In Faith and Gardens and Appalachia
Yardwork Do not rush to mow the lawn, dear– The bees are on the clover blooms; A Cabbage White drinks from a dandelion. Are they not angels too? Is their feeding not holy? And all we have to do is do nothing– The Kingdom is at hand! Placed in motion at the onset of creation– […]
Shaking out the cobwebs with an Ash Wednesday meditation. In my driveway, earlier today, when I left my car after a grocery trip, I heard an uproarious squawking. I looked up and spotted the hawk that’s been frequenting our neighborhood perched high in my neighbor’s oak tree. A few limbs over, a smaller bird — […]
Here she is again, on about trees. I do not understand many of the decisions previous owners of this house made, but the one to plant a flowering dogwood tree was a good one. This one isn’t squat and perfectly shaped like a lot of the ornamental ones I see out and about. I imagine […]
I wish I could write anything as beautifully as Luke 6 is to me. Jesus in Luke 6 comes out swinging. If Luke 6 ain’t hurting you, you ain’t listening. If Luke 6 doesn’t seem like a direct rebuke of our times, you ain’t watching. Foxes may be calling “Lord, Lord,” but they do not […]
You can stand on the banks, just watching the river, and think you are safe. The current is so strong, though, that the longer you watch, it pulls you in, sweeps you away, and miles downstream you realize you have been taken, realize you are gulping in water. There’s no rescue mission. Well, not exactly. […]
The electric company came and cut down my favorite tree. I was mad at them and at my parents for agreeing. My dad took the wood, made boards from it on Pawpaw’s sawmill, and built me a desk. Now I write on it. I study God on it. The tree and I both grew up […]
The months of great discomfort continue on. I find no peace in my heart and no peace on earth. A drop of clarity came this morning, as I read more of “Me and White Supremacy” by Layla F. Saad. In this secular book, written by a Muslim woman, I find the traps I’ve fallen into. […]
A Meditation This morning, I told Jesus, “You are tricky. You know you are tricky.” Jesus said hard things. I’m not a theologian. God has built in me a love for words. I am trained to analyze words. I was trained to micro-analyze words. Put your finger on the poem and focus on that word […]
1 Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.2 Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts. 3 May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue—4 those who say, “By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us—who is lord over us?” 5 “Because the poor […]
7.14.15 by Amanda Wenisch Squash blossoms open into five-point starsAnd wave in a constellation from the garden, promising fruit soon.Today, New Horizons showed us Pluto after soaring through space for nine years.It shakes loose in me some doubt of God.How can in this vastness anything be sure?How can anything see me, know me, love me, […]