Sunday, February 24, 2013

The Way of Discernment

The poem below by the much appreciated UMC pastor, Rev. Steve Garnass-Holmes, seems perfect for this 2nd week in Lent as we continue along the Way of Discernment.  Last week, we were invited to broaden our focus, to look around, and to intentionally become aware of God’s presence and movement around us.  This week, we consider the place of trust in discernment.

The Beckoning Will Be Your Home,"I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess."  —Genesis 15.7

Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory.    —Philippians 3.20-21

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?     —Psalm 27

The promise seldom comes as a voice—
more like a nudge, a beckoning from nowhere
that tips you off balance
and something in you keeps walking,
something in the part of you
that is beyond you.

The beckoning itself will be your home,
a belonging from elsewhere
that will lead you through strange places,
dry places where you are the only one,
where others refuse to understand,
and the dark, confusing alleys of the unknown,
but belonging still,

a home from which you can't be removed,
that moves with you
like the moon through the trees,
a presence that does not send you
but accompanies you,
walking the most frightening streets with you,
holding you close under the sheets of your despair,
knowing what you are too weary to see,
the body of your humiliation
radiant with glory,
by nothing but love.

Walk on, and do not be afraid.