I have shared here before about this verse: “And blessed is he who takes no offense at me.” (Mt 11:6) It is one of my “life” verses, as some say. And, of course, it comes to mind today on this feast of his birth. Just as with Jesus, his death was never far from his thoughts, I am sure. I encourage you to read what I have written below about this verse, and may it be an encouragement to you to live the same. That is my prayer for you today.
Month: June 2024
God’s Grandeur
I came across this in Plough Quarterly. Such a marvelous rendition of Hopkins’ wonderful poem: God’s Grandeur: A Poetry Comic
A comic artist illustrates Gerard Manly Hopkins’ classic poem.
By Gerard Manley Hopkins and Julian Peters
from Plough Quarterly
Stay
I have a friend, Strahan Coleman. I know him mostly as an author because we met after I discovered his writing on IG, excerpts from his Prayer Volumes. Here’s an excerpt from Volume 3:
But what I wanted to share here is from his music, which just now, I am starting to listen to. So profound.
Stay
There is a whisper,
A quiet invitation,
Beckoning me to come,
A hand of kindness,
A good and trusting one,
A hand that will never fail.
My bags are packed but I’m glued to the phone,
Cause I’ve got nowhere else to go,
So I stay.
I have a mind that will wait for war to take it’s toll,
Before it will still itself,
But I’ve seen the face of love,
A chest that warms and welcomes,
A table that never fails.
Oh I’ve been running’ I’ve been fading to grey,
But I hear you calling my name,
Your voice is singing out like fire in the rain,
So I stay.
Oh you’re not finished yet,
This can’t be where it ends,
Come kick this barrenness out into the grave,
You promised better yet,
So I’m lookin’ at you my friend and I stay.
Check out Commoner’s Communion.
The less lost
I’m currently reading a book for pre-publication in order that I can write an endorsement. I am absolutely loving this book and can’t wait to recommend it to all of you. I am actually on my second read through, I love it that much. In this morning’s reading, I was struck by a quote the author cites from St. Augustine’s Confessions. It is this: “Saint Augustine said, ‘He who loses himself in his passion is less lost that he who loses his passion.'”
So Saint Augustine seems to be saying that an alcoholic is in a more advantageous place spiritually than a strong Catholic who struggles to suppress every desire and passion. How can this be? Because the heart of our relationship with God is desire, not keeping the law. God thirsts for us, and he has placed an unquenchable thirst for him in each of us, a thirst that is meant to drive us to him. if we lose our passion, therefore, we are in trouble. This thirst is meant to act as a homing device, an internal GPS, that will not be satisfied unless it finds its destination. We may go down side streets and dead ends, but this thirst is meant to eventually bring us to the only One who can and will satisfy us. So someone whose passion is misdirected at least still has passion that has some capacity to be drawn to God, just like a car that is moving will much more likely reach its destination than a car sitting in a parking lot.
This puts a whole new perspective on the work that my Sisters are doing on the east side of Flint. Better to be addicted to something than to have no feeling whatsoever. Addiction is a starting place, a passion to be redirected, to be uncovered and named, a misdirected longing that can only be filled by God. The good news is that, according to Augustine, a person struggling with his addiction is closer to finding God than someone who has suppressed all desire. Each struggling addict on the east side is a potential passionate lover of God.
And the good news is also that any of us who struggle with seemingly less serious addictions can also have hope because God wants to do the same for us as we turn to him and return our passion (for whatever) to him. He will meet us right there in that very misguided longing, redirecting and purifying it until he alone satisfies us.
In our addictions, at least he has a starting place. “He who loses himself in his passion is less lost that he who loses his passion.”
Before I close my eyes
A Sunday poem by Franki.
Before I close my eyes
I exhale
As if having
held my breath
since waking.
A whisper
reminds me of a
humble man,
whose sandals
I’m not
worthy to untie.
Whose beauty
I’m not
worthy to behold,
whose beard
I’m not
worthy to kiss,
whose hands
I’m not
worthy to hold,
His hands
I’m still
trying to hold.
Before I close my eyes
I breathe in,
as if having
received life
from the one
who made me.
Who invites me to
break bread
at his table,
where stones
lay lost
around us.
Before I close m eyes
he looks
into mine
(inhales)
and
calls me
beloved
(exhales).
Witnesses to Hope 