A Positively Poetic Priest

O God, you declare your almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity: Grant us the fullness of your grace, that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 21 BCP 234) God shows God's almighty and amazing power chiefly in showing MERCY. The greatest way we know about God's power is through MERCY. Mercy, what so many leaders and politicians have cited as weakness, God uses to show great power.  The world would be a very different place if we all followed in God's image and showed our power through showing mercy towards others. Mercy has never been a trademark value in the United States. Throughout the centuries we have shown what little power we have through war, bullying, threatening, and genocide. Politicians and leaders love to claim we are, or perhaps were, a Christian nation, yet, in looking at our histo

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 20 BCP 234) Everyday things change. This is true all the time, but seems especially true this year. Every day things have changed. New rules, new garments, new ways of meeting, new ways of shopping. Every day we open the news, the newspaper, our social media sites and learn of more changes in our society and lives. We definitely live in a world in which things are passing by, sometimes faster than we can keep up with! Thankfully, as fast as this world passes by, we know in God there are many things which endure forever. God's love for us and God's mercy are never ending. We can hold on to these no matter what else passes by too quickly. When we make God's heav

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 19 BCP 233) Through social media we see a lot of inspirational quotes about following your heart, trusting your heart, and listening to your own heart. In many ways, these are well and good, we do need to learn to listen to ourselves in order to know ourselves and learn from our emotions. However, in other ways, I find these quotes require a grain of salt because if we don't have God in our hearts, following our hearts may lead us in the wrong direction. Without God in our hearts, we may follow our hearts when they are listening to human values and not Godly values. Without God in our hearts, we may walk down a path we are not suited for. The Collect for this coming Sunday helps us to pray for God to guide and govern our

Grant us, O Lord, to trust in you with all our hearts; for, as you always resist the proud who confide in their own strength, so you never forsake those who make their boast of your mercy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Proper 18 BCP 233) As Admiral Ackbar, from the Star Wars series, says most famously, "It's a trap!" Trusting in our own strength and ability is most definitely a trap. Throughout the Bible there are stories of humans trying to do things on their own strength and failing miserably, while there are also many stories of people doing things in God's way, even when it seems like it won't work, but it does. When we trust in our own strength or abilities only, we become proud and believe we don't need God. And we all know that saying about pride... (an adaptation of a verse from Proverbs) "Pride comes before the fall."  Thankfully, when we trust in God's