The Skagit Valley offers hope to the heartbroken of Oso

They’re, oh, so sad but, Oso strong
as people sing their funeral songs
in churches where they voice their faith
amid the loss they bear.

Not far from where they grieve the dead,
a host of tulips raise their heads
and trumpet hope amid despair.
Their fanfare calms our fear.

The Easter tune the tulips play
suggests a myst’ry underway.
Within the colored fields we see
a miracle displayed.

Those buried bulbs beneath the ground
(much like the bodies not yet found)
cannot be written off as gone.
In time they’ll rise again.

* Not far from the devastated area where many lost their lives and homes in the mudslide, the world-renown Skagit Valley boasts some of the most beautiful tulip fields in the world.

The search for a missing airliner and those far from God

A plane-load of people en route to Beijing
has conjured up memories of “Lost.”
And the world has been searching
with focused intent without any thought of the cost.

These unified nations are looking as one
to find those who’ve vanished from view.
The search has been endless for loved ones deemed lost.
It’s a feverish hunt for some clue.

Much the same we’ve been called to go look for the lost,
little lambs who have fled from God’s fold.
His shepherd-heart longs for the lost to be found.
It’s a message that’s older than old.

And we are the ones He’s enlisted to search
for the sheep who wandered away.
We’re the Good Shepherd’s posse that cannot give up
as we follow each lead while we pray.

If only we Christians would be unified
like the nations that look for that plane.
The fruit of our efforts would greatly increase
if in oneness we shared that one aim.

The key to winning the Iditarod sled dog race

It takes a team to finally reach
that weathered burled arch
on Front Street in the gold rush town of Nome.
This winning team of canines
has withstood both wind and cold
in their brave pursuit to pull their musher home.

Along the trail this team has run
(indifferent to the snow)
contending for a prize they now embrace.
Defying odds and obstacles
they proved they had the will
to outlast the others in The Last Great Race.

This “team of teams” now rests content
enjoying just desserts
while we take time to honor what they’ve done.
It’s the dream of every musher
knowing that the world looks on
aware his team has finished number one.

*written for Dallas Seavey and the 2014 Iditarod Awards Banquet in Nome

Slowing down to fast

“So what will you be giving up?”
the pastor asked his flock.
“A Lenten fast can firm-up flabby souls.
Our self-indulgent comforts
interfere with keeping fit.
They can undermine our long term godly goals.

“A Facebook fast on Sundays
might provide the space you need
to face challenges revealed within God’s book.
Or to go without your smartphone
after dinner isn’t dumb
so to read some Oswald Chambers on your Nook.

“And what about that glass of wine
you sip most every night?
Could you forgo that pleasure for six weeks?
Could you replace that Cabernet
by swallowing your pride
and listening in silence as God speaks?

“Or maybe what you need to do
is not as obvious
as giving up your Starbucks or ice cream.
Perhaps what you need give up most
is not some thing… but you.
Let Jesus own your heart and all your dreams.”