"You who stalk the earth with new life" - Walter Brueggemann

Christ is Risen... He is risen indeed!

You Easter one

you who stalk the earth with new life,

you who soar the heavens with fresh governance,

you who traipse the seas with odd authority,

You life-giver,

You a strange anomaly among us,

for everywhere are signs of death:

...Benjamin taken in his youth,

our tax dollars at work in Serbia,

endless diagnoses among our friends,

people made redundant in all our euphemisms of "down-sizing,"

too much money and too little health care,

your church here and there nearly consumed with anxiety for itself.

And yet you appear here and there,

now and then:

You say "Fear not," and we are comforted,

You say "Peace I give you," and we are less restless,

You say "Go and sin no more," and we glimpse a new innocence,

you say and we listen,

you act and we are healed,

you... and us,

you and life,

you and newness,

you for us,

you with us,

you,

you,

you... and we are dazzled in our gratitude. Amen.

Tongues From Centuries Speaking Now

O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing (Charles Wesley, 1739)

1O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise

The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace

2Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease

'Tis music in the sinners ears, 'tis life and health and peace

3He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the prisoner free

His blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me

4He speaks, and listening to his voice, new life the dead receive

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe

5My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim

To spread through all earth abroad the honors of thy name

A thousand, a million, a trillion tongues (Walter Brueggemann, 1998)

O for a thousand tongues to sing

our great redeemer's name;

To sing beyond ourselves, extravagantly,

with abandonment,

beyond all our possibilities,

and all our fears,

and all our hopes...

to our redeemer dear, the antidote to our death,

the salve to our wounds,

the resolve of our destructiveness...

A thousand, a million, a trillion tongues,

more than our own,

more than our tradition,

more than our theology,

more than our understanding,

tongues around us,

tongues among us,

tongues from our silenced parts.

Tongues from us to you in freedom and in courage,

Finally ceding our lives and our loves to your good care. Amen.

Revise our taking - Walter Brueggemann

A Lenten prayer:

You, you giver!

You have given light and life to the world;

You have given freedom from Pharaoh to your people Israel;

You have given your only Son for the sake of the world;

You have given yourself to us;

You have given and forgiven,

and you remember our sins no more.

And we, in response, are takers:

We take eagerly what you give us;

we take from our neighbors near at hand as is acceptable;

we take from our unseen neighbors greedily and acquisitively;

we take from our weak neighbors thoughtlessly;

we take all that we can lay our hands on.

It dawns on us that our taking does not match your giving.

In this Lenten season revise our taking,

that it may be grateful and disciplined,

even as you give in ways generous and overwhelming.

Amen.

A Couple Shots At The Memorial With My New Cam

At the dawn - Walter Brueggemann

Our first glimpse of reality this day - everyday - is your fidelity.

We are dazzled by the ways you remain constant among us,

in season, out of season,

for better, for worse,

in sickness and in health.

You are there in watchfulness as we fall asleep;

You are there in alertness when we awaken...and we are glad.

Before the day ends, we will have occasion

to flag your absence in indifference...

but not now, not at the dawn.

Before the day ends, we will think more than once

that we need a better deal from you...

but not now, not at the dawn.

Before the day ends, we will look away from you and

relish our own fidelity and our virtue in mercy...

but not now, not at the dawn.

Now, at the dawn, our eyes are fixed on you in gladness.

We ask only that your faithfulness

permeate every troubled place we are able to name

that your mercy

move against the hurts to make new,

that your steadfastness

hold firmly what is too fragile on its own.

And we begin the day in joy, in hope, and in deep gladness. Amen.

It Might Get Loud

This poster is pretty genius.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

bon iver - blood bank from Parker on Vimeo.