Haiku #5

When your kingdom comes
in me is new life
and together we bring hope

Haiku #4

A full day
of effective, useful work -
supported by God's strong love.

Haiku #3

Christ-bless'd -
I am to be
alert to God's way,
an eager follower.

Transfiguration

I'm pleased to have found Malcolm Guite's sonnet for the feast of Transfiguration.  I find the last couplet particularly encouraging.

Transfiguration Malcolm Guite

For that one moment, ‘in and out of time’,
On that one mountain where all moments meet,
The daily veil that covers the sublime
In darkling glass fell dazzled at his feet.
There were no angels full of eyes and wings
Just living glory full of truth and grace.
The Love that dances at the heart of things
Shone out upon us from a human face
And to that light the light in us leaped up,
We felt it quicken somewhere deep within,
A sudden blaze of long-extinguished hope
Trembled and tingled through the tender skin.
Nor can this this blackened sky, this darkened scar
Eclipse that glimpse of how things really are.

Haiku #2

When Mary gave birth -
blessed child of God, for us -
Elizabeth wept.

haiku

Gratitude abounds
with blessings beyond number
when Jesus is near.

Promises

It's been pointed out to me that people use the term "the promises of God", and assume that everyone knows what that means.  I wonder if anyone has ever made a full list of "the promises".  I guess they have, but I think  I'd be a bit disappointed to read it - it would suggest that God is somehow limited only to those matters that are recorded and set down.

I'd much rather think of it in terms of "the promise" of God - that there is in fact one key focus in God, and that is for everyone to be brought into an awareness of God's abiding care.  The care is  expressed in many ways, (almost unique to the needs of each person), but always expressed in terms such as those in Isaiah 61:1 - bringing good news, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty and release to those who are unfree.  And the awareness is necessary both for those who are broken (so they become conscious of God's expectation for everyone - including themselves - to be healed) and for those whom God uses as agents of release (so they will see and respond in God's name to the needs of the people around them).

In this way the one Promise is expressed in many ways, and understood and described by people according to their circumstances.

And ultimately, of course, the life and ministry of Jesus, and his death and resurrection, are the absolute expression of God's Promise.  For nothing 'will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 8:39)