The Way of Discernment

I was all set to share about the Lake Merritt UMC Food Pantry in this space this week when I came across this poem from Rev. Steve GarnassHolmes. His meditation affirmed what had come to me in my sermon preparations and was too powerful to pass up. I share the poem with you praying that it will be a place for meaningful reflection in the coming week. Although Rev. Steve does not explicitly say so this time, I hear echoes of 3 of the lectionary texts for this week: Isaiah 55:1-9, Psalm 63:1-8, and Luke 13:1-9.

"Repent or Parish"

Life-giving God,
you are my oxygen,
my heart and lungs.

I long for you
like I yearn each moment
for my next breath.

I try to find life elsewhere,
easier, closer---but there is none,
and it does not give life.

But I breathe deeply of your presence,
your grace filling my body and soul,
and I live.

In my hunger I gorge
on junk food for the soul,
and I am even hungrier.

But I feast on your love
for me and all living beings
and I am satisfied.

When I think of my soul as a tree
planted in a box, untouched,
it withers.

But you dig around the roots of my soul
and the richness of life and death
soaks in through my roots and fills me.


In my fear
I turn from you
and starve myself.

But in your love
I return to you, my life,
and I live.