Come All Who Thirst

Eat and Drink

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

No Money Required

Have No Fear.

All Points To God With Us,

Even The Shadows.

Jeremiah 16:19

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge on the day of trouble.

.

2 Timothy 1:11-12

For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher, and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

God is our strength, stronghold, and refuge. The strength God gives us is none other than what fuels our lives: living water and nourishing food, freely given.

The invitation is repeated in the Old Testament Reading for this coming Sunday (Isaiah 55:1-9)

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

As Paul wrote, we entrust our very lives to our loving, gracious, and generous God.

Though we suffer, we need not be ashamed. The world’s ways are not God’s ways. Always taking, taking, taking giving so little in return, leaving so many to suffer at the hands of those who greedily hoard the necessities of life for themselves.

There is no shame in imitating Jesus, generous, gracious, and loving of all, even one’s enemies.

When the days of troubles descends upon us, from within and from outside, we need not fear. Fear leads to panic. Panic leads to chaos. Chaos leads to loss, suffering, and death. No, we need not start down that deadly path. For our God is not distant. For our God is not impotent. Our God is omnipresent, even with us, and omnipotent. Creator of all. More powerful than the most destructive forces within ourselves, within others, and around us in the universe.

God is our strength, our stronghold, our refuge. God calls, come all you who are thirsty and hungry and afraid … come, eat, drink, and be comforted, for as God spoke to Julian:

“Sin is necessary, but all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

[Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love, ed. M. L. de Mastro (Garden City, NY: Image, 1977), 124.]

The Lines

Of Sorrow and Mercy

Monday, March 17, 2025

Are so long

Across the face of all creation.

Micah 7:18

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of your possession? He does not retain his anger for ever, because he delights in showing clemency.

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Luke 1:54

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy,

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Words of Grace for Today –

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When God hides from us, there is nothing more than despair left.

Joy has taken wing, along with hope,

and the wear and tear of life eats away at our hearts, minds, and strength until nothing is left, except

a prayer of desperation.

Phillip John Hanseroth wrote it in The Story for us all.

All of these lines across my face

Tell you the story of who I am

So many stories of where I’ve been

And how I got to where I am

But these stories don’t mean anything

When you’ve got no one to tell them to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP0BZ9P4gdA

…

Then a year ago, @Malindams, told her story commenting under one of Brandi Carlile’s renditions of The Story: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8pQLtHTPaI)

“All of these lines across my face, tell you the story of who I am, so many stories of where I’ve been and how I got to where I am”.

These words saved me during many rounds of chemo and radiation. I was diagnosed with breast cancer when I had a kindergartener and a 4th grader. My boys were so young, I told my oncology team, bring it on, I can take it…I just have [to] live long enough to get them through high school.

The chemo took it’s toll and aged me so much faster than my friends, it was hard to deal with. Now I know the lines across my face tell the story of where I’ve been. 15 years out and one boy has graduated from college and one who is a junior…both are thriving and I celebrate life every day.

Thank you, Brandi for putting into words, what I could not.

So it is with many of us, and for me:

The grief engulfed us and took us down, as God hid from us,

or so it seemed.

What then, but to take the advice

what can you do when you find yourself in hell, day after day?

Just keep going.

And on the other side of the dark dark blue blues, there are the days of brilliant sunshine, and blessings that were there all along,

just hidden in the grief,

holding life out in all it’s wonder for us to be grateful for.

…

so we thank everyone who had words to help us keep going through the hell.

It’s still there, it never goes away,

but the promises are truer now than before,

for there is no better way to know there is light,

than to see it from the darkest moments of the darkest wildernesses.

…

Thanks to all those who had the honest words

of God’s love for us all along…

.

You see the smile that’s on my mouth

It’s hiding the words that don’t come out

And all of my friends who think that I’m blessed

They don’t know my head is a mess

No, they don’t know who I really am

And they don’t know what I’ve been through like you do

And I was made for you.

.

Special thanks to the few who were always there …

And God, full of mercy and steadfast love, who sent them …

For whom we were made.

It Once

Was Good

Sunday, March 16, 2025

But Now You Hide Life From Me

the light is nearly gone, just a sliver of it left,

and then …

Psalm 30:7-8

By your favour, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication.

.

John 16:22

So you have pain now; but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Oh, it used to be so good, blessed people said, though they plotted and schemed to bring me down, down, down,

without cause, just jealousy and fear at being seen for what they are.

So

it was

but now

is no more

The joy is gone

the hope has died

for even God has deserted us

and all that is left are promises, promises, promises

as old as the ages and newer than fresh snow

that have been broken

through the ages

so often and

so often

again.

…

Where is the joy?

Everything is

Just the Same

Saturday, March 15, 2025

Old Story

The Blues,

from Sky to Ice

and Back.

Isaiah 62:2

The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will give.

.

2 Corinthians 5:17

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The Promises people make,

the Promises scripture makes on behalf of God,

the Promises people make to one another,

the Promises.

…

How can it all be new,

when it’s the same old, same old.

Putting creases on my face, and on yours.

Wearing my all down, down, down.

…

promises

promises

promises

…

More lines, more grief, more loss, more sorrow, more lines.

Until my face, your face, is no more, except dust.

…

So?

One God

One Big Mess –

Friday, March 14, 2025

Us

Oh God, Guide Us, From Darkness

to Light.

Zechariah 14:9

And the Lord will become king over all the earth; on that day the Lord will be one and his name one.

.

Romans 10:12

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all and is generous to all who call on him.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

God is One.

And we are always one big mess.

Individually and collectively.

Look at the mess in and around us today. It just keeps getting more and more chaotic. The world around us keeps getting fractured into more and more competing fragments of hearts and minds, and bodies.

Yet

God is One.

As we have come to believe, for we cannot know, nor change God.

And only by the work of the Holy Spirit can we know anything true about God.

And this we know: God is generous to all, without distinction.

So open your minds.

Open your hearts.

Open your spirits.

God would have us be God’s own who are as generous to all without distinction.

Found, Favoured

and Sent

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Out of Darkness

into Brilliant Light, God Calls

and Sends Us …

Genesis 6:8

But Noah found favour in the sight of the Lord

.

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

God chooses us, favours us,

and oh, we could celebrate ourselves into oblivion with such great pride!

But

God does not choose and favour us that we may be made important in our own eyes or in the eyes of the world.

God chooses us, favours us, and then sends us out to proclaim with our deeds God’s mighty acts of saving us miserable sinners caught in the deep darknesses of our own making.

In the Light, by God’s grace alone, we see

God’s Wonders

so clearly contrasted to our own miserable attempts to make things right.

The greatest wonder is that God chooses to save us from the darkness.

Remember.

Re- member.

All that God has done for us, so that we can share it all with others.

Not Found

Zeroed out.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Goners

Smoke steals air

on our way to

zeroing ourselves out of life.

Jeremiah 50:20

In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and none shall be found; for I will pardon the remnant that I have spared.

.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The order was given

by the devil’s generals

to zero us all out.

Out of shelter, clothing, food, water, even air.

Out of energy, movement, thought.

Out of time, out of hope, out of love.

…

Instead God came to zero out our sins

so that we might live free from the incapacitating chains of fear

so that we might live ready and able to give life to others

so that we might be filled with hope and love for all people.

An impossible journey made possible by the only one who made the journey to death and hell to pay for our sins of helping the generals of the devil zero out other people.

So we step forward, against all expectations

into the light of humble penance,

and hope for love that

can transform us

and

the world.

Confirm

Or conform?

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

And Get Squashed

No more able to conform to the badlands

than to the devil’s wishes

and yet ….

Joshua 24:22

Then Joshua said to the people, ‘You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord, to serve him.’ And they said, ‘We are witnesses.’

.

2 Peter 1:10-11

Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Standing in the crowd, most people bow to the emotions and direction of charismatic rulers, as those leaders promise to provide better days for the crowds, even as those charismatic punks steal everything and everything possible from the crowds for themselves and those who pave the way to power for the weak people desperate to be rules.

So the crowd conforms.

So the crowd confirms.

So the crowd gives weak people power over them, to let themselves be robbed of life, hope, and peace.

On this necessary journey of Lent,

seeking to find the reason for all this chaos,

we remember God chose and called us,

equipped us and sent us out to

the most vulnerable

with the most valuable words

the Word of God,

the promise

of life

for

all.

Drowning

Drowning

Monday, March 10, 2025

Drowned in our own arrogance

Drowning with creation

in the pollution of

arrogance, CO2

Psalm 4:9

I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety.

.

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

Drowning in violence staged by uber-hubric arrogance.

Drowning in hate that robs life from so many around the world

and us here, without a home.

Drowning is troubles and horrors, that should long ago have been eliminated from human lives, hearts, minds.

Drowning

Drowning

Drowning on this obligatory journey.

So we cry, save us, God.

Save us and give us peace at night and through our days.

Save us.

Save us.

Save

us.

Lost

Out Somewhere

Sunday, March 9, 2025

Nowhere

Where?

Where Are We?

Where!!

Psalm 105:3

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

.

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

…

Words of Grace for Today –

…

The Lenten Journey is begun,

but we are lost.

Lost in the dashed hopes of all time

and of our time.

Lost to joy.

Lost in seeking.

Lost all hope.

Lost is all peace.

Drones strike, hearts fear, threats spill like regurgitated thoughts, already long since rotten food eaten, poisoned the mind, digested – puked onto the political world stage.

Lost is all power to move.

Yet on a required journey to discover

again the meaning of life.

Seeking is futile, as always.

Find us God we pray, knowing God knows we are lost for God is always also here.