Years ago I read so many books by this wonderful writer! She created novels and poetry and my she was prolific! She died in 2007 and we still miss her influence and insights.
For Lent, 1966 by Madeleine L’Engle
It is my Lent to break my Lent,
To eat when I would fast,
To know when slender strength is spent,
Take shelter from the blast
When I would run with wind and rain,
To sleep when I would watch.
It is my Lent to smile at pain
But not ignore its touch.
It is my Lent to listen well
When I would be alone,
To talk when I would rather dwell
In silence, turn from none
Who call on me, to try to see
That what is truly meant
Is not my choice. If Christ’s I’d be
It’s thus I’ll keep my Lent.
This poem was published in our church bulletin a week or so ago. Some complicated ideas and some simple. How have you been doing keeping Lent? Some write that it is like a few days after January 1 when they abandon their ideas of New Year resolutions. Have you been enabled to keep a holy Lent? Were you able to stop gossiping? Forego dessert? Do anything that drew you closer to God?
Have you given yourself to Christ in such a way that that you abandon your choices and do what the Spirit shows you to do?
I wrote this in 2018. Now we live in a different neighborhood and a mockingbird comes occasionally. I hope it does not take residence here and stays 3 blocks over!
A mockingbird has moved into the neighborhood More specifically our lot When I awoke this morning he was using Everyone else’s songs from our rooftop Mostly a good imitation Yet, when I hear the actual individual birds I realized it was just imitation Not the rich variations that the actual singers give
The woods are full of spring songs Bird after bird seeking a mate Singing and flitting through the branches (Or racing) each other To impress the perfect mate
Mocking bird is like the enemy in my ear Repeating phrases of accusation Condemnation and insult No fresh life-giving inspiration Such as the Holy Spirit brings
I’d like to shoot at this bird to scare it off our property As a child there was one who attacked whenever We tried to hang up the laundry or take it down Now it is just annoying and incessant Yet there are likely lessons to learn here
Listen carefully Do not assume every repeated phrase is from God Just like the Sheriff will never call and ask you for money over the phone God speaks in that still, small voice Not the raucous jack-hammer of a mockingbird Try to be still in the cacophony of that chorus Quiet your soul and rest in the peace of His Presence
“And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying: ‘Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down-he who accuses them day and night before our God.’” Revelation 12:10
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 1 Kings 19: 11 b-12
I can just hear the humor of my husband churning up at that title! I’m thinking atmospheric, not the other kind that you pass. The wind chimes have been playing for what seems like months on end, both in the backyard and the front yard. I love the wind chimes. A nice warm breeze refreshes me. Perhaps this noticing has to do with the images in Scripture?
In Acts 2: 1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. NRSVUE
The King James version describes the phenomenon as “a mighty rushing wind.” the image of the Spirit of God as wind began in Genesis and is carried right through to the time the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit.
November of 2025 I wrote the following poem. Looking back, I realize it flowed out of me like prayer. Here is the wonder of it. At an unexpected Zoom meeting I picked up a piece of paper and began taking notes. When I turned it over yesterday I was reading this poem. I was so uncertain that I wrote it that I actually tried to looked it up online.
oh goodness me
Then I checked my document files. Sure enough, 25-11-26, it was right there. So I hope this encourages you and strengthens you in your faith as to what the Spirit can do within you if you simply yield and work with the Trinity.
Mighty rushing wind* blow over us Blow away every useless branch Carry off the finished leaves and twigs Refresh us with your presence Lower the temperature of our grasping Help us stand naked before your power No shame, just honest awareness
Mighty rushing wind You come with power and your promises Promise that we have more potential than we know Promise that we can be made anew Promise that in our weakness can be great power Tempest from God move us over Help us live more like the unity of the Trinity
Mighty rushing wind Help us yield to your shaping Rejoice in your remaking Agree heartily to the changes you bring We want to take deep inhalations from your source Being indwelt by the very breath from on high We stand still and ask that you permeate our being
Mighty rushing wind We cannot control you This day come to us and we will be changed Your power and promise overflow us Presence and transparency pervade you Shine the light of your word upon us And we shall be known for how we became like you
Mighty rushing wind, We bow the knee of our heart to you Touch us and we shall be made clean Surround us and we shall be shielded From darkness, debris of soul Detritus of overgrowth Unkempt garden of laziness
Mighty rushing wind Scour the ruin around our feet Cleanse us from all unrighteousness Set our feet firmly upon your path Put your shoes of the gospel of peace upon our feet And help us walk with your propulsion
Mighty rushing wind We welcome you Come and have your own way In and through us That praise may continuously ascend To the Holy Trinity you belong within As you declare we are in you and you are in us
*Acts 2:2.4a 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 NIV
Listening to another podcast by John Mark Comer he quoted an author reminding us that the second half of life is about giving our life away. Well, duh! Shouldn’t those who read the New Testament know that? No, we do not always remember that! Especially as noted in the quote below.
In a culture that pushes us to focus not on what we can give, but on what we can take, what we tend to take is everything for granted. Andrea Gibson
That is so true. So sadly true of Americans.
Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Luke 6:38 Message
That is what I trying to do with getting music out of the file folders into the hands of others, printing books and poetry at the lowest cost I can. Giving my life away in texts, emails, personal relationships.
How are you doing this?
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap, for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6: 38 NRSVUE
I am not looking for a reward in my giving, though there is a promise stated here. I have simply found that I cannot out give my God.
Poem by me Healed Wounds 1982
I have been told so many things and dealt so many blows But now my heart begins to sing an old song, soft and low.
He’s taught me by His words and ways the first few miles of loving. I’ve many lessons yet to learn but first I must begin.
Our culture and sophisticated ways just keep us from each other. Barriers come into play where open meadows belong.
My soul is crowded about by specters of loneliness. The risk of vulnerability has become more inviting than the haunt of isolation.
It is as though I am breaking out of an ancient inner prison. I must get close to as many as will let me. The risk is not to be counted.
We’ve got to touch, we’re not so unalike. We are all made in His image, but we are not our own.
Like calls unto like deep calls unto deep, and the power of His Spirit is knitting us together.
The pleasures of His bounty are not to be hoarded – but shared. How can we assume to participate in His Spirit behind a crumbling wall of self? Jesus walks through walls.
In some ways I am scared of investing my small bits But I tremble at the thought of just burying them in Jesus’ name.
Father, You have called me to this. as I slowly crept out from that cave. You alone can put me over, to you I belong.
Show me how to be Your child, how to represent You well. I look for help to no other, teach me as You did Your Son.
You alone have made me worthy, You alone will see me through. Help me with Your love and mercy, deep compassion, grace and truth.
Now I stand before You yielded, make me into something new. You have plans, now please reveal them, train me how to touch and move.
Give me holy eyes to see with, holy ears and holy hands. Help me learn to only speak when I have heard what You command.
Others may not understand, few will ever know. I’m willing to live by Your plan. You are my final goal.
My intimacy with You will affect those in this realm. I’m burdened by this bounty I’ve collected from Your stores. Instruct me how to give it away so I can discover more.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Howard Thurman
This one made me think. Twice. Howard Thurman went to his rest in the Lord in 1981. He was “a nationally recognized theologian, distinguished religious leader, and prolific author of over twenty published books. His book Jesus and the Disinherited was considered his most indispensable work.” I read his Disinherited and was moved. He wrote, “It is a man’s reaction to things that determines their ability to exercise power over him.” So reminds me of Viktor Frankl.
There are a few things that make me come alive. Some have been sitting in a file folder for decades. When I was diagnosed with the heart aneurysm I got scared but I also got busy. There was poetry the world had never seen that I wanted to release to others. There was the urge to publish a book with some of these blog posts. The aneurysm is still there, but I have decided to let it be there. Was likely there for decades without my knowledge.
Now that a new year has begun, I am aware I will not live forever, with or without the aneurysm. My husband has a pacemaker and reminds me how many years are left on his battery. He assures me he has no intention to get the battery replaced when it stops working. That sort of knowledge keeps me on my toes. If and when he dies, (he thinks it will be before me), I am certain I will be knocked down for a couple months at least if not longer. Therefore, if I intend to get some of these things done, I better get them accomplished before that battery expires!
Last year a friend offered to take one of the praise choruses I heard and wrote down years ago and work with it. She put it on staff paper so people might have it to play and enjoy. Indeed, she did just that! This year I asked if she would be willing to take on the other 4 or 5. She again said yes! This afternoon I am going to her house to work on the timing on one of them. I hope to be able to post them on this blog for you to enjoy at home or in your local church. Truly an amazing and skill musical talent she possesses!
Dana and I are working at preparing my poetry for publication through Amazon Direct Publishing. This will include some of the newer works. I have a new appreciation for what an editor does. I have read every single one of my poems and found many errors that we printed previously. Yikes. There will be a few new photos in the new book, two by my musician friend mentioned above.
Stephen Ministry has been calling to me and I was commissioned last Sunday at church. I will eventually be assigned a care receiver to meet with. That person will need me about an hour a week. I will also be praying for that person and receiving supervision during their care. It is a ministry I feel compelled to give myself to. I, too, benefited from it when I recently felt overwhelmed.
The prayer team at church need leadership. That has been a call upon my life for decades. I did not say no. Please pray for me to hear just what the Lord desires as I try to arrange a meeting with them and provide leadership that will feed and encourage them.
What makes YOU come alive? Would you be willing to take that aliveness and let the world use it? None of us knows when the Lord will call us home. Please do not leave things left undone that you might be able to accomplish now, this month, this year!
I receive daily quotes from several sources. The ones from Every Moment Holy tend to be from one publication for a week or more. Then they will choose a different volume of liturgies to quote from. They books they publish run along a theme for the liturgies in each volume.
Here is their website https://www.everymomentholy.com/ They offer several volumes for sale, free printable liturgies from various topics and other materials on the site.
Let me glimpse in growing things, some hint of your unseen kingdom. Let me shape here a living poetry that whispers words of grace to all who pause to listen. From A Liturgy for Yard Work 1 from Volume 3. I would love to quote more from this, but I have loaned my books to a Pastor at our church!
Last autumn my sister sent me flower arrangements from a company in California that prides itself on sustainable arrangements with little environmental damage from pesticides and fertilizers.
Notice the succulent in the center of each arrangement?
The instructions said after the flowers faded I was to remove the succulent from the water tube it was in and plant it in a pot of soil to get it rooting.
They arrived in early November. This is how they appear in early February! The base of the flower pot is small enough to fit in the large plastic pharmacy pill bottle top for a saucer!
No, they do not look quite as nice as when they first arrived, but they are still alive!! I am tempted to trim off those outer leaves, but I decided not to do that yet. If they shrivel and look unhealthy by late winter/spring I might.
“Let me glimpse in growing things, some hint of your unseen kingdom. Let me shape here a living poetry that whispers words of grace to all who pause to listen. ” Do you glimpse in these growing things some hint of the unseen kingdom? Does the photo come to your eyes as ‘living poetry that whispers of grace to all who pause to listen?’
Apple photos identified the plant as Echeveria. https://worldofsucculents.com/grow-care-echeveria/ has detail on how to grow it. “Thanks to their charming rosettes and gorgeous water-storing leaves, Echeverias are among the most popular succulent plants. Echeverias are one of the easiest succulents to propagate. They are usually propagated by offsets or leaves, but they can also be grown from stem cuttings and seeds. The best time to separate offsets and take cuttings is in the spring.
Guess I do not need to worry about those shriveled leaves, “Echeveria is self-pruning. All you may need to do is pick out the dead leaves or flowers. Removing dead leaves prevents rot or disease from taking over the plant.”Seems the shriveled leaves may have been due to lack of water. (This house is SO DRY this winter I am tempted to purchase a humidifier!)
May your find reflections of glory and glimmers of God’s presence wherever you look today!
A friend sent me this and I thought you would enjoy it! “Douglas Florian is one of my favorite children’s poets. Here is his poem called “Cabin Fever”
I've done the wash. I've swept the floor I've fed the cat And fixed the door.
I've read three books and last week's news, and for the fourth time polished the shoes.
It seems like years
since I've had fun.
I look outside
For signs of sun.
I bite my nails.
I crawl the walls.
For lack of space
I pace the halls.
My mother warned me
of cabin fever.
I was a fool
to not believe her.
Sound familiar? They say we might return to more temperature in the Ohio valley soon. I am liking the stay-at-homeness, but will also relish he release to come and go as we please.
We are having a laminate floor installed in teh sewing/sitting room this week. That ought to tear this up, dirty things up and take time to put together again!
Mid-January and the trees are reduced to absolute sticks Cypress needles have fallen Other trees have shed leaves that are lodged in its branches Yet Cypress is bare
Clump River Burch is stem with black scars Nothing to show for its summer growth Just another inch or so taller Stems rise from common base area
A few oaks have held their dead leaves In the winter wind they sound chilly And out of place Shrubs are all naked
And yet You promise to revive them come spring Hold my barren soul Lord I yield to You my bare scaffold of bony intentions I wait in the arctic arena of winter
You are my source of life The sap that fills my veins Grow me into a plant that delights You Hold me in this barren time
And when the season is right Fill me with Your life and fruit Shine Your light of life through me Make me a bush on fire with Your love
For now, I rest in Your arms Those everlasting arms of love Attached to the unseen vine of life Where my soul finds absolute meaning
We yield to the timing of the Almighty, we wait and hold fast to the promises.
“Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB (1939-2020), was a spiritual guide, popular retreat facilitator, and author who made her home with the monastic community of St. Scholastica in Fort Smith, Arkansas. The Benedictine traditions of deep listening to the word of God and hospitality toward all of life form the roots of her writing and retreat ministry. Wiederkehr is the bestselling author of ten books, including The Flowing Grace of Now, Seven Sacred Pauses, Behold Your Life, and The Circle of Life, which she coauthored with Joyce Rupp.” from Ave Maria Press
Macrina influenced my Christian formation through her writings. I was able to hear her in person once. It was delightful to be under her teaching that evening. I first read this poem a number of years ago and think of it every Advent. I had difficulty finding it this year. Guess I had best print it out for myself!! I used to have the book The Circle of Life where this poem was published.
O God of words, dear Word made flesh give birth to my thoughts change them into words that will help me Christmas up the lives of those I love, for I am weak and fragile scared and empty this year and still I feel You very near.
Jesus, I think I hear You coming I think I hear a sound that says you’ve cared your way into my life again. I think I see a light more lasting than the ones we hang on trees I think I see a world that’s splashed with God again so gospelled with his presence so covered with his love yet, lonely still …
O shoppers, dear shoppers put your carts away. Please put your carts away and search deep down within your hearts for gifts that will not rust or fade for where your treasure is there is your heart. (Matthew 6:19–21) O look into your God-splashed, gospelled hearts and see! See Christmas standing there waiting to be, not bought but given free.
We are Christmas shoppers, Lord We are shopping for a way to make your coming last O take the blind in us and hold it close O teach us how to see decorate our lives with your vision for Christmas, let us see!
O shoppers, dear shoppers hang lights in your hearts instead of on your trees for the One we’ve hung our hopes on has come, and now we’re free but only if we see.
Jesus, we long for Christmas-eyes. Please heal the blind in us for Christmas, eyes that see! Makrina Wiederkehr
Isn’t she amazing in her imagery and passion for Christ and the lost? I just love it! Addressing us directly, “Shoppers put your carts away!” “Dear shoppers hang lights in your hearts instead of on your trees.” May your God-splashed, gospelled hearts rejoice all through this season!
Wild the wind that sends the leaves aloft Gleefully they chatter, “I’m free! I’m free!” ‘Falling’ leaves of autumn Travel far from their beginning Mixing with a flock of birds As we, all earth bound, fail to see Which is bird and which is leaf.
Mighty Force of God, capture me in Your updraft Hurl me headlong in Your love Drift me sideways with the angels Take me far from all complacency Where the familiar dulls my senses Gently land me back at the place On my Pilgrim Journey path where You meet me with new courage To grow on.
I wrote this while at the Convent of the Transfiguration in 1994. The wind caught the Japanese Maple leaves and the poem tells the rest of the story. I still need new courage to grow on. Lead me oh Thou Great Jehovah in your paths of truth and righteousness.
JTIS is our group for crochet, knit, any hand crafting an associate or friend wants to do. We started the group a decade or so ago. Most of us sat in silent retreat with one another, but did not know anything about each other. So we began with inviting the Cincinnati, (i.e., local) Associates of the Convent. The initials stand for Journey Together In Stitches. Not just sewing stitches, but laughter, too. Sadly, our group has begun to dwindle of late. One month another person and me were the only ones in attendance. This past week there was only one Associate and two sisters, another friend and me. I wonder if the group can be sustained?
I asked if anyone had any ideas how we might grow the group. I was told about the Methodists wanting to join communion with the Episcopalians. Perhaps we can invite Methodist women to join us?
I ask your prayer for this group to grow and prosper. We all need others to complete our walk. We need the stories of others. We need the encouragement of others. The joy and laughter cannot be substituted with things on line. The face-to-face meeting is special and to be cherished.
I know things change and evolve, but not everything needs to be thrown out. This fellowship has been working and in my opinion can continue to work for years to come. In AA they say, “Keep coming back. It works if you work it.” I pray the members of this group will return to coming back and working the magic of fellowship in Christ.
19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:19-20 KJV
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV
Treasures in Plain Sight, A Christian Blog 