Poetry
…she persisted…
I wrote this to find my way through a text that has particular importance at this point in our history. Jesus’ encounter with a Canaanite woman in Matthew 15 is the point at which we see that his mission is to bring the whole world into a new relationship with God and with each other. The Gospel is not for few chosen folks who have the right look, the right language, the right culture or the right anything. The Gospel of Jesus and the promises therein are for all of God’s children. All. Those who seek the exclusion (or worse) of others based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and whatever else seems to them unacceptable are ultimately on the wrong side of Jesus’ love. Thankfully for them, Jesus is gracious and forgiving and does not give up on anyone. Remember, he told us to pray for our enemies and those who persecute.
Ram Lopez
20 August 2017
Yet, she persisted…
Who can blame her?
Who could fault her efforts?
If he is good; if he is of God
Then he can deal with this demon;
This god-awful demon tormenting
My love, my child, my life…
“Show mercy! Have pity!
Dear messiah, Son of David, salvation!
Help her! Dear God – please, sir, help.
Release her from this torture,
Set her free, break the unseen chains
Of this heinous, diabolical oppressor.”
“Send her away now!” yell his own. “No longer
Let us be bothered by her self-inflicted poverty.”
“I was sent,” utters He, “to the lost sheep of Israel,
To God’s chosen ones, who for many generations
Have yearned for this sacred time of freedom.
Yet, she persisted…
“All we need, sir, is just some scraps;
Scraps of your power, scraps of mercy.
All my daughter needs is a small portion
Of the unused grace, of love taken for granted,
Of peace abandoned by those whom
You seek to feed and save.”
“Great is your faith!” says He. “Love fills you, wells up
In your heart, pouring out through you to many,
Filling the hearts of many others, ushering boldly
Into this wounded, warring world a renewed mission
A vision of all people and nations finally gathered together,
God’s children resting in my arms of gracious salvation.”
Yes. She persisted.
And where stand I among these ancient players?
And where stand you among the beloved redeemed?
Do you hear her cries and seek her silence in favor of comfort?
Maybe I am a small Canaanite woman persisting greatly in prayer?
Or, can we be Him – who hears her deep, unrelenting cries for help,
Who finally takes her side, to free her from the oppressor’s yoke?
This world of walls, unchanged amid centuries of change,
Still excludes, still seeks to silence the crying voices of the shunned.
No more do His followers seek after only the lost chosen children.
He gives us eyes to see sheep, alone, harassed and helpless.
His heart, beating through our own, is still moved by persistent cries.
Godly love, flowing from us, swallows division, makes the world whole.
And so, we persist…
Transfigured
Reposting this on the Feast of the Transfiguration 2017.
Transfigured
(Based on Luke 9.28-36)
In milliseconds, an eye blink,
all is changed, transfigured.
No longer draped in the dull
clothing of yesterday’s life,
rather, beautifully clothed in
tomorrow’s hope, today is
shining brightly, bathed in a
new lightness, pulsing with a
vibrancy that comes only after
an encounter with the Divine.
Revealed atop this mountain
is living – not mere existence –
but full, true living, minus fear,
filled with hope, radiating love.
6 August 2015
The Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus Christ
Mood swing haiku
Unwelcome
The church I serve has a wonderful day school and today is the last day of class. There are people and parties everywhere!!! Of course, today is the day a cute little skunk decided to wander around the campus courtyard. And while everyone of God’s children is welcome in this church, some of God’s critters are, at times, less welcome than others. Luckily, our little black and white air un-freshener decided to stay hidden amid the hubbub!! This poem is dedicated to our little smelly friend!!!
Unwelcome.
Your shiny fur coat
notwithstanding.
I get that you are amazing,
made to withstand
any foe.
But seriously,
would you want you around?
Your little waddle
is endearing.
And that bright white
stripe is quite fetching
in its own unique way.
But the unpleasant air
surrounding you
when you are on edge
is just too much.
I’m sorry.
You have to leave.
This painful putridity
has brought me to tears.
I am sorry to say this,
but you are
unwelcome.
25 May 2017
An Easter Manifesto 2017
We are still in the Easter season so I thought it was fine to share my Easter sermon/poem. Here is a bit of a reminder to continue to look to new life. Inspired by Wendel Berry’s wonderful poem!
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it…
…Practice resurrection.
(Wendel Berry; “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from The Country of Marriage, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. 1973)
An Easter Manifesto
Come out! Come out of your hiding places!
Everything has changed beyond our sight,
shaken open by God’s powerful Love
which cannot die, cannot be stopped.
The Tomb of Jesus is empty! He is
not there! He is Risen! Alleluia!
Open your eyes, dry the tears
Jesus lives. His face shining brightly
in the lives of friend and stranger alike.
Love your friends and love others knowing
that you are loving the Living Jesus in them.
Open your hands to be filled for sharing
what you have with others. Reach out
with compassion to those in need, feed them
as you have been fed. Hold hands and pray.
Open your heart to feel God’s deep love.
Feel joy in human connection and spiritual
experiences. Let love overflow like rivers leaving
their banks with power to change the landscape.
Open your life to the abundance of God’s gifts
for you. Step out with truth to speak Love in the world;
to undam to the waters of justice; to give life.
Live resurrection
in all you do today. The power of fear is ended.
Take resurrection
wherever you go today. Walls fall before God’s love.
Speak resurrection
in every word you utter today. The Enemy is silenced
and God’s WORD bursts in colorful blossom
from the barrenness of dead wood and cold stone.
So come out! Come out of your hiding places!
Everything has changed beyond our sight,
shaken open by God’s powerful Love
which cannot die, cannot be stopped.
The Tomb of Jesus is empty! He is
not there! He is Risen! Alleluia!
Waking up
Waking up
Slowly
Body stiff
Yesterday’s
Walking
Through life’s
Challenges
It’s not easy
Or
It wasn’t
Remembering now
What I forgot
Hit my knees
And pray
God, please light
My path.
Reveal your will
For this day.
Let your Spirit
Fill me,
Like slow-brewing
Coffee, with the
Aroma of your
Love.
21 May 2017
Random Thoughts
A poem written while falling asleep
Random thoughts,
like lightning bugs, pulse
in the dark
haziness of my mind
Putting forth
thoughts here and then gone;
fading fast,
brilliant no more.
14 May 2017
Palm Sunday Reflection 2017
I offered this on Palm Sunday as a reflection on God’s love. I use the word “for” to mean “on behalf or benefit of” rather than “in place of.” The cross means freedom, healing, hope, courage, meaning, transformation and the list can go on. Of course, the cross means, most of all, that God loves you deeply. And, of course, this eternal reality no words, however lovely, can adequately convey. God. Loves. YOU!!! -Ram
A Palm Sunday Reflection
Jesus died for you sister;
That you’d be free from your compulsions to be perfectly put together for the world to see while you deny the emptiness of your own heart.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you brother;
That you’d be free from the bondage of your addictions which numb the inner pain of daily existence that churns in the depth of your being.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you child;
That you’d find healing from the wounds of losing your truest self striving to meet the rigorous standards of achievement heaped upon you by well-meaning, but demanding, parents and other adults in the classroom, in athletic competitions, in your hobbies and activities making you feel that WHAT you do is more important than WHO you are.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you my suffering friend;
That you’d find meaning in the midst of your chronic illness and find strength in God’s grace to face and to embrace your coming death with dignity; in hope of finding wholeness and eternal renewal in the nearer presence of God.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you lost traveller;
That you’d discover that your life and time on earth has been neither lost nor wasted in the wilderness of life through which the Hand of God has guided you, shielding you from all enemies, gently leading you to this moment.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you, bitter soul;
That you’d begin to see this world as abundant, full of God’s good gifts for you and all of us who share this planet; that you’d know deeply that all political thinking, all divisions, all violence, all walls, all anger, all fear, all greed and all that brings us anxiety and despair has been nailed to the cross and burned away in the fire of Jesus’ self-sacrificing love.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you Seeker;
That you’d recognize that you are a beloved child of God and find a restored sense of self that seeks not only your own good but the common good of all humanity whom God created in love, for love, and to love.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for you, my enemy;
That our hearts would awaken in peace and hope to resolutely face the truth that, while missiles can change the landscape, only God’s love in Christ can change our violent hearts.
God. Loves. You.
Jesus died for us, fellow pilgrims on the Way;
That as we journeyed we would be bound together in ever-strengthening bonds of love, discovering our interconnectedness and interdependence, discovering that sharing in each other’s lives is how we share in God’s life.
God. Loves. You.
Believing is Seeing – A Sermon
The world is blurry beyond my eyes.
Words like arrows fly by,
an undeclared war amongst
family members who see
only that which proves
their fear shaping words.
Those same fears fill the
innermost places of my hidden
heart which grasps at a
fleeting certainty, a failing
story mistold for power’s sake.
The world is blurry beyond my eyes
perhaps because I who see
can claim my blindness, can
reveal my fears and their power
to misshape all souls, my own,
just as seeing claims believing.
Spit, mud and water – a healing balm –
washes away our blinded sight,
breaks down the dividing wall ‘tween
siblings built by arrogance, anger, fear’s
revealing God’s ever-growing heart.
The world is blurry beyond my eyes;
Human blindness – by grace of Christ – dissolving,
a Godly vision of a new Creation given.
25 March 2017
By Ram Lopez
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