Inciting Moment

"The empty tomb doesn't make sense without the cross. The cross doesn't make sense without the manger,and the manger doesn't make sense without the garden of Eden. It's all one story. And only when you finally untangle it, see its scope, and enter it for yourself do you realize that the story has finally entered and at last entangled you." Steven James, Story

tough times in torah leave questions swimming
punitive God with a jealous fist
like the flip side of my hippy Jesus' Abbah
looms in the crinkly pages
eyebrow crinkling moments
when little Isaac is tied to the altar
and three thousand die because of a golden calf
violence bubbling like tar under dusty Egyptian feet
soap opera scenes between Leah and Rebeccah
made me lean forward and drop my jaw in the living room
animal blood pouring like rain with innocence slaughtered
cubit laws for the temple and color choices
like some nightmare dictator on Trading Spaces
lists of offerings and laws and sons of sons of sons
but I'm choosing to trust in the questions
because I cheated and read the ending
the Titannic veil you designed was torn in half
the prison of law and sin and mind-numbing monotony crumbled
I asked to see all sides of You
to dive in the honey and all the stickiness of history with You
the meat, the core, the aftertaste, the grizzle, all
adding suspense as I approach the happy ending
that all this tragedy was pointing to
its darkness only magnifies the light of grace
the joy of conflict, the roller coaster of suspense,
and the victory that raises my hands every service
when I get to celebrate with other readers
the true Author of it all
what a ride

"Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together.
Who foretold this long ago,
who declared it from the distant past?
Was it not I, the LORD ?
And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior;
there is none but me." Isaiah 45:21

Now Playing . . .

"Challenge #1 for 2007: Read the bible like a novel."
Mark Waltz, Pastor of Connections, Granger Community Church

"To understand and remember what you read, you've just got to make a movie in your head."
Ashli Hepler, English Teacher Extraordinaire, EMHS


day one
opening credits appear
in an expanse of darkness
echoes boom from nowhere
an uncomfortable silence before the ride
an Artist at the easel dips His brush
four words began all the beauty in the world
the sky painted, land sculpted,
creatures begin to walk, crawl, fly or swim
then a little dust and a breath from You
delivered the complexity of anatomy
and the intricacies of man's soul
a step back from the easel, something's missing
a helper, flesh of my flesh,
math and logic defied when the two become one,
sticky temptation slithers in,
pointing fingers, blame and shame
the gift of choice thrown back in Your face
so much beauty, and we let You down
Luckily, it was only the beginning . . .

"Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way."
2 Timothy 3:16