“With all it’s sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.” Max Ehrman
Mary Magdalene thought the resurrected Jesus was the gardener. The Gardener, whose job is to raise up new growth from a lifeless seed. The Gardener, whose job is to call forth new life out of the darkness of dirt. Perhaps Mary wasn’t wrong. Perhaps she was seeing Jesus’ true identity. The Gardener of the original … Continue reading She Thought Jesus Was the Gardener
I light the candleremembering honoring missingJohnnyJackBettyJohnFayeTisaAdelaideOwenMikeRoyDon.I light the candle and seemyself in the dancing flame -the simmering embers of griefthe warmth of remembered lovethe sizzling burn of angerat Death, whoTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakesTakes.So I light the candle and stare down Death.I will not flicker or flinch or fade.For the light shines in the darkness,Life is kindled from Death,and … Continue reading All Saints Day
I slip a napkin note into my kids’ lunchboxes every day. Sometimes the note is as simple as a smiley face, other times I write silly jokes, but most of the time I write some version of: “I love you just the way you are.” When that time of day rolls around for my girls … Continue reading Lunchbox Notes…from God
Credit: picture taken from “Love Poems From God” translated and compiled by Daniel Ladinsky. I can’t shake this poem from Meister Eckhart. How many of our coloring books depict a clucking “tsk tsk” tongue, below beady eyes that can’t hide their disappointment? How many pages are scribbled with the red of hatred or vengeance or … Continue reading How Do You Draw God?
It's irritating. A calling will sound like the beep-beep beep-beep you faintly hear in your sleep-drowsied dreams. At first you will be dimly aware of its alarming persistence, until slowly, slowly, maybe then with a start you’ll curse the break of day. That is to say, it’s unpleasant, a calling, like a fly, buzzing around … Continue reading You Ask Me What A Calling Feels Like
I woke this morning before dawn and went outside into the chilly almost-spring air. As I watched the sky fade from black to that early morning blue, stars twinkling out one by one, all at once I was struck by the unusual quiet of the moment. Birds were chirping, my wind chime was singing a … Continue reading A Moment of Clarity in the Midst of Crisis
I snap at my husband in a moment of frustration because the house is in utter chaos: the dog just peed on the carpet and when I let him outside he escaped through the gate that my husband left open, so I had to chase the dog in the cold rain barefoot. When I get … Continue reading More Than A Feeling
I know we've been thick as thieves for many years, Shame, but enough is enough. I used to think that you were a harmless part of life, that you existed as a kind of check-and-balance to keep me in line. But no more. I see you, Shame. I know that you've been trying to squelch … Continue reading Shame, I’m Breaking-Up With You
Dear Heart, On your first birthday I could recall every minute of that difficult 30+ hour labor that brought you into the world. Now, on your fourth birthday, I only remember bits and pieces - it turns out the memories of pain have faded (just as other moms said they would). But one memory is … Continue reading My Promise to You: A Letter To My Daughter on Her 4th Birthday
Was no one there to rub her backwhen she got sick by the side of the road?Poor child, that Mary,fleeing the angel's earth-shattering words to Elizabeth's tranquil countryside.Did her traveling companions pretend not to noticeher queasiness and sleepy eyes and swelling gut,or did they whisper too loudly in her directionwith obvious glares of disdain?One can … Continue reading Naming the Blessing as a Blessing: A Poem of Mary and Elizabeth
Rev. Laura Johnson 