shades of gold

"Sometimes silence isn't golden.

Sometimes it's just yellow."

Jan Kemp

May we know when to speak up,

especially for those who have no voice.

Steel Thyself

"The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality

is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed

secures your life also against being opened up and transformed

by the holy power that life itself comes from.

You can survive on your own.

You can grow strong on your own.

You can even prevail on your own.

But you cannot become human on your own."

- F. Buechner, The Sacred Journey

Love vs. Death

"The resurrection doesn't answer any

of our curious questions about life after death,

Such as how will it be? How will it look?

But it does reveal to us that, indeed,

LOVE is stronger than DEATH.

After that revelation, we must remain silent,

leave the whys, where, hows, and whens behind,

and simply trust."

-Henri Nouwen, Our Greatest Gift

window art from  here

Easter Monday

This is what our clergy feel like

after the marathon of Holy Week.

He is Risen!

They are Recuperating!

Good Friday

"He began in the darkness of a stable,
Loved in the twilight of Passover,
Died in the darkness of crucifixion.
Arms outstretched in the manger,
Still outstretched on the cross.
...Asking to be held at birth.
Asking to hold at death.
And past death?
Arms still outstretched."

- Donna Huswick



Jesus Loved Judas

Jesus loved Judas.  He loved him when he chose him to be his disciple.  He loved him when he stole from the common purse, and when he left in the night to seal Jesus' fate.  Jesus also loved him when he dipped the bread in the wine and gave it to Judas as a foretaste of the great banquet.  

The fact that Judas could not respond to such unfathomable love did not change how much Jesus loved Judas.  Is there anything that can separate any one of us from the love of Jesus? 

Is there something you are carrying that you are tired of carrying?  
For what do you seek reconciliation?

-based on Holy Wednesday Lectionary reading - John 13:21-32.
Art: Kiss of Judas Iscariot, anonymous painting of the 12th century, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.

                                                                

Ultimately,

Forgiveness is not a thing,

it is GOD.

-Martin L. Smith