Sunday Worship at “The Clink”

Why the Seahawks stadium resembles church

It’s Sunday and the worshipers
have gathered filled with hope.
They raise their hands toward Heaven as they pray.
These congregants are fervent
in their liturgy and zeal.
You’d think it’s church to see the Seahawks play.

The refs (like certain preachers)
are preoccupied with rules.
They’re quick to point out when somebody sins.
But they also call attention
to the progress that is made
as they run along beside Lynch til he’s in.

The choir wears their matching robes
that boast the number 12.
They loudly sing their songs in unison.
Their chanting cheers the faithful
as their words inspire faith
that when all is said and done they will have won.

“Go Hawks!” A stranger offers
as he passes on the street.
He see me clad in 12th Man green and blue.
“Go Hawks!” is my rejoinder
much like what we say in church
“The Lord be with you! And also with you!”

It seems like a religion
when you stop to analyze
the rituals that mark a Seahawks’ fan.
There’s passion and allegiance
and commitment to a cause
that a non-believer cannot understand.

Je Suis Jesus

A response to the terrorist attack in Paris

“Je suis Jesus!”
Hear him speak!
You who grieve
who justice seek.
As candles glow in Notre Dame,
the Prince of Peace declares…

“Come unto me!”
“Venir a moi!”
“I know your pain
and nerves are raw.
And so I weep with you who weep
and comfort you who fear.”

“Peace I leave you!
My peace I give
to you who’ve lost
the will to live!”

Wherever terror stalks to kill,
Immanuel stands tall.

Celebrating the Birth of a New Year

A poet’s prayer on New Year’s Eve

Lord, as this dying year
gasps its final breaths,
I am mourning
squandered choices and wasted time
that have marked this season of my life.
Forgive me, Father!

All the same I am celebrating
a new year about to be born!
With this birth announcement,
I am motivated by the beauty
of an unblemished calendar
and the promise of new opportunities
yet to be embraced.

Thank You, God, for not defining me
by the things I have carelessly left undone
or by the actions I have selfishly pursued.
How grateful I am that You see me
through the filter of what I one day will become.

As I cradle this newborn year
and gaze into its potential,
please help me bury regrets of the past twelve months.
In so doing would You also raise to life
those hopes within me
that have slumbered in a deathlike sleep
for far too long.

Although the graveyard of good intentions
may be punctuated with headstones
that call to mind failed attempts at reaching dreams,
I refuse to grieve as one who has no hope.

With the stroke of midnight
comes the ring of Easter truth.
Thanks to an empty tomb,
death (in all its forms) has been trumped by life.
Lifeless resolutions are animated once again
by the breath of grace
and the ability to start anew.

Enable me, Lord,
to be purposeful and focused
in this new year
as I look to You for daily guidance
and dance with the blessings that come my way. Amen.

Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus

What the jolly old elf has to do with the newborn King

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

He is the embodiment of the unconditional love
for which every child (and grownup) longs.
One whose all-seeing eye
sees us when we’re sleeping
and watching over us
with guardian angels at the ready.

He is that One who knows when we’re awake
and with uninterrupted knowledge
nudges us from behind
with a still small voice
indicates the way we should take.

He is that One unlike any other
who knows if we’ve been bad or good
because nothing we think or do
can escape His holy awareness.
This Santa of which I speak
cannot simply wink
at our selfish pursuits and sinful behavior.

His penchant for justice prevents cheap grace.
But because of His gift-giving nature,
this One who loves the world
refused to simply threaten us
with coal in our Christmas stockings.

This Giver of all good gifts
refused to remain distant
but dirtied Himself
by descending from the top of the world
through the chimney of our Heaven-reaching efforts
into our less-than-perfect world.

Taking the soot of our shame upon Himself,
this most benevolent lover of humanity
clothed in the red of His own blood
gave us the best gift we could ever imagine.
His presence.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!
But those who know Him
know Him by another name.
He is loved by children of all ages of every nation.
He is the proof of the Creator’s self-giving generosity
who once declared,
“Let the little children come to me.
Do not forbid them.
For to such as these belongs the Kingdom of God!”

Yes, Virginia, His name is Jesus!

Unbroken

The rest of the story

The one who wrote his story
and the one who did the film
were two women deeply touched by this great man.
He was crushed but was unbroken
and though given up for dead,
he discovered both God’s fingerprints and plan.

Yes, Louie Zamperini
was a prisoner in Japan.
He was tortured and abused by human hate.
But resentment didn’t break him.
He surrendered to God’s love
as he found he could forgive a sin so great.

God’s grace is what explains it.
It alone can be “the why”
someone brutalized could actually forgive.
It’s “the how” a man disfigured
by the ravages of war
could escape hates heinous prison camp and live.

How I wish the book and movie
focused more on Louie’s faith.
It is such a major part of who he was.
Louie’s story is unfinished
without mentioning his Lord.
He’s the missing link providing “the because.”