There is a purpose

After Ephesians 4:7-16 

There is a purpose

in what is done here,

a purpose two-fold,

explain why you are

surrounded by helps,

guides, teachers, people

with all kinds of gifts.

 

First, we are to grow,

mature, learn, know,

meld what we learn

to our inmost beings,

so that we are no longer

tossed on the winds and

waves of culture, error,

evil, cunning, all of which

we call the world.

 

Second, we become one,

one body, speaking the truth

in love, growing in love,

love for the body and

love for the head. That love

translates into the command

and the action: to serve

in the Name, to serve

in the Power.

 

Photograph by Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

O Gracious Shepherd – poem by Henry Constable at Kingdom Poets (D.S. Martin).

 

To See the Face of God is to See Mercy – Andrew Arndt at Mere Orthodoxy.

 

Following Whitsun – poem by Connor Wood at Rabbit Room Poetry.

 

Mary Magdalene – sonnet by Malcolm Guite.

 

The Crooked Apple Tree – Seth Lewis.

The why

After Galatians 4:4-7 

We complicate this

unnecessarily and

expend huge energies 

upon asking why. And

it’s simple, really,

which we with

our human hearts and 

minds believe is

insufficient, too simple,

not enough, and

lacking. We don’t like

the idea of a simple

answer to the question

of why:

why did he come?

Answer: to bear

our burdens, redeem

the condemned, and

make us heirs.

He paid the price.

 

Photograph by Evan Dennis via Unsplash. Used with permission.

Some Friday Readings

 

Treasure in Heaven – poem by Warren Bonham at Society of Classical Poets.

 

Seeds – Jared Pilllips at Front Porch Republic.

 

Revelation 19: His Eyes Are Like a Fiery Flame – artwork by Jack Baumgartner at The School for the Transfer of Energy.

 

Turning from God does not lead to a better society – Simon van Bruchem at Written for Our Instruction.

Dancing King Stories: Writing as an Act of Faith

We writers would all love to be Stephen King, James Patterson, J.K. Rowlings, and other successful people who turn everything to gold simply by their touch. For most of us, writing is difficult, frustrating, depressing, discouraging, and lacking any kind of return even remotely like the effort we put into our work. We pour ourselves into what we write, often for a very long time, and once it sees the light of day, the world yawns and moves on to books that are badly written, semi- (or totally) pornographic, or so lacking in anything of value that we wonder why we continue to do what we do.

Writing can be a slog. For most of us, writing is a slog.

A scene inDancing King unintentionally speaks to writers, what we write, our platforms (or lack thereof), and the whole question of “why do we write.” I wasn’t thinking of writers when I wrote it, but I believe it applies to what we writers try to do.

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

Photograph: Southwark Cathedral in London, with the office building known as "The Shard" in the background.

What's the point?

After Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

We ask these questions, like

what’s the point?, because

we have eternity inserted

from the beginning, inserted

into our hearts, it’s there,

and it brings doubts

and fears and questions,

always questions, and

many of us, or most of us,

reject it because

we do not understand it,

we don’t get this

alpha and omega stuff,

we just don’t, and so

we reach for happiness

or what we think it is

and it takes the place

of eternity, the place

of wisdom, the place

of character. But we confuse

the gift with the giver,

we revere the gift not

the giver, and it is the history

of humanity until history

is pounded with nails.

Photograph by Jeremy Bishop via Unsplash. Used with permission.