Church Planter's Ballad

I am but dust.

God's breath enlivens this dust.

Bankruptcy. Ridicule. Hunger. Homelessness.
Fundamentalists. Power Brokers. Fear Mongers. Internet Trolls.

Cannot Harm dust.

Nor can they harm the breath of God.

Ikon

During prayer this morning, I pictured my own funeral. The artistic renderings of the cross and the empty tomb at the front of the chapel were more prominent than the casket.

If this proves true at my actual funeral, then the body lying in that casket will have been put to good use and will attain a glorious hope.

Tedious and Beautiful Work

Off and on for a long while now I have been working on hand copying the Bible. I am about 3/4 of the way through Genesis, and started doing this simply as a discipline, like the manual labor of the Desert Fathers. As such, it has been very fruitful to pay attention to what thoughts arise as I do this tedious work.

There are MANY distractions. Like: I should just read a Psalm? I love that earthy poetry so much more than I love copying this earthy genealogy. Or: should I play with switching the way I do my lower-case "a's"?

But many beautiful insights often come as well, and in surprising places when I force myself to slow down and engage with the text in this way. One of the most common blessings has been one I, given my own inclinations and interests, desperately need: I often think of some words of encouragement for others. This, I hope, helps them as I pause to shoot them a quick email or give them a call, and then get back to my self-imposed copyist work. But it also helps me appreciate the depth of the people around me and how blessed I am to have the opportunity to steward these relationships.