Tag: grace
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Suffering in the Presence of God
Isaiah 26:16-17: Lord, in distress we searched for you. We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline. Just as a pregnant woman writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth, so were we in your presence, Lord. Though harsh, these words offer comfort and clarity in a place of sorrow. I hear often…
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The Darkness of God
We travelers, walking to the sun, can’t see Ahead, but looking back the very light That blinded us shows us the way we came, Along which blessings now appear, risen As if from sightlessness to sight, and we, By blessing brightly lit, keep going toward That blessed light that yet to us is dark. –…
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Learning to Lean
The breaking began a year ago. God had spoken hard things; his words scalded me. He transitioned people out of my life, one after the next—friends, community, leaders, mentors—testing my true allegiance. He called me out of the harbor and into uncharted waters, placing me into circumstances with higher stakes than ever before. I grieved.…
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The Grace of Uncertainty
Well, it’s been a long few weeks. I’ve remained silent on current affairs, not out of indifference, but because of all I do not understand. I feel the shaking, I feel a dismantling within myself, a deconstruction of who I thought myself to be and all I thought was safe and secure. It started two…
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A New Covenant for a New Day
Come, come, whoever you are, Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving, It doesn’t matter. Ours is not a caravan of despair. Come, even if you have broken your vow a hundred times, Come, come again, come. Rumi So I have broken my vow a hundred, a thousand times, but still the Lord says, “Come.” He has…
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The Blessing in the Breaking
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be…
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Impermanence
“Is not impermanence the very fragrance of our days?” – Rainer Maria Rilke The days have shortened, but summer has stretched long. It is mid-October, and the thermometer reads upwards of 80 degrees. I live in a liminal space where the heat beats and time is suspended. My sight turns inward; I move through my…
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Liminality
Do you see yet? Do you see how to love the wave already breaking because it is a wave? Because it breaks? – Marilyn McEntyre, “Nothing Gold” liminality (n.) The transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and…
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Small Things, Simple Things, Nothings
What can anyone give you greater than now, Starting here, right in this room, when you turn around? William Stafford, from “You, Reading This, Be Ready” I dreamed last night I was sitting at K and E’s kitchen table, drinking tea and eating a slice of pear and stem ginger cake. It was cold and…
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Have You Forgotten?
For Good Friday this year I had the privilege of performing a spoken word piece at my church. The words are below; the backing track was “Slow Your Breath Down” by Future of Forestry, the piano and strings, instrumental version, which can be found on Noisetrade. Press play and relive the experience. Have you forgotten…
Kathryn Kong 