Firefly

What do we see on a summer night..

ten flashing fireflies burning bright..

catch the one twinkling there..

like a star.

                    ('Ten Flashing Fireflies'- Philemon Sturges)

 

 

 

I had finished tweaking my keyboard rig 

 

                  prepping for a major gig at church...

 

        keys to play..songs to sing

(that praise leader is such a slave driver....oh yeah, he smiles alot when he hands you the song list :>)

 

           ok.. out the door

 

                and onto the ride for a quick scoot home to get ready for Good Friday service

 

       but  whoa ah ...slow down now..  .    

 

         there is a bus stopped in the middle of the road.

                   

this wasn't your typical school or commuter bus...but a 'special' bus.

 

                         One that was equipped to accomodate 'special' travellers.

 

I idled there...

 

 and though I didn't intend to...

   

        I stopped ,waited...and forgot about my destination for a moment.

 

-in your eyes
              the light the heat
in your eyes
           I am complete
in your eyes
                 I see the doorway to a thousand churches
in your eyes-

                                      (1986 Peter Gabriel - from the ablum -'So')

 

    

 - she looked about 10...but may have been older...

 

                  I couldn't really tell for certain...

 

 her hands were clasped as though in prayer...supporting her bowed.. shaking head.

 

                                                               her body quaking beneath the shawl that wrapped her..

 

        and as the bus operator lowered her wheelchair to the sidewalk..

 

I thought..'yes..and this one too.'

    

...how what she gets from Life ..

 

                     is all dependant on what someone

 

         will bring to her..

                      or

                               will bring her to.

 

¹⁸Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. ¹⁹When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus.

 

maybe..

 

          and as I watched her attendant care for her...it became more..

 

 ⁴⁰"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 

  
Today...

 

Take a moment..and light a candle.

   

        now blow gently at the flame ..and you will see  

        

                                                                                  'circumstances'....

 

                                                                                                 'struggle' ..

                                                                                'need'. ...  

 

now put your hand in front of your mouth

                                     and blow at the flame again... .

   

                     see                   

                                         -Hope-

 

                                                            Through you.

 

   schedule interrupted .

  

      and my 'important' plans were postponed..   

 

                                                         long enough to to see that One size fits all.

 

                                                                                                             and all sizes

                fit One.

 

              -looking down I moved the dirt and gravel with my boot,

 

                                                                     to see my humble beginnings

 

                                                       and knowing without God,

                                                                                            that... is all I would be.

Today...

 

               stop and remember..

 

                                                 that in Him..

 

¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

bodyparts

  G     G    G   G    F    G   G    B flat

(Dah      Dantdantdant   dahdantdant     daaaah)

  G    G    G   F   G

(Dah Dantdant    dadant)    (cmon, you know its an instrumental!)

(‘Frankenstein’-  from the 1973 album ‘They Only Come Out At Night’-by Edgar Winter)

 ‘Creation’….can appear crazy…

                       

      ²⁹ When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

 like an out of control sewing machine…

              

                      stitching patches together that don’t belong..

                            

                                    When we suit ourself to be the only ‘tailor’ in ‘town’.

 Isaiah 45:9
…. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘The potter has no hands’?

                                            

Maybe you are so used to hanging with Harleys,

          that when a guy on a riding lawnmower parks next to you...

                                                         You can’t see beyond the novelty.

        So…what time is it?

Time to get off your ass-ets..

                        Its time to get out of ‘town’….

                              Because your scene is set….for a Miracle.

_____

In a depressed area in downtown Albany

        I put the Electra Glide kickstand down at the Victory church feeding center..

       

                and there was Light pouring out onto the streets.

⁶ Then will the lame leap like a deer,
   and the mute tongue shout for joy.
                  

  Inside, there were testimonies… Water will gush forth in the wilderness
   and streams in the desert.

changed lives..

   ⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
            the thirsty ground bubbling springs.

                And later..

                        Outside… In the haunts where jackals once lay,
   grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

                                         

     one Harley still on the street.   (yes it was still there,thank you God)                               

I leave as witness

        to a Miracle...  

                                where death leads to Life, in Jesus the Christ..

¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

 and how we all need to be on that

                                      

                                           ‘suicide mission’ .

 

And not settle into a

                                 comfortable ‘seat ’

       

                                           trying to keep the weed population down.

_________________________

I am smiling as I go through the gears..

        Pumped..

 because I have just seen the contrast

of a flower growing through the concrete..

                                    and those in a nursery.

   Heading back toward the hills of home

                        I down shift to pick up my ticket at exit 24

                from a very….

                                        ’unusual’

                     

                                                  booth attendant.

1 Corinthians 12:20

²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

                                  Something about him.. 

had an odd fit…in a good Way...you know what I mean?

                                   He was like…expecting me.

                                            I found neutral…stopped and reached out..

                                        ‘Behave now’ he said and smiled…

                        I smiled back..holding my hand out..

                Thinking ‘what the heck is that supposed to mean?’

        Then

                                He said it again…’Behave now’..still smiling as he handed me a ticket.

 it’s a big planet..

                     and maybe

  we can see a Miracle..even in a tollbooth..

                when we stop looking so hard at ‘the patches’…

                               

                                                  instead of 'The Thread' that holds them all together.

Shadowland

‘I'm the one who loves you so
So please, take my hand
And lead me out of shadowland         (‘Shadowland’-1988 by KD Lang)

In such Grace on the ride Home, I said to my Father

                   ‘I am just going to shut up…and listen’.

‘cause Today, I say...

                       I just don’t know.

(Seeking God, this is a good place to be)

Marriage…divorce…life….death…

                                     Sex, drugs and rock and roll……

                  

        ‘Sounds like life to me plain old destiny
Yeah the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability
(‘Sounds like life To Me’ from the 2009 album ‘Sounds Like Life’)

      

    so heading west on 20, the sun is in my face..

                                                                                           ….2200 rpm of Heaven

                     Fifth gear was one long exhale baby… as I ride out of shadowland.

          _________________________ 

-the ‘effort’ we can put forth to ‘remember’ to acknowledge God

               can become downright idolatrous.

You know what I mean?

                    Fishes… crosses… churches… rituals…

                                                             words

                   can become the big stall..in shadowland.

             Like..we look at the tools, and want to see that ‘ah yes’

                                                                                     the bike is serviced.

                             And it is time to ride.

       Well… get on.

 Knowing in your Heart the Son of God-Jesus Christ, has come for you and I.

         

                                    The ‘potential’ is to have a Way about us.

                            

        But too often.. we substitute the shadowland for the I Am.

                                                                  the shadow of things to come..

⁸ Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Were ‘tools’ we looked toward…

 ⁸ The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." ⁹ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

that had a future purpose…Today.

               The altar..

                     even the empty cross we kneel before..

                              were just springboards to another ‘place’

                                                                                                         ^… because the kingdom of God is within^[a] you."

                                                                                        --  Today.. Is it? --

  Or are you still dwelling in the shadow of things to come,

                                                getting more weirded out, about people and circumstance.   

                    ‘I am half sick of shadows.’

                             (Lady Shalott – ‘Camelot’)

                  

          They have served their purpose and stand as a reminder..

²¹Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.

                     that

                                      When you make it personal, ‘things’ change.

                                                And you ride out of shadowland.

                     I will put my laws in their minds
      and write them on their hearts.
   I will be their God,
      and they will be my people.
 ¹¹No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
      or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,'
   because they will all know me,
      from the least of them to the greatest.

                                                                                     

                                      Today

                                                                ¹⁰your kingdom come,
                                                                              your will be done
                                                                                  on earth as it is in heaven.

                              Today…Let the Kingdom come

A Grave Situation

Attention all shoppers
It's Cancellation Day
Yes the Big Adios
Is just a few hours away ...'

                                             ('The Last Mall' Steely Dan-2003, from the album 'Everything Must Go')

 -   Wait!!!

Come back!

                Hey!!

                                        No!!!   Stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            AGH!

oh well..-

- like so many of the dogs I have had for companions..

        these are often the words uttered right before they do...

 the old kneeling

                   head down

                          slide and boogey

                           onto a cold pile of wild animal poo.

and.. well...

                         ?Why?  for goodness sakes.

you know,

                it's the same mind set they had as you try to coax

                            that unknown chewey thing out of their mouth

                                                            they picked up next to the poo.

and of course...they want to swallow it before you get to them.

   

                      -some times I realize I may be part dog-

finding myself heading for that same old poo

                                                      then shaking my head and saying ...

   

                                    ?Why? for goodness sakes.

¹⁹For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

-it's early... the sun is comin'..

  

                              as I run...I Go to the 'reality yard' 

                                                           and ask my Master.

I reached the summit and pray, looking over the valley as it begins gain color in the morning light ..

       .. It takes these shadows around me...

                                                and reveals them for the stone markers they are.

as I turn to continue my run on the path..

   I noticed a fresh grave ,

                                   vibrant flowers all about it.

  

                                         some had fallen over...maybe the wind...

                                                                         and as I righted some of the vases,

  my foot stepped onto the fresh soil.

                                         - I removed it, but my imprint was left behind-

      I thought... 'yes, in this journey...

       

                                                  that step is always..  very... close'.

                               one foot, in the freshly turned soil.

I prayed for the family 'Grasso' that was etched in the stone....

      

     for those I loved..

                         

               for those who did not meet my expectations..

                                  

                           and for a renewed mind and heart...where it is not about me.

 ¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them.

                                                                      -Jesus washed Judas feet-

                                                                            Truth.

 and as I run..

I am released... from my disappointments of this world...

    I see ....

                          He truly is the Way..

                                           

                                                 when I stop getting so focused on something gross to roll in.