The Lifted Veil

"But their minds were hardened. For to this day ... that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away ...  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit."

 (Paul the Apostle - to the Corinthians)

Join me, won't you, in beholding the glory of the Lord?  

Important Things (or, of things holy)

It is important to skip small rocks across a pond, to climb a hill on all four, stand up tall and sing a song.  It is important to plant hydrangeas and pansies, and in a meadow pick daisies.  It is important to drink the sun in a raspberry patch, to scoop into your mouth red or black.  It is important to barefoot tread in cool mud, along laughing, gurgling streams; to climb a tree, rough skinned, it is important to scrape your knee.  It is important to heal the skin, important for the sin.  It is important to take some time, important to be well, important to hear it is okay, and important to believe. It is important to gather a happy toddler into your arms, and important to hold a crying daughter.   It is important to rub the back of a sleeping boy and hug him still when he’s a man.  It is important to bake biscotti and serve iced tea, to care for the elderly; to swab a brow with furrows tilled on aged face and heart. It is important to gently touch her traveled feet, to massage with love, with lightest balm and richest lavender, what toil calloused, to gaze into her face, to watch silent words spill like flickering sunbeams from blue eyes, to know a grandmother at the end.  It is important to dig a grave for your dog when he is done, and it is important to snuggle a kitten who was born. It is important to bow in worship, important to fall in adoration, prone upon the dirt. It is important to let yourself be gathered up like a basket of blossoms and held near, treasured for being, for simply being.  It is important to feel the brush of friendship upon your cheek, it is important to let it touch your heart.  It is important to sit with a friend, for hours immeasurable and meandering talks, until long shadows from a retiring sun gather like piles of quilts, reminding we are snug and warm, and tomorrow’s hope will come again.   It is important to write to live well; it is important to breathe to sing the anthem well, to sing what is worth singing.  It is important to dance with hair unfurled, to twirl amidst the holy.  It is important to embrace the person embracing, to know you touch the image of God, in part.  So many things important, so many things holy, so much to ponder, for which to give thanks. Oh, come with me, we'll pull up a bit of earth and lie down flat and worship a little while longer.

Lack, Want, or Fulfillment?

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want."
I've been hanging here the past week.
Been coming here like a sheep, looking for something.
Guess, if I follow the analogy through, I must be looking for grass.
Actually, what really happened was I slowed down long enough to pray, "Lord, where should I be reading in the scriptures?"
Psalm 23:1 came immediately into my thoughts.
Okay.  So, here I am.
The cool thing about meditating on a single verse, especially one that introduces an entire passage, is on one hand, it sets the scene or piques curiosity for what follows, but, better still, it positions our souls for contemplation - for attentively perceiving a thing - and for being altered, or changed, in some essential, truth-filled way.  So, I'm hanging here with the idea of "Lord," "my," "shepherd," and "want" that's been met.

Here's what's been seeping into my thoughts this week:
The language itself, the imagery, its metaphor takes time to unfold, but I see that it was written purposefully in the present tense.  "The Lord is ... "
We're talking real time, as in present reality.
And, then, pausing to contemplate "Lord," who he is, his nature - everything about him, and, in particular, that antecedent, shepherd.  
Oh, Shepherd - carefully, faithfully tending, guarding, leading, rescuing - never abandoning his sheep.  Me, little lamb.  (baa)
Yes, Baaaaaa. ;)
It's the nature of sheep to bleat.  Sometimes it's all too comical, sometimes it sounds all too tragic, but what amazing thing ought we really see?  It is this:  A unique relationship exists between shepherd (Lord) and sheep (his own children).  It implies a particular rest, an attachment, a trust and an obedience.  It implies a living, breathing exchange between the keeper and the kept.
And in the midst of that relationship, in the midst of the leading and the following, something astounding occurs:  the lack of want.  
You know, we could take a stoic view here, or a gnostic view, and determine that the wanting (or need) is no friendly aspect and should be barred entrance to the transcendent life - valued only when negated. But I dare say that sheep need literal green grass, and fresh waters and literal protection and guardianship, and, sometimes, even rescuing.  And the shepherd comes through - every time.
It's in the relationship that he does this. It's in the interacting, and it's all about his faithful watch, his pursuit.  
I've been a naughty sheep.  But I've been rescued, once and for good, and, sometimes, time and time again.
My Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
God, keep me today - everyday, as your own.  Amen.