye (so long self)
farewell, goodbye (so long self)
farewell, goodbye (so long self)
farewell, goodbye (so long self)

so long self

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
~ Galatians 2:20

dead to sin, alive to God

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
~ Romans 6:5-11

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

life in the vine - wisdom from St. Cyril

I've been reading and meditating on John 15 this week, the passage where Jesus uses the metaphor of 'the vine and the branches'. (This was the passage that our pastor-friend chose for our wedding homily over 13 years ago, incidentally, so it has special meaning for me). I looked at Universalis, a great liturgical online site this morning, and it has this reading on that passage which I'll insert here:

From a commentary on the gospel of John by Saint Cyril of Alexandria, bishop
I am the vine, you are the branches
The Lord calls himself the vine and those united to him branches in order to teach us how much we shall benefit from our union with him, and how important it is for us to remain in his love. By receiving the Holy Spirit, who is the bond of union between us and Christ our Saviour, those who are joined to him, as branches are to a vine, share in his own nature.
On the part of those who come to the vine, their union with him depends upon a deliberate act of the will; on his part, the union is effected by grace. Because we had good will, we made the act of faith that brought us to Christ, and received from him the dignity of adoptive sonship that made us his own kinsmen, according to the words of Saint Paul: He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
The prophet Isaiah calls Christ the foundation, because it is upon him that we as living and spiritual stones are built into a holy priesthood to be a dwelling place for God in the Spirit. Upon no other foundation than Christ can this temple be built. Here Christ is teaching the same truth by calling himself the vine, since the vine is the parent of its branches, and provides their nourishment.
From Christ and in Christ, we have been reborn through the Spirit in order to bear the fruit of life; not the fruit of our old, sinful life but the fruit of a new life founded upon our faith in him and our love for him. Like branches growing from a vine, we now draw our life from Christ, and we cling to his holy commandment in order to preserve this life. Eager to safeguard the blessing of our noble birth, we are careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, and who makes us aware of God’s presence in us.
Let the wisdom of John teach us how we live in Christ and Christ lives in us: The proof that we are living in him and he is living in us is that he has given us a share in his Spirit. Just as the trunk of the vine gives its own natural properties to each of its branches, so, by bestowing on them the Holy Spirit, the Word of God, the only-begotten Son of the Father, gives Christians a certain kinship with himself and with God the Father because they have been united to him by faith and determination to do his will in all things. He helps them to grow in love and reverence for God, and teaches them to discern right from wrong and to act with integrity.