Merciful

To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.
Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you….
But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
—Luke 6:27-38

As you are merciful, O God,
and drop down heaven's dew
on even my ungrateful heart,
let me show mercy, too.

All anyone can ask of me
is something you have given—
but none of it can set me free
and none of it is heaven.

For only you, Omnipotent
o'er all that's ever been,
when time has folded up my tent
can give me life again.

Then if a beggar claims my coat,
my shirt I freely give,
for we are in the selfsame boat
and only want to live.

And if I face an enemy,
his face is yours, O Lord.
As I would have him to do me,
let me do all the more.

For both of us are like to drown
in earthly storm and strife.
So let your mercy still drop down
and bring us back to life!

The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt, 1632 – http://www.gardnermuseum.org : Home : Info : Pic, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6812612

When You Return

When you return, O God,
O brighter than our sun,
to reckon all our rights and wrong,
our done and left undone,

there at the end of time
when at your feet I stand,
oh, take the oceans of my crimes
and pour them through your hands.

The words I should not say,
the swords I should not wield,
pour in and let them drain away
through mercy's wounds unhealed.

For I am sunk in them
who cannot walk their waves.
They seep out through your innocence
'til all that's left is grace.

As deep as I have drowned,
raise me and let me stand.
The millstone ropes at last unwound,
let me rest on dry land.

And see: My sins are gone
and you alone remain.
Now fill me with the light of dawn
and make me new again!

Gospel Book, Second Coming of Christ, Walters Manuscript W.540, fol. 14v. This manuscript was executed in 1475 by a scribe identified as Aristakes, for a priest named Hakob. It contains a series of 16 images on the life of Christ preceding the text of the gospels, as well as the traditional evangelist portraits, and there are marginal illustrations throughout. The style of the miniatures, which employ brilliant colors and emphasize decorative patterns, is characteristic of manuscript production in the region around Lake Van during the 15th century. By Walters Art Museum Illuminated Manuscripts – https://www.flickr.com/photos/39699193@N03/8509826031/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76790938

Two Small Coins

A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”
—Mark 12:41-44

The rich men come in state and noise
to give their offerings;
the princes in their pomp and poise
show off the gold they bring.
Like children giving cast-off toys
they shed these little things,
but she who put in two small coins
has given everything.

The gold I have, O Lord, I give,
and all my treasures bring.
The pleasures of the days I live,
the simple little things,
the words of prayer I daily lift:
These are my offerings.
But you ask me for more than this;
you ask for everything.

Strip all these treasures from me, God,
and what is left to bring?
A mind distracted in its thoughts,
a strength now faltering,
a heart and soul in passions caught—
Are these my offering?
But this is what you say you want:
Shall I give everything?

Take then my weary heart, O Lord,
that daily sorrows wring;
the flick'ring candle of my soul
safely to heaven bring;
my body's strength, my mind's control—
all still such little things—
and yet I offer you the whole.
I give you everything.

The Widow’s Mite (Le denier de la veuve) – James Tissot – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2008, 00.159.211_PS2.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10957531

Baking Bread

I have heard the earth is burning;
I can hear the tocsin ring,
but the planet still is turning—
I will see what morning brings.
For the hearth still needs its tending;
mouths are crying to be fed.
Yes, I know the world is ending,
so I stand here baking bread.

I have heard the fear that whispers,
heard the whispers turn to shouts.
I have offered no resistance
to the wisdom of my doubts.
But some other voice is calling
in the watches of the night,
saying, “Yes, the Temple's falling:
Will you offer me your mite?”

Should I so, O Christ my savior?
What I have is not enough,
but the little I can make here,
I will give the world in love.
For like Martha in her kitchen
and like Mary at your feet,
though my quiet work is hidden,
it is needed: Come and eat.

Johannes Vermeer Christ in the House of Martha and Mary, 1655 By Johannes Vermeer – fwE2zem7WDcSlA — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21865869

Kings of Earth

Riffing on Psalm 33:

Kings of earth call up their armies;
warriors sharpen spear and sword.
God moves earth and sea, disarming;
empires fall before the Lord.

Let the heart still hold its secrets;
let the plotting mind still plan.
God who made them holds their seasons;
they shall not extend their span.

Human strength avails us nothing:
Chariots sink into the sea;
weapons crumble, scarred and rusted;
all our tow'rs shall toppled be.

What will last? The stars o'erreaching.
What goes on? The ocean waves.
What stands firm? The earth beneath us,
while our mortal dust decays.

Even these shall cease their turning,
falling into entropy,
yet shall God in endless mercy
make his children still to be.

Kings and princes plot their vengeance
sinking in oblivion.
Still in God our hope is endless:
Mercy flows forever on.

Discarded and Forgotten, in DüsseldorfBy marsupium photography – https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagdorned/9291943561/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57468833

Axes

Will you, O God, look on my days with favor
and bless the feeble faithfulness you see
with mercy for the thousandth generation,
as graces from my forebears came to me?

Will you behold my striving with your kindness
and witness all my efforts from above?
The consequences of my self-made blindness
will you withhold from those I dearly love?

Or will you let the axes I have sharpened,
that I let fly, fall earthward as they will?
I fear them not, O Lord: My heart is hardened,
but how can I not fear that they may kill?

But if you will, reach out your heand from heaven
and turn all my destructive ways aside.
What I have loosed, bind into your indenture;
where I have prisoned, throw the portals wide!

Yet you will not, until the trump has sounded,
turn anyone aside from his own sense.
Instead you stand, unweaponed love unbounded,
and let the axes fall upon yourself.

Lord, I would be a blessing to my children,
as I am blessed by those who came before.
Then let me bear with patience all that kills me
and stand beside you here forevermore.

~ “He who does not keep peace shall lose his hand.” By Photo: Andreas Praefcke – Own work own photograph, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=169895

Seat of Grace

Brothers and sisters:
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
—Hebrews 4:14-16

When you appear before us
and all has been made known,
shall we approach your glory
and kneel before your throne?
So now while you are hidden
we still seek out your face;
we know you welcome sinners
there at the seat of grace.

No kings sit at your right hand,
no princes at your left:
The throng who in your sight stand
were servants of the rest.
And you, O Lord, uphold them—
so we would be upheld.
Until we can behold you,
grant us your timely help!

To love you in our service,
and love our neighbor, too,
to know the gift of mercy—
and always to know you.
So we bring all our weakness,
our sorrow, and our sin
and seek our great high priest here:
O, bid us enter in!

Living Waters

From spring to river streams will go,
and rivers to the sea,
and when the living waters flow,
Lord, let them rise in me.

For I have thirsted these long days
while fountains run no more,
and now bone-dry I wait for pain—
Somewhere your waters pour.

Like sentinels await the dawn,
I wait for clouded skies,
for rivers rolling ever on,
for fallen waves to rise,

for creeks to laugh until they weep,
for cataracts to shout.
I know that deep calls out to deep
while I sit here in drought.

But you, who closed in doors the sea,
set hills not to be moved,
if you have closed these doors in me,
Lord, let me call it good.

Is this the fasting that you wish?
Not to my name but yours 
be all the glory, even if
the waters never pour.

Niagara Falls, from the American Side (Frederic Edwin Church, 1867) – qQE5jAFm16XHjQ at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21865696

How Hard It Is

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples,
“How hard it is for those who have wealth
to enter the kingdom of God!”
The disciples were amazed at his words.
So Jesus again said to them in reply,
“Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle
than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves,
“Then who can be saved?”
Jesus looked at them and said,
“For human beings it is impossible, but not for God.
All things are possible for God.”
—Mark 10:17-27

How hard it is to enter in God's kingdom:
Sell all you have and bid your world goodbye.
So camels thread the slim eye of the needle
before the rich can claim a place on high.
But heaven calls, and only this is needful:
to give your all and follow after Christ.

What is the price your savior now is asking?
You gold and gems, your lavish gifts displayed?
No, but your heart poured out in prayer and action:
This is the gift your offer day by day.
Not faith alone or keeping each commandment,
but love itself: This is the narrow way.

For gold will dim, and silver coins will tarnish.
All swords will rust except God's holy word—
a living edge that parts the joints and marrow
to lay us bare before the eye of God.
So whittled down, we pass with room to spare then:
The needle grows; the narrow gate is broad.

And all we've lost, and all we've gladly given
shall be restored in Spirit and in truth.
All we forgave as we have been forgiven—
that mercy shown our own hearts will renew,
will heal our eyes that we may share the vision
of God's great love, while Christ makes all things new.

About The Rich, O discontented mancan ever be rich. The golden calfnever grows into acow that gives milk. The devil comes to the wedding when•-;ople marry for money. God has never made gold enough tomake a selfish man rich. On Gods scales a poor mans best and« rich mans best balance each other. Some people will sell their souls verycheap for the prospect of quick payment. Success in this world often means fail-ure in the next. What do you suppose angels think ofthe man who is doing his best to die rich? We are not in a condition to enjoyriches until we can be happy withoutthem. They know in heaven how much relig-ion the rich have by the way they treatthe poor. It is seldom that a man ever gets to bewise enough to know what to do with alarge fortune- IBy Frank Beard – https://www.flickr.com/photos/internetarchivebookimages/14597788930/Source book page: https://archive.org/stream/blastsfromramsho00unse/blastsfromramsho00unse#page/n19/mode/1up, No restrictions, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=44080771

Psalm 139: Too Great For Me

Based on Psalm 139:

You saw me in the darkness
within my mother's womb;
in every hope and heartache
I have been known to you.
I flee you and I fight you;
I turn from you in shame,
but I cannot deny you,
and still you call my name.

In rising and in sinking,
in falling, there to lie,
all that I long have hidden
is here before your eye.
My secrets and my shadows
to you are bright as day,
and all I long to ask you,
you know before I say.

When I would shrink in terror
there's courage that you give,
who know me in my failure—
You know, and you forgive.
And still you call, O Father;
beside me still you stand.
Too great for me, this knowledge,
that I am in your hand.

More details

Coro alto, Sé de Braga Portugal. Photo By Joseolgon – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=72225140