A dialog with and about God

Lord, I believe you love me beyond my wildest dreams. Why then do you not give me what I want? Not because you don’t care. I know you are capable, you who speak the word and the thing exists. It must be that you deny what I want because you know that won’t satisfy, that won’t be the best for me. I know too how often choosing the distractions I want produces boredom, not joy. Help me really get that today.

Another new Psalm

Oh God, you see my troubles. How small they are.
How small they are when I think of my brother, my sister held captive.
Yet those troubles too are small compared to You.

How easy for you Lord, to say one word and set the captive free.
Somehow the time for that word is not yet.
This moment, you choose to show your power
By secretly sustaining their soul in outward weakness.

So many things I’d like.
Yet how little really is missing from my life, when I have you.
Only for a short time your great overflowing abundance is hidden.
Open my eyes, my heart to know it’s really there.
What do I really want? You. Help me see that.
Help me take your words to heart.

How good and pleasant it is

How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters come together in unity,
Giving thanks for one another, making new treasures from old memories.
May I remember this day when my brokenness surfaces again,
When I ought to know better but don't.
May I remember this day when my brother, my sister, disappoint me.
May I be patient as you are, O God, shining the light of truth and grace on our messy mix,
Good and evil jumbled together.
O God, who will receive whatever harvest we do yield,
And cast into the fire whatever thorns have choked us,
Give me wisdom to see and be like you today.