Chardonnay in the Sun

Chardonnay in the Sun

(“There they stored up a large amount of wine and summer fruit.” Jeremiah 40:12b)

Maybe you’re among the fallen ones,
maybe you’re just living your best,
maybe you’ve always had what you wanted,
maybe your dreams have turned to dust.

I don’t know if your fields lie fallow,
or if you will start your harvest tomorrow.
I don’t know if you’re talking to yourself,
or if you’d rather be anywhere else than
surrounded by the four walls,
closed in by the silence,
waiting for the fruit to ripen,
waiting for the wine to ferment.

Maybe you’ve been waiting to belong,
maybe you think you’re the chosen one,
maybe you’ve learned to shut out the world,
maybe the days are full of best friends and bluebirds.

I don’t know if your doorbell works,
or if your telephone is off the hook.
I don’t know if you’re fixing dinner for three,
or if you have waited all day for company
to fill the silence and your anxiety.
Maybe I should call you,
maybe bring coffee and lunch.
Maybe we are both the same, maybe we are not.

But a walk through the vineyard might do
both of us some good.
Chardonnay in the sun and
a book read out loud,
a day without fences, a week less certain
than monuments of the past; just hearts that
beat and eyes that see
and tongues that cannot wait to taste
the sweetness of the dawn.

Nothing to See Here

Nothing to See Here

(“Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts.” 1 Corinthians 4:5a)

There is no longer anything here
for you to see. You have already read
the things he has written
and make them into defections in your head.
You knew him decades ago
and suppose
you know everything behind his heart
and throw your arrows at him
rather than his ideas.

You like the man you knew years ago,
and did not factor in the changes of the years.
You want him to be just like you; unchanged, rigid,
granite and unmoved.
You want him to deny what he has become and
then you will like
him again.

But until then you pass your aggressions on with
public humiliation. You are the spokesperson,
the one whose mocking sounds like hymns to the
chosen. Did you “amen” your comments to a man

You have not looked up in thirty years?
Did you ask him why the hurt?
Did you know why people do not get over
the dart games families play with you as the target?
Do you care about brothers? Or do you bother to
ask why the sister cries herself to sleep? Weeps.

When damaged, the heart needs healing;
not a whipping and then the statement: “Don’t be a
victim, get over it."

Did you learn this from your savior? I trust not.
Did you whip out your pen too quickly? I pray so.
I dare you to look deeply into the eyes of one
whose heart has been damaged
and still extends it wider than he ever has.

Jesus walks among us. When your friend sees him
everywhere,
don’t be offended when he
defends those who the chosen
have rejected with their policies,
their legislation, their self-righteous votes,

And then accuse him of being too
political.

Radically Loved

Radically Loved

(“Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Be tolerant with each other.” Colossians 3:12, 13a)

Do you give much thought to what others think about you? Granted, some of us think about it far too much. My brain seems to be wired in a way that is always asking, “Yeah, but what did they think about that? How did they interpret my words or actions?” Thinking through the effect of our life is a sign of maturity. But, overthinking how we are perceived by others can result in stagnation, stunting our growth into the beauty of a fulfilling life.

That is why the Scriptures so often declare God’s view of people. Frequently, we get stuck in the “humans are sinful” parts of the Bible and fail to ask, “Yes, but how does God feel about us?” If we view God as vengefully angry at us, we become vengefully angry people. If we view Him as forgiving and loving toward us, we become more forgiving and loving ourselves.

There is little doubt that people who are compassionate, kind, and humble do much more for the world than those who are abrasive and judgmental. These are the qualities of life that Father God wants for His children. Sometimes we put the cart before the horse. We demand of others and ourselves a measure of love and compassion which we may not have fully experienced.

This is why, in this verse, and throughout Scripture, we are reminded first who we are. God has called us His chosen ones. He sees us as holy. And we are dearly loved by Him! It is my firm belief that the more we actually believe we are the beloved of God, the more we will act in loving and compassionate ways.

Your identity is not rooted in your failures, nor even in your sin. It is rooted in God’s relentless tenderness that has been revealed in Jesus Christ. Brennan Manning wrote, “Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.” You cannot be holy until you see yourself as holy, set apart by God Himself. You will have trouble loving others dearly until you understand how deeply God has loved you; how radically He has loved you.

Patti and I will celebrate our 40^th wedding anniversary in just a few days. I have learned so much about the accepting, tolerant, radical love of Jesus from my wife. As much as she acts in love and forgiveness towards me, it is just as important that I know within my own heart the I am her beloved. One part of that is her responsibility; being loving. The other is mine; believing I am loved.

Take to heart what God has done in His love for you. “He destroyed the record of the debt we owed, with its requirements that worked against us. He canceled it by nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14) Inhale it deeply. Drink it as the water that slakes your deepest thirst. Every debt you owed God because you did not measure up has been “destroyed” and “nailed to the cross!” Can you imagine the freedom when you fully comprehend the depths of the Father’s love for you?

Now you can go on, enabled by your status as “the beloved” to love without fear. You can put on compassion and kindness, instead of feeling the need to correct people. You can humbly listen without being threatened by others’ opinions. You are able to be gentle in the face of fear or antagonism. And, you can patiently go at someone else’s pace instead of your own, all because you know you are the Father’s beloved child.

When a church of Jesus-followers operates out of a deep understanding of God’s love through Christ, they will be seen as tolerant. This is not because they “sugar-coat” sin, it is because they know the only answer to the sin problem is the relentless love of God shown through Jesus Christ. Not only that, people will never call that church “boring”!

Do you struggle with what God thinks about you? Then take to heart these words today: You are His chosen one. You are holy to Him. And, you are His beloved. Now, go and show that same relentless tenderness to the world around you.

A Short Bending on a Long Path

A Short Bending on a Long Path

(“Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? says the Lord; Do you not tremble before me?” Jeremiah 5:21,22a)

Her life, now, and final, and at last,
is sadly, after all the trying, completely half-mast.
At first she sang out loud, memorized the words,
went with the crowd. She raised the roof and danced
barefoot while new bands sang ancients psalms. She was
first, and primarily, free.

But the songs passed her by, the beaches dried up while
all her barefoot friends went inside. The earned title and
wore silk ties; they were careful not to traipse around the pew
and carpets
with the sand from previous sandals. She settled in,
learned the new songs, and learned to fall at the touch of
the anointed ones who never struck the multitudes as, well,

Odd.

She tried, she did. She squeezed visions from her head, and
forced meaning to the dreams she sometimes remembered wrestling
with tangled sheets on her bed. She upped the ante, she gave more than most.
She spent her mighty mind internal; and locked her lips as she had
learned was her best beauty and wisdom.

She cried, but hid. She bought the newest music, chose the latest flavors,
and lit candles for every relative still residing outside the chosen
neighborhood. If only the world would stop careening (we know
it is time for judgment and wrath). If only they would come inside
and join the unblemished who stopped sinning ages ago.

She refused to lie, any longer. Their songs were sweet, but the singers
vied for the front seats and first class passes. Their dance was unique,
but the steps were judged and scrutinized; freedom died. Their words
were true, and deeds mostly good, but what so many misunderstood when

She pried upon her heart. Some fled in fear. Some stayed to clean up the mess.
Some could not turn away, but refused to hear. Some fainted and insisted the
Holy Ghost
had fallen right then and there.

She relied, finally, only, a little sadly, upon the Only Love she had ever known.
Let her life flutter low on the pole, let others consider her a mistake, semi-whole,
let the tongues like blades continue to touch the fading scars. Never mind every
stark star stripped of its shining.

She relied, finally, fully and surrendered to Love renewed.

On the Edges

On the Edges

(“The Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” Revelation 17:14)

You gave me a headache choosing things out of turn,
you made me mistake to miniscule for the might,
and I turned on the edges of my anxiety for half a day
and another day more
over the uncooperative world which never calls for
my opinion
before leaving questions in my path that no one
can answer.

They leave partial interpretations between dead-certain
pages
of books whipped together without a clue about
heaven’s final intentions. They set my teeth on edge
the way their riches pile up and their fictional believers
take aim with military weapons to satisfy their yearning
for a world without opposition. My bones ache
at their fakery.

But He, the Mighty Gentle One, is and has,
will and still overcomes the notions we spew
about Him. The Lamb is a warrior only when
warriors overcome hatred, war and deception.

Let the earth-formed by Him speak beneath your feet,
Let the sky-framed like Him whisper odium’s defeat,
Let the moon echo earth’s cry, the stars spin in the polished sky,
and may the meek, the speakers of Love’s constant theme,
never fail the message of mercy, the song of the redeemed.

God's Chosen People

God’s Chosen People

“But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done.” 1 Peter 2:9

Darren Sproles shouldn’t be playing NFL football. The average height of an NFL quarterback is just over 6”2”. Running backs average height is 5”11” and weighing in at about 215 pounds. Not only does Sproles play in the NFL, he broke the record for most single-season all-purpose yardage in 2011, with 2,629 yards. Playing for the San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints and the Philadelphia Eagles, he is the first player in NFL history with 2,200+ all-purpose yards in four different seasons.

Chosen

“The Lord your God has chosen you…to be His own. The Lord did not give you His love and choose you because you were more people than any of the nations. For the number of your people was less than all nations.” Deuteronomy 7:6,7

We have such a difficult time understanding grace because there are so few examples of it in everyday life. Nearly everything we enjoy has a price tag attached. We are chosen for the team because we have particular talents that match the squad’s needs. We get the lead in the community theater because someone liked our reading better than all others. Even things that seem “free” have qualifications. Because of a trust set aside before she was even born, a graduate may have their entire college tuition paid. She may not have deserved it, but she received it because she was part of a particular family.