Recovering Joy

You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

                                                              Plalms 30:11-12 (NIV)

     Recovering Joy is what following Christ has meant for me. We often like to say, "You and I share the same history." or " We've walked the same path through life, hell, and back to God through Christ Jesus."
     The reality is nothing could be further from the truth. Maybe we ran into each other in a beer joint or a bar room. Maybe we had a common connection in the particular poison we chose to use to numb our senses and erase our pain, but that is pretty much where it ends. That’s not a bad thing, it's simply reality.

John Wesley's Covenant Prayer

 This prayer was written by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1755. Wesley wrote the prayer to be used in a worship service he called “the Renewal of the believer's Covenant with God” United Methodist still celebrate Covenant Services as a reminder of who we are as Methodist and the call has on our lives as Christians.

I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

John Wesley’s prayer is a powerful prayer. It echoes the commitment God makes with us with through His son Jesus Christ. Not everyone can pray this prayer truly believing in their hearts the words written by Wesley. Knowing we cannot live up to the promise we make in Wesley’s prayer today, we pray we will some day.

Grace

Grace
by Wendell Berry
for Gurney Norman, quoting him

The woods is shining this morning.
Red, gold and green, the leaves
lie on the ground, or fall,
or hang full of light in the air still.
Perfect in its rise and in its fall, it takes
the place it has been coming to forever.
It has not hastened here, or lagged.
See how surely it has sought itself,
its roots passing lordly through the earth.
See how without confusion it is
all that it is, and how flawless
its grace is. Running or walking, the way
is the same. Be still. Be still.
“He moves your bones, and the way is clear.”


Wendell Berry is one of my favorite poets. 
     Berry's poem Grace reminds me both how to live and why I live. "Running or walking, the way is the same." What a beautiful reminder we are to slow down and take in all we can, while we can.  God plants us in "the place (we) have been coming to forever".

Hiaku for Zimbabwe

why ask the question

"am i my brother's keeper?"

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