Grace to you this day.
Free flowing, fresh, thirst quenching, life altering, mind bending, countenance lifting, laughter evoking, heart wrenching, heart mending, sweet, precious grace to you.
Grace to you that is greater than sin, disappointment, and fear.
Grace to you that is so flavored with giddy God joy that no bitter words can shatter its confidence and all swords of disparagement pass through it like knives through Jello.
Grace, grace, grace to you.
Grace to you that lifts you and challenges you.
May grace that cannot be contained in you, be in you and flow through you to others today.
If you do not believe as I do, that grace can come in a person and dwell within you, may grace still surround you and may people of grace be gracious unto you. sing grace; dance grace; live grace.
Grace to you.
We set urgent goals, make urgent plans, play urgent roles,
Pray urgent prayers, seek urgent interventions for urgent cares.God quietly, silently, patiently hears our cries, our fears, our sobbing tears.
God speaks and cage-rattles as silently and patiently to our rage- battles.
And urgency gives way to intentionality ....
And rush to order ...And we step into a different time-line where all that was slow
Is fast
And all that was fast
Is slowAnd everything
Is right on time.
"Hear my prayer, O LORD;
give ear to my pleas for mercy!
In your faithfulness answer me, in your righteousness!"
(Psalm 143:1 ESV)
Who can I lift today
From dregs or rags or rubble?
"Who will lift me?" replies the bit of me within me
Whose focus, inverted and cross eyed causes me to
Stumble over unexpected opportunities.
"Refocus!" Shouts the me within me that can see,
Refocus and move forward and ask again the first question.
Who can I lift today and in the lifting, lift myself.
Who can I encourage?
Who can I bless?
Who can I walk alongside and with that one,
Share a burden?
Who can I love?
To whom can I give myself?
Who will be my brother or sister,
Or lifelong friend,
Whom I have never met?
Who will you bring along my path today, Oh Lord,
By divine appointment to change my life
As I give myself away?
I stand before you on tiptoe, Oh Lord,
With childlike anticipation and wonder,
Waiting for the moment and the person
That you will bring along my way
To lift today.
I am wake-walking through a garden of dreams, eyes open, heart pounding, life-affirming.
I am dreaming within a dream of dreams yet to be.
My heart is full of emptiness being filled and refilled.
My life is an adventure where impossibilities unfold into realities.
I am wake-walking. Nothing is asleep within me.
Wake-walking and wondering what the next unfolding will bring.
Wake walking and willing to awaken anew to a deeper dream.
Blessed.
Isaiah 48:10
"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."Hard times are creeping all over.
Everyone looking for a four leafed clover.
Life as we know it isn't so easy.
Verses like this getting mighty cheesy,
Days are long. Rewards come slowly.
More time to waste, less time to be holy.
Everywhere I go, huddled masses huddling
Folks talking about hard times and muddling.
They're just trying to make it, fake it,
Shake it, bake it, and rake it in.
Preoccupation with lack of occupation
Lots of people on a forced vacation.
Where two are three assembled be
There's an "Ain't It Awful" assemble-ly.
(or a discussion of the economy
with a large dose of "woe-is-me")
Here's the challenge as I see it play out.
And you can either agree of call it way out.
When hard times come, we can let them define us ...
Or ... we can lean in, leap forward, and let them refine us.
Or this one!
There is more to do than can be done.
There is a smorgasbord of fun.
The race is longer than can be run.
Face it; we are under the gun.
So ... do what you can while you can.
"“As long as it is day, I must do the work of Him Who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4"
Life Academy
We dream; we grow;
We move; we flow;
We laugh; we glow.
While here below,
We live in anticipation
Of pomp and circumstance
And graduation.
We are matriculated in the school of life
Articulated by toil and tears and strife.
We are students of all that passes
Work and play, day by day, our classes.
We are classmates with our fellow creatures.
These also are our students and our teachers.
And this is our assignment:
Absolute and total realignment.
And someday through the pain and stress of it.
We will celebrate the gain and success of it.
We dream; we grow and
by God's grace we move and flow
And laugh and glow
While here below,
We live.
Live well.
Live Long.
Prosper and overcome.
Be all that you can be.
You are more special than you know and it is an honor to be considered among your friends.
- Tom Sims
Happy Birthday
The perplexing poles of gratitude and regret,
Pictures in the mind we cannot forget,
Unwritten sonnets, unsung songs,
Unfulfilled wishes, un-righted wrongs.
Tempered and enveloped by words aptly spoken,
Mended hearts which once were broken,
Loves requited, love extended,
Hearts united, truth defended.
All of life is blended in a stew
Of all and everything that comes to you.
Blended and seasoned by all you believe,
Life is all your heart will receive …
By faith, willing, hopeful, and eager.
All that is impressive and all that is meager
Is life, and life is very, very good.
Have a happy, happy birthday. You should.
- Tom Sims
Today is now.
Now it is today.
Tomorrow is not yet, but when it is, will be today.
Then today will be yesterday.
And we will start over.
So, if you are going to do anything at all, do it today.
For each today will pass away until they are all used up.
What is not done today will never get done.
I am wake-walking through a garden of dreams, eyes open, heart pounding, life-affirming.
I am dreaming within a dream of dreams yet to be.
My heart is full of emptiness being filled and refilled.
My life is an adventure where impossibilities unfold into realities.
I am wake-walking. Nothing is asleep within me.
Wake-walking and wondering what the next unfolding will bring.
Wake walking and willing to awaken anew to a deeper dream.
Blessed.
Grace comes softly on tip-toe
Know its heart and soul
A goal, a light, an arrow in the sky
Why would any flee or resist
Insist on proof, aloof, and cold
The old, the young, unsung and poor
A door to truth, a way to find
Kind words are not enough
The stuff of delusion, confusion, and appearance
A clearance sale, and give-away
Grey to bright, sight to insight
Flight above the clouds and stars
Jars of life, boxes of love, packages of joy.
This is for all to whom it applies. I just jotted it down for my MySpace friends with birthdays and decided to share it:
It’s time to say, “Happy Birthday!”
Happy Birthday to You.
I need to say something new.
I’m glad you were born here
And you’re going somewhere too,
OK! That was corny.
How about …
As you face the anniversary of your birth, I know the mixed emotions that gather around such a day:
The perplexing poles of gratitude and regret,
Pictures in the mind we cannot forget,
Unwritten sonnets, unsung songs,
Unfulfilled wishes, un-righted wrongs.
Tempered and enveloped by words aptly spoken,
Mended hearts which once were broken,
Loves requited, love extended,
Hearts united, truth defended.
All of life is blended in a stew
Of all and everything that comes to you.
Blended and seasoned by all you believe,
Life is all your heart will receive …
By faith, willing, hopeful, and eager.
All that is impressive and all that is meager
Is life, and life is very, very good.
Have a happy, happy birthday. You should.
- Tom Sims
What is that on your heart?
Is it just another attachment,
Or is it part of the whole?
Can it be severed as part?
An incidental detachment ?
Or must it remain as your very soul?
I think it is more than you know
More than you suspect
More than you can part with.
I think it is ebb and flow,
Something you must protect,
That which you must daily start with.
It is - Is it not, your dream?
It is that essence you embrace,
That core of being driving you on.
It is the radiant, pulsating beam
That neither time nor trouble can erase.
It is what keeps you striving when hope's gone..
You are a dreamer, fashioned with purpose.
You are a schemer, designed for greatness.
You are a believer, infused with boundless hoping.
Live your dreams surrounded by the circus,
Under the big top with crowds predicting a fate less
Wonderful than what you know as groundless coping.
Reality is what you dream.
Activated by what you do.
Empowered by who you are.
You are far more than what you seem.
Your reach extends beyond your view.
Do it now and you will go far.
God be with you as you dream and do.
Just a thought to encourage you to embrace your God-given dreams with your God-given resolve, passion, and love and go for it.
I am cheering for you today.
You are the best you there is.
There is no competition.
You can do it better than anyone.
No one can take your place.
Along with that dynamic truth there are two,
Seemingly contradictory, but ultimately
Paradoxical and mysterious:
You are not yet the best you can be ...
Or will be ...
And ...
You can duplicate yourself and your efforts
In others who are each, individually,
One Of A Kind
Like you.
The keys are ...
Wonder,
Appreciation ,
Extension,
Investment, and
Commitment.
Stand in awe and wonder at God's creation of you.
Appreciate your own uniqueness and that of others.
Extend yourself beyond your immediate reach.
Invest in people and in your own development.
Commit yourself to the long haul.
By God's grace and power,
You can do it.
You are well on your way and you are ...
Oh So Special!
- Tom Sims
When you dream great, worthy dreams,
you connect to a place in your heart
where you flip the switch
that turns on an attitude of expectancy
and wonder,
thus activating imagination
and motivation.
When this happens,
you engage yur mind and
your feet
and your hands in the pursuit of your goals.
You rally all of your resources and,
if you will, by faith,
God's.
Greatness is yours for the believing,
receiving,
and acheiving
when dreams partner with
thoughts, deeds, and
prayer.
You are ready for an explosion of
possibilities
and I am
your cheerleader!
No tree is stronger than its roots.
The heart of each of our pursuits
Is truth, raw and unrefined,
Longing for more, love inclined,
Centered in the blessed incarnation,
In the fertile soil of God's most gracious invitation
Come to the manger.
Come.
© 2005, Thomas B. Sims
The Gift Cluttered Parlor
The world is dark
As a gift cluttered parlor
on Christmas morning
Before the children awaken
from their restless sleep.
Grace steps in softly on tip-toe.
We know its heart and soul
A goal, a light, an arrow in the sky
Why the urge to flee, resist
Insist on proof, bold, aloof and cold?
The old, the young, unsung and poor
A door to truth, a way to find.
Kind words are not enough
The stuff of delusion,
Confusion, and appearance,
A clearance sale, a give-away
Grey to bright, sight to insight
Flight above the clouds and stars,
Jars of life, boxes of love, packages of joy.
The piracy of our privacy
Invades the darkness and
redirects our thoughts
To a manger gift
And lifts our lives
beyond ourselves
To God.
Peering eyes barely opened, recognized his mother from a bed of straw. He squirmed, tentatively exploring his world, not knowing it would so soon reject him or that for it, he would lay down his life. Yet to discover what in eternity he knew, that he was the Savior-Sovereign, he whimpered as any infant would and cried out for suckle. So vulnerable was the Son of God, so frail the Son of Man and we did esteem him stricken, smitten, afflicted by God.
Crucified from the foundations of the earth, he emptied himself of glory. Yet, glory pursued him. He took on the form of a servant as angels stood by awaiting his slightest summons. He subjected himself to temptation, but shunned sin. He walked among men as a man, but his divinity could not be hidden. He prayed as we must pray and taught us in so doing to embrace the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. There he lay, a bundle of need who had hitherto known no need. Packaged in his person, the potent possibilities of reconciliation and redemption.
Here lay an offering, wiggling beneath swaddling clothes, wrapped up and carefully placed under every family's tree.
Here lay the concentrated reality of all God's love for humankind.
Here was a promise fulfilled, a hope realized, a purpose unfolding before our very eyes - and we esteemed him not.
How we have marginalized this child. How we have assigned him but a season of sentimental reflection and generalized good wishes. How we have misunderstood, misrepresented, or misappropriated the meaning of his coming. God manifest, he was and is and nothing less. Emmanuel - more than a pleasant sounding melody - is the miracle of incarnation. God is, absolutely, irrevocably, undeniably, and unambiguously, with us.
A child - weak and hungry – he was born into a world without incubators or Pampers or formula. He was born into a world of high infant mortality with an elevated threat on the Herodian horizon. For each who welcomed him, there were companies of soldiers seeking to snuff out his life. Soon to be on the run, a fugitive from his own people, he would return again and again and ultimately in a final show of death-defying atonement.
He is the Lord we laud, the Master we magnify, and the Savior we salute on this night of nights. We have no gold, frankincense nor myrrh to bring as acts of homage. We bring empty hands extended toward him that he might fill them with his own gifts. We fall down before him and worship with broken and joyful hearts, celebrating the power of the pregnant paradox - they that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Gaze upon him in wonder this night. Sing to him a lullaby of praise. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.
A Flair for the Dramatic
Our God has more than just a flair for the dramatic. He uses drama at every turn to communicate the mysteries of His truth. Two great dramas are interwoven into the history of Christianity and give us insight into God’s ways with humankind: baptism and Lord’s supper. Both of these present the story of redemption with such vivid poignancy that men and women through history have been drawn to their compelling message But that is not the whole of it. Everything God does evokes worship.
A Flair for the Dramatic
God stepped out on stage
And every member
of the orchestra
knew it was He.
He took the baton in hand
And breathed forth
UPBEAT.
Down came the baton
DOWNBEAT.
And the pattern was given
With every eye upon Him.
The strings
The horns
The percussionists
The LIGHTS
Yes, the lights!
The dancers,
The actors,
The Children,
The artists !
Suddenly, the stage was filled
With performers.
And He conducted them.
And every art
And every part
Conformed to the rhythm of His Baton.
And someone in the audience remarked,
“He certainly has a flair for the dramatic.”
And all creation applauded.
