Asperges of Wonder




 Even the obnoxious seagull was hushed

As the tiny child raised her shovel with glee and hurled her new found sand at the sea

Perhaps the seagull was somewhere between inquiry and disappointment in his quest for snatched snacks

Or, as I choose to believe, even this thief for one brief moment realized the wonder of things

The grace in the ordinary

The sacrament of the beautiful laughter

A delight previously unknown

All who witnessed were asperged, if not by sand or splashed salt water,

By particles of holiness and wonder which spread not just to the seagull

Not just to the witnesses

But far beyond

Far far beyond

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Open or Closed

Image
Last Friday, Good Friday, the Governor of Connecticut issued order 7X to extend the time of closure for nonessential businesses through May 20. While this did not come as a great shock and may in fact be extended further, it has cause me to ponder church during this strange time. Church in the truest sense of the word is not closed! (We can argue another time whether it is nonessential?!) Yes, the building is shut; yes, we are not gathering on Sundays physically.  But...the ways in which "church" is continuing are simply amazing and grace-filled! This tension has caused me to focus on what the church is...the Body of Christ finding ways to worship and serve. That is still "open". For me, ministering to the sick has become so difficult yet certainly more intentional and emergent. For me, prayer has deepened and lengthened.  I recall at the end of my first zoom Bible Study a remark was made: now that was church! I suppose we all showed up to pray and ponde...
Read more

Love is Love

Image
  Blessed be God who animates our lives and loves us beyond measure that we too might bring love into the world. AMEN What a joy and honor to be here! I have been privileged to journey with Dana and now, to witness with her cloud of witnesses the sacrament of ordination, is something to behold!  Anyone who knows Dana knows she is passionate about the two great commandments and one of the creative ways she marks this covenant of Love with a capital L is to point consistently to the Robert Indiana Sculpture, that famous square of L O V E! (parenthetically the work of art also marks her love of Philadelphia) But let me use Love as the jumping off point today for it seems to me that no matter what or where or when, the Gospels point us to the Love of God or more accurately toward the God who is Love. And this love is expressed and lived and surrounds us through the mysterious and powerful dynamic of the Trinity. Moreover in our precious sacramental lives, ordination being such a m...
Read more

An Unending Prayer

Image
  “ We’re only here for a minute, ...We’re here for a little window. And to use that time to catch and share shards of light and laughter and grace seems to me the great story.” Brian Doyle It was the most glorious Sabbath! A day marked by crystal cold temperatures and sapphire blue skies. A day for thinking about winter and spring instead of either/or.  Perhaps it was that nondualistic approach to patches of snow next to tiniest of buds which caused me to travel with my mother on a walk. It started of course with tears at her non-physical presence and somewhere in the middle I felt I was accompanied by her spirit. Though our earthly presence is bounded by the tiniest of time, our next realm presence is boundless. Some mighty presence continues and the quality of that presence is for me consoling and inspiring. I found myself thinking about the shards of light and laughter and grace of the day, of the holy time, of her life and the story grew instead of diminishing. I thought ...
Read more