A Psalm of Michael

I was glad when they said to me,
Let us go to the house of the Lord
Let us gather together in the name of our God
Let us rejoice together and celebrate the life that we have together in him.

How I long for the house of my God
Where the joy and laughter of the saints
Mingle with the heights and depths of coming before your throne
In awe and love and worship

There it is spring.
New life blossoms; beauty and flowers are all around.
Here it is winter.
The land is held in an icy grip; there is no together.

O my God, I long for you, I thirst for you
And I know that I do not need the community of worship
In order to find you…
But you are present in the praises of your people

You are present too in the wide open spaces
In the hills and forests, in all you have made, in me
And I can find you, new depths of you
As I wait and seek and long and thirst in exile here

But still – the psalmist was glad very glad to join the community of worship
The New Testament church reveled in the joy of meeting together
Down the ages the church, the gathering together of the people of God,
Has been the source of nurture and strength, sustenance and support.

Show me heaven! Show me the community of worship!
But like the psalmist I will rest and be at peace
You send forth your light and truth to guide me
My hope is in God.

Take these broken wings...

Kyrie eleison. Take these broken wings and let them fly again…

Michael, son of Arthur, do you love me more than these – these other things that clutter up your life and take you away from me? Yes, Jesus, you know everything – all the details of all this rubbish that clutters up my life. And you know that I love you, that I love you more than I love this junk. Then lead my people in the Bible translation movement; let the peoples know that I love them, that I have compassion on them, that I forgive them. Follow me. So Lord, take these broken wings – my broken strength, my broken vision, my broken imagination, my misuse of time and resources – and let me fly again, on the wind which is your breath, your spirit. Like the red kite soaring on the currents. Take my fish (which I can only catch when directed by you), add them to your fish, and let’s have breakfast together. Free to soar, free to serve, free to free others.