throw back...

Wow...found this prayer/reflection that I wrote a few years ago...still fitting for my life...

"Poor is not just a physical state of being, but sometimes a way of life. Poverty is easily seen if we open our eyes--to see more than projects or abandoned buildings. If we look into the mirror, at times we will see poverty that affects us all--and then we will not be so far removed from those Jesus calls our neighbors. When it comes down to it, past the layers, we are more alike than we care to admit. we need each other to dispel the poverty we find in ourselves and outside of ourselves. This is community; this is what we are called to become together. What walls have we put around ourselves to keep others out? How do we lock ourselves into comfort? The gates and walls within us are the most dangerous and more likely to inhibit the work of the kingdom. What are we missing? Lord, tear us down; break down the walls; open the gates we have created. Help us allow you to be bigger and more powerful than it all."

Life Together

Yes, I have written repeatedly about my life and community in this place...this is a poem I wrote for our church's art display of "Life Together."  Hope you enjoy.

Life is full—

Places to go.
Meetings to attend.
Children to feed.
Bills to pay.
People to appease.


Life is colorful—

Oranges, reds, and browns in the fall.

Deep blues, whites, and grey of winter.

Greens of spring and summer.

Flowers blooming, the earth renewed with each season.

People color our world,

With love, culture, and awareness of the difference, yet likeness, of each other.


Life is messy—

Babies are born.
Friends leave.
People we care about die.
Jobs are lost.
Partners are found.



Life is art—
Colors join.
Materials clash.
We are broken.
And yet, the artist continues to create…
To piece us together out of nothing,
Weaving all aspects of our mess,
And the result is a beautiful masterpiece,
A work of art
That is…life together.


We are made for life together.
I will hurt you.
You won’t always understand me.
And yet, we will choose to live together—
To forgive.
To move forward together
Because the end result is something more beautiful than this moment.
It is the art of the kingdom realized, on earth as it is in heaven.