Imagine the day

After Zephaniah 3:14-20 

Imagine the day

when judgments are removed,

when enemies are cleared away.

 

Imagine the day

when evil is banished,

when the Lord is in your midst.

 

Imagine the day

when the Lord rejoices over you,

when the Lord sings over you.

 

Imagine the day

when exclusion is dead,

when no one suffers reproach.

 

Imagine the day

when the lame are healed,

when the outcasts are gathered,

when all shame is expelled,

when your fame is sung by the Lord.

 

The day is coming.

Soon.

 

Photograph by Jonny Gios via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Noel -- Tommee Profitt

Some Wednesday Readings

 

Don’t Miss Jesus – Melissa Edgington at Your Mom Has a Blog.

 

Re-enchanting the World: The Mythic Power of Christmas – James Sale at The Epoch Times.

 

What is the Christian Holiday of Epiphany? – Dave Roos at History.

 

The First Christmas Tree – Alison Barnes at History Today.

 

Christmas with the Presidents – Jerry Newcombe at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics.

 

What’s the Matter with Ebenezer Scrooge? – Benjamin Myers at Front Porch Republic.

 

“The Oxen,” poem by Thomas Hardy – Joseph Bottum at Poems Ancient and Modern.

 

The Anonymous Poem That Made Stockings America’s Christmas Obsession – Jason Clark at This Is the Day.

The messenger

After Malachi 3:1-4 

The messenger is coming,

sent by the Lord;

the messenger is sent

to prepare the way of the Lord

 

The messenger is coming,

in whom you delight;

the messenger of the covenant

is coming, says the Lord.

 

But who among us

can stand when he comes?

Who can endure the day

when he appears among us?

 

But he is coming;

the messenger is coming.

 

Photograph by Wonderlane via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Tuesday Readings

 

More than merely a magician with words – Michael Hurley at The Critic Magazine on a new biography of Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

 

Inhabiting the wide world – Padraig O Tuama on the poetry of Marie Howe.

 

For shadowment: Villanelle for the solstice – Angela Alaimo O’Donnell at The Christian Century.

 

Christmas, Whidbey Island. 1975 – Kelley Keller at Story Warren.

 

Violet Bick Gives Back the Money – poem by Megan Willome.

The boy's father

After Luke 1:67-79

The boy’s father,

silent for a year,

breaks into words,

a vision, a song,

singing of a visit,

redemption, salvation,

deliverance, mercy,

promise, service,

a prophecy of 

preparation, going

before, to give

knowledge, understanding

of what was to come:

salvation and

forgiveness.

 

The words, so long

in coming, burst forth

in a tidal wave

when they came.

 

Photograph by Nghia Le via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Behind the curtain

After Daniel 10:1-14 

For a moment, a glimpse

behind the curtain,

of conflict, of war 

to the death. a war

in heaven barely

known on earth, yet

everything hinged

upon the outcome,

everything every day,

with battles and

explosions, attacks

and counterattacks,

a fight to the death,

no compromise,

no peace treaty, 

no armistice, but

a war, total war,

the war behind

the curtain. 

 

Photograph by Brandon Morgan via Unsplash. Used with permission.

In a word: conflict

After Daniel 10:1-14 

The word came 

that day,

the vision came,

in conflict, a war,

in fact, with 

its anxiety, its fear,

its uncertainty, and

it came to me alone,

the others with me

not hearing, not

seeing, but knowing

and seized by trembling,

tremors, and shaking.

The word, the vision,

overwhelmed me,

driving my face,

my lips, to the dirt,

to sleep, unable

to understand what

I saw, I heard,

the vision of what

was to come.

 

Photograph by GR Stocks via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Waiting for answers

After Daniel 9:20-27 

He waited for answers,

the questions growing 

larger, more pressing,

as if the water rising

so fast threatened 

to drown him. Answers

came, answers from

the mouth of an angel,

answers that informed,

explained, comforted,

and even disturbed.

The answers came,

unexpected but

fulfilling. The answers

were more than 

answers or explanations;

the answers were

a plan, a cosmic plan.

 

Photograph by S Migaj via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The time had come

 

After Daniel 9:1-19

The time had come;

the old man read

the book, the prophecy

set down years before,

before his birth,

the words thundered

at the people and

ignored until the end

brought destruction,

desolation, and exile.

He read the words and

moved, or was moved,

to prayer, to fall

on his face, to don

sackcloth, to rub

ashes on his face,

to fast. Then he

spoke his prayer

of confession,

his prayer of

contrition, not

spoken from any

high ground or

moral superiority,

but only in recognition

of perfect mercy.

 

Photograph by Jon Tyson via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Wheels on fire

After Daniel 7:9-14

After the four beasts,

I looked to see,

and what I saw was

no game of thrones, 

but thrones being placed

in deadly earnest,

arranged to allow him

to take his seat, him

with his electric-white hair,

the ancient one, of days,

the wheels of his throne

on fire, fire streaming

before him, him served

by millions, him now

facing billions standing

before him, awaiting

judgment. 

 

Court is now in session,

the Ancient of Days presiding,

The books are opened;

judgment is on the menu.

First to fall is the beast,

killed, destroyed, consumed

by fire. The other beasts are

stripped of authority, of power,

to await the judgment to come.

 

Photograph by Monil Andharia via Unsplash. Used with permission.

The last prophecy

After Luke 23:26-31 

The women weep

to see him dragged

through dusty streets,

bearing the cross

upon his back 

until he can bear

no more; Simon

of Cyrene is

made to bear it,

as the one is

dragged to the hill.

The women weep;

he says to them

don’t weep for me,

weep for yourselves

for you children,

the days will come

when women weep,

when women wish

they never gave birth,

or nursed children,

asking mountains

to fall on them

and asking hills

to cover them.

Weep for that time;

don’t weep for me.

 

Photograph by Birmingham Museums Trust via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Visions in the night

After Daniel 7:9-14 

The clouds of heaven

accompany the one

like a song of man

presented before

the thrones, presented

to the Ancient of Days,

given dominion,

given glory,

given the kingdom

of all peoples,

of all nations,

of all languages,

a kingdom to serve

him, the son,

forever, everlasting,

imperishable,

indestructible.

He is like a son

of man, gaining

his inheritance.

 

Photograph by Luca Bravo via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Did "Dancing Prophet" Become Prophetic?

In 2012, I had a conversation with my publisher about the future novels planned in the Dancing Priest series. Dancing Priest had been published in late 2011, and the publication of A Light Shining was imminent. I walked him through what I saw as the main subjects and themes of several additional books (another six, if I remember correctly, which eventually became another three). 

The fourth book was to focus on the conflict between Michael Kent-Hughes and the Church of England hierarchy, which would eventually lead to a reformation. The catalyst would be a child sexual abuse scandal, happening over decades and facilitated (as in, covered up) by the church. The inspiration for this was the scandal in the Roman Catholic Church; what I did was to transfer the Catholic scandal to the Church of England. Or so I thought.

 

To continue reading, please see my post today at Dancing Priest. 

 

Photograph by Cajeo Zhang via Unsplash. Used with permission.

There is no word

After Isaiah 6

There is no word

to describe his holiness

there is no word

sufficient to explain

the perfection of his holiness.

Instead of words we hide

his holiness within the wings

of seraphs, within the disguise

of smoke; from within the smoke

comes the live coal to burn

my lips and make me fit,

to hide my face in his presence,

to make me fit for use.

Without the coal, my seams

fray and separate as I atomize

into nothingness.

Photograph by Michael Drummond via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.