PerGoSeeMo Psalm 31

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 31. PerGoSeeMo Psalms 1-30

            In the beginning, a single thought

A challenge to offer what most I prize:

My time – the hours that would have been Story’s,

For you had another tale in store for me.

A tale that began in the chapters of John,

And continued in spite of my clamoring mind;

You led me to quiet and up to the sky,

And drew me into your invisible arms.

            You showed your name’s power, of which I’d been told,

And guided my steps to the bridge where you waited

To prove that you’re more than my heart ever heard,

Even though you were speaking wherever I turned.

We traded fairytales blended with truth,

Spoke author to Author, and sung songs anew;

Reflected on plans and desires, and watched me

Fall into patterns of disciples of old.

            But more than words only, you gave me your peace,

And assurance that we’ve only just now begun –

This month the nativity of the days onward

For Father and daughter and Spirit and Son.

            Amen.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 29

Psalm 29. Psalms 66:16-20

            On just another evening,

A night of little note,

Went about my weary business,

Same as always, done by rote;

            Looking with lack of interest

At the words you’d use to speak –

To plant the seed that grew a wonder

In one autumn month of weeks.

            And what if I had not listened?

What if I had not heeded?

If I had ignored your urging

To do just the thing I needed?

            What if I’d disregarded

What I thought I felt I knew?

Where would I be now if I had failed then

To listen to you?

            Starting with trepidation,

Rather dubious and shy;

Questioning deep inside me

Why I even meant to try;

            Fearing to feel a failure

If things didn’t go as planned;

Ready to blame imagination

For that tiny thought’s command.

            And what if I had not listened?

Refused to step out blindly?

Marked as a sad mind’s cruelty

The test you gave me kindly?

            What if I turned my back

On what I felt too small to be?

Where would I be now if I had failed then

To trust you with me?

            Flipping through tens of pages,

I retrace our journey’s course,

Marveling at the music

Of the words, and at their source;

            Eyeing the blank before me –

All those spaces yet to fill;

Knowing not what we two will pen there,

But my heart’s ear toward you still.

            For what if I had not listened?

Had not the nerve to follow?

Gone on without acknowledging

My spirit’s needless hollow?

            What if I’d reached this moment

Missing what I might have had?

I don’t know what then, but I’m here right now.

And for that, I’m glad.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 28

Psalm 28. Isaiah 26:3-5, 7-9

            You will keep in perfect peace

All those who trust in you –

Those whose thoughts are fixed on you,

And whose hearts are turned to you.

            Take my trust

And renew it day by day;

Let me know from head to soul that I believe.

Be my rock

That I’ll cling to, come what may.

And give unto me your perfect peace.

            Take my thoughts;

Hold them captive in your hand,

Lest they wander down a road that leads to grief.

Go before

To make smooth for me my path.

And give unto me your perfect peace.

            Take my heart

And become its first desire;

Day and night, be what I most sincerely seek.

May my love

Be all you, my Lord, require.

And give unto me your perfect peace.

            You will keep in perfect peace

All those who trust in you –

Those whose thoughts are fixed on you,

And whose hearts are turned to you.

“Reason”

A few years ago, I wrote a short Christmas story in which (nutshell version) fifteen-year-old Al Fischer spends the holiday enthusiastically telling his family everything he loves about the Christmas season.

By purist coincidence (or not…), Al and his author have similar ideas about Christmas. And he’ll be pleased to know that I’ve decided to commemorate our mutual obsession here on Ever On Word by dedicating a series of blog posts to The Top 10 Reasons Christmas Rocks My World.

* * *

#10: Reason

            The tenth “declaration made to explain or justify action, decision, or conviction” listed by Al is the “basis or motive for an action, decision, or conviction” behind the holiday itself. That is to say, his reason number ten is the reason for Christmas.

            There occurred an intermission in the writing of this piece while I browsed online for the literal definition of the word “Christmas”. A bit of Googling led me to an article which states:

The World Book Encyclopedia defines “Christmas” as follows:  “The word Christmas comes from “Cristes Maesse”, an early English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.” …The word “Mass” in religious usage means a “death sacrifice.” (“The True Meaning of Christ-Mass”, David J. Meyer)

            Meyer proceeded to go on a tirade about the satanic evil inherent in a holiday where people go around laughing, “Merry death of Christ!” (Full diatribe found here, for any who care to see.) I’m gonna go ahead and respectfully disagree with this guy’s view. I’m well aware that the idea of a midwinter celebration has pagan origins (plenty of history on that here), and anyone can tell that Christmas has undergone its share of secularization. What surprises me is that the “Merry death of Christ” detail offended Meyer the way it did. See if you follow my reasoning:

            Some two-thousand-odd years ago, God sent his son to be born on earth. The reason behind this? The world needed a Christ – a Messiah – a hero to save us from our just desserts for the misdeeds it’s been in our nature to commit since Adam and Eve’s big goof-up. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and only a perfect death sacrifice would cover all of humanity. Well, shoot; none of us are perfect. So enter Jesus of Nazareth, born for the sole purpose of living a perfect life to offer on our behalf before returning to Godhood with his father. We Christians celebrate Jesus’ birth because he’d come to die for us. In light of that, why not hail each other with a “Merry death of Christ”? Sounds like the last laugh’s on Satan, to me!

            Leave it to God to rock our world, eh, Al?

            Al nods vigorously and self-quotes, “I mean, salvation aside, I say we owe him just for this awesome holiday!”

            It stands to reason.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 27

Psalm 27. Colossians 1:9b-10

            Begun in blackness

Blind to the hand before me

Other hand in yours

            Follow, unseeing

Creeping slowly, lest I trip

Begging your patience

            Will there come a day

When there’s light enough to see

Just one step ahead?

            Would the light expand,

Illuminating farther,

Even to the end?

            And might my gaze move

From bright path stretching onward,

Up into your face?

            Surely if I could,

I would find that I’d have eyes

For little but you.

* * *

Edit: And then, eleven hours later, I came across this —

            Child of my love, fear not the unknown morrow.

Dread not the new demand life makes of thee;

Thine ignorance doth hold no cause for sorrow,

For what thou knowest not is known to me.

            Thou canst not see today the hidden meaning

Of my command, but thou the light shall gain.

Walk on in faith, upon my promise leaning,

And as thou goest, all shall be made plain.

            One step thou seest: Then go forward boldly;

One step is far enough for faith to see.

Take that, and thy next duty shall be told thee,

For step by step thy God is leading thee.

            Stand not in fear, thine adversaries counting;

Dare every peril, save to disobey.

Thou shalt march on, each obstacle surmounting,

For I, the Strong, shall open up the way.

            Therefore go gladly to the task assigned thee,

Having my promise; needing nothing more

Than just to know where’er the future find thee,

In all thy journeying — I GO BEFORE.

~Author Unknown

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 26

Psalm 26. Ezekiel 3:10-11

            Listen to the words the Lord has given;

Listen to the words he’s placed inside;

And though all other ears be closed,

I’ll sing the song that I’ve been told.

            Sing to me, O God, and let the music seep;

Let it sink down deep

And permeate me.

Take your pen and ink, and let no other stain me;

Alone sustain me,

That I may heap

            My praises unto you

As long as I have aught to give –

For all my everlasting life

It’s only thanks to you I’ll live.

            Listen to the words the Lord has given;

Listen to the words he’s placed inside;

And though all other ears be closed,

I’ll sing the song that I’ve been told.

            Whisper in my mind, and let me always hear;

Let the sounds come clear,

So there’s no mistaking.

Scribe upon my heart what you would have me take

In my hands and make

Into offerings

            And praises unto you

As long as I’m possessed of breath –

For all my everlasting life

I owe to your defeat of death.

            Listen to the words the Lord has given;

Listen to the words he’s placed inside;

And though all other ears be closed,

I’ll sing the song that I’ve been told.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 25

Psalm 25. Jeremiah 1:4-9

            Are my words yours?

Have you chosen me to speak them?

Picked me out to say them

Before I lived to do so?

            Was every letter planned,

And not only incidental?

All my childhood scribblings,

Stepping stones placed with intent?

            Are my fantasies guided

To be your fables?

Have you given fiction

That I may reveal your truths?

            Is my ad-libbing in perfect keeping

With your timeless script?

What a comforting yet eerie thought that is.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 24

Psalm 24. Matthew 14:24-32; PerGoSeeMo Psalms 15 and 23

            It was a dark and stormy night –

And long, or so it seems.

I struggled ‘gainst the wind that howled

Loud as my inner screams.

            The gale threatened to lay me low,

The waves to knock me down.

Saline wetness before my eyes,

Enough in which to drown.

            Then, in the frightful tempest’s midst,

I faintly heard your voice.

Faced with the squall and your steady call,

I made my daring choice.

            Leaving the boat I knew behind,

On you I trained my stare

And, almost before I knew it,

Found myself walking on air.

            Laughing and flushed with triumph,

Dancing on glorious new ground,

My spirit leapt to fly sky-high!

…And then I looked around.

            The storm was bad as I remembered,

And I was just as small.

Panicked by the sight, I felt

Myself begin to fall.

            I cried to you; you came to me

And held me close to you –

Holding behind your smile, no doubt,

Some thought like, “Déjà vu.”

            Go on, then – call me “Peter”,

While I label you my rock.

Eyes back on you ‘til we get through.

In time, this storm will stop.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 23

Psalm 23. Isaiah 40:8; Habakkuk 1:5

            Hey – can we talk?

Can we cuddle?

Okay. Here’s what’s up:

            It’s been one of Those Days;

The ones where the future feels overwhelming,

And I feel sort of left out of life.

            Nothing really happened…

On Those Days, it feels like nothing ever will.

And I feel lost, locked out, and lonely.

            I feel, I feel, I feel… not like I feel I ought to feel,

Given… everything.

            You stroke my head and ask, “Do you remember yesterday?

You saw no need to fear the future, then.

Remember not so long ago,

When your heart filled with joy to overflowing into song?

            Remember how you got there;

How you got here.

Was it not in spite of feelings?

            It was walking blind in darkness toward my voice.”

And finding it.

“What is it you always tell yourself?”

Feelings are deceptive.

“Do you put your faith in feelings, or in me?”

You know the answer; are the answer.

Hold me tighter, please.

            “Feelings come, and feelings go.”

The grass withers, the flower fades.

“Truth remains ever true.”

            I know. I believe you.

I just wish that I could see.

“So you think.”

So I feel.

Guess we know what that’s worth, then.

PerGoSeeMo Psalm 22

Psalm 22. Isaiah 7:9b; 8:11-13, 16, 19-20

            Lord, I must apologize –

Confess a silent sin:

For I once knew but couldn’t quite believe

That you could use old truths to speak anew to me;

That prophesies given to long-ago others,

Words of the future for those in the past,

Could be your whisper in the present

To, not “someone”, but this one.

            But now my eyes are opened,

My ears cocked toward you,

My heart softened.

You have spoken to me on your terms,

And it is strong enough.

            It is time to change my thinking –

Lose the panic and the worry,

Stop fretting about what goes on

Behind the doors you’ll open when I’m ready.

            You’ve given me your testimony and presented evidence –

Talent, skill, and passion, hand-in-hand as your Exhibit A.

In my own power, not enough;

With yours, your will’s the limit.

Still further proofs you’ve tossed out, rapid-fire,

That there’d be no mistake on my part;

“Stick with me, kid, and you’ll go places.”

            Take my hopes and faith, and I’ll ride shotgun.

Be the driving force behind my every turn.

I’ll count on you to guard me

From the potholes and the drunken maniacs.

If the signs and GPS don’t match,

I’ll go with God, Protector, Savior.

            You’ve earned the personal trust of one

Who knew to trust you anyway,

But lacked a bridge between the head and heart.

            Yes, I owe you an apology.

And I owe you another “thank you”.

I owe you a lot of things.

Thank God free gifts do not demand repayment.