These writings are more for personal use, and don’t really seem to lend themselves as well in a worship service.
Nameless OneGentle breezeA mantle wrapped around my shoulders The embrace of God can take you by surprise, and can be so gentle. And yet, deep down, you know there is something more to the embrace, that there is a calling, something you need to do and be. This was the… Read More »Nameless One
Don’t you just wish God would simply say to you, “Here – this is what you’ve got to do”? Sometimes I wish for that – even though I’m not sure I really mean it. But wouldn’t it be nice to simply have someone (preferably holy and good) tell you what… Read More »Thanks, I Think
At first glance, “we are to God as a wave is to the sea” seems to dismiss us, as nothing more than a small blob of water in a vast ocean, of no importance at all. But wait! Even that small blob of water is an integral part of the… Read More »Waves
This poem came into being as I struggled to go further than the first two lines, which I felt were so cleverly rhyming! Then it all fell apart because I couldn’t stick with the meter, and then, after asking myself, why should I stick with the meter?, the rest of… Read More »It Doesn’t Fit
This was just a reflection piece in response to a poetry prompt: “your reaction to an Out of Order sign on a vending machine.” And in the spirit of taking things way too seriously, I worked it into what you see below. The poem in its entirety is here: It’s… Read More »It’s Out Of Order Again
This was written for Thanksgiving 2020, during a spike in the pandemic. That day had become, perhaps, a focal point for the change and losses of that year so far, and this piece is meant to reflect that reality, and to point beyond as well. It’s more of a personal… Read More »Kaleidoscope
What is your superpower, she asked My superpower is not me and alone and one. It is us and we. And, God, maybe eventually, Them. Hard conversations. We’re called to hard conversations: bridging the gap between us and “them”, coming together, but not at the expense of marginalized persons, or… Read More »Superpower
Coyote-song thrills back and forth across the road on cloudless summer dusk… River-song curves the bottom of the canyon… Drum-song in the adobe church Christmas Eve midnight… The song of Creation is diverse, and is teacher, lover, challenger, witness, life-giver. This poem recalls songs I have been able to witness… Read More »Oratorio
We don’t sightsee our way through the world. We make pilgrimage in the world, into its pain, out of our silence Pilgrimage is a remaking. This long reflection came from my experience of visiting the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. in July of 2017. It took me two years… Read More »Pilgrimage
What breaks your heart? What holds your heart? What heals your heart? This is a reflection on heart, and will, and holding, healing, and connectedness. The entire poem is in a PDF document.