but present too is love which tends

I didn’t realize until today how well the text of this hymn went with my sermon…it was suggested to me; I scanned the lyrics briefly; and I agreed. Singing it today was powerful. Here, in a much more succinct and poetic fashion, is part of what I felt called to say today:

“We Cannot Measure How You Heal”-John Bell

We cannot measure how you heal
or answer every sufferer’s prayer,
yet we believe your grace responds
where faith and doubt unite to care.
Your hands, though bloodied on the cross,
survive to hold and heal and warn,
to carry all through death to life
and cradle children yet unborn.

The pain that will not go away,
the guilt that clings from things long past,
the fear of what the future holds,
are present as if meant to last.
But present too is love which tends
the hurt we never hoped to find,
the private agonies inside,
the memories that haunt the mind.

So some have come who need your help
and some have come to make amends,
as hands which shaped and saved the world
are present in the touch of friends.
Lord, let your Spirit meet us here
to mend the body, mind and soul,
to disentangle peace from pain,
and make your broken people whole.

comfort in the meantime

We gather here for a myriad of reasons--some of us just like the music, some of us want a break from the outside world, all of us need each other, whether we know it or not...
some of us come to be comforted and some of us come to hear a word from who we understand God to be.
Regardless of why we come, life often feels like we're fumbling along in the dark--& the dark can be both beautiful & terrifying, but occasionally a flash of light pierces and we feel certain of something for a moment.
I wonder if this certainty is like comfort--that being sure of something, even for a moment, soothes a troubled soul, or gives strength to our joy.
Know that the God who accompanies us in the darkness also abides with us in the light, offering comfort in the meantime but dreaming intimacy and resurrection & redemption for us in the end.
Let us worship this God now.

(acknowledging god's presence, bsm, 3/29/09)