Lent - Haiku by Sam Candler

A bit late, but here is an Ash Wednesday haiku by the Very Rev. Sam Candler, Dean of the Episcopal Cathedral in Atlanta, posted on his great blog, "Good Faith and the Common Good."

Check out his blog,

May we all strive to continue to keep a holy Lent,

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

____________________________

To church for ashes
Today, signs of earth, dust, signs
We are down to earth.



(May God bless us today
In a down to earth way)
Sam Candler

Lent - Wilderness, where the streets have no name

Lent has me exploring the theological aspects of wilderness.  As I begin a busy day today, I began to think about U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name"....in the wilderness, beyond the wilderness...hmmmm...

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Lent - Moses beyond the wilderness

Lent 3

Moses beyond the wilderness...

Have you ever gone to the wilderness, and then gone out the other side?  Have you ever gone "beyond the wilderness"?  Being driven to the wilderness, or led to the wilderness, as Jesus was, I wonder if he went "beyond it" and only going beyond could he come back around?  It is a dark and dangerous place, a large and ominous obstacle, but at times the only way is through, and sometimes the only way to get back is to go beyond.  What was Moses doing beyond the wilderness?  Well, we know that he encountered the living God, the God of his ancestors, and there he was called to do a great thing, to lead his people to freedom.  Have you ever gone to the wilderness, and then gone out the other side? What is waiting for us beyond the wilderness?  Do we have the courage to find out?

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Exodus 3:1-15

Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."
But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM Who I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you':

This is my name forever,

and this my title for all generations.

Lent - The Jerusalem Mile Project

A group of pilgrims from the Diocese of Virginia (including our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston) are in Jerusalem and are also blogging at "The Jerusalem Mile."  I encourage you to follow along with their pilgrimage, and I have to say that I am envious.

You can also follow along with another pilgrimage, my friend from seminary, Fran, who is blogging at White Mountain Musings or at http://whitemountainmusings.blogspot.com/

I pray I will one day also make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Check them out HERE at http://jerusalemmile.wordpress.com/ and White Mountain Musings or at http://whitemountainmusings.blogspot.com/

~The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Psalm 137:1-6 Super flumina

1	By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept, * when we remembered you, O Zion.
2	As for our harps, we hung them up * on the trees in the midst of that land.
3	For those who led us away captive asked us for a song, and our oppressors called for mirth: * "Sing us one of the songs of Zion."
4	How shall we sing the LORD'S song * upon an alien soil?
5	If I forget you, O Jerusalem, * let my right hand forget its skill.
6	Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, * if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy

George Herbert

Love (III)
by George Herbert
Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, Guilty of dust and sin. But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack From my first entrance in, Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning If I lacked anything. "A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here": Love said, "You shall be he." "I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear, I cannot look on thee." Love took my hand, and smiling did reply, "Who made the eyes but I?" "Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame Go where it doth deserve." "And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?" "My dear, then I will serve." "You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat." So I did sit and eat.

The Collar
by George Herbert
I struck the board, and cry'd, No more. I will abroad. What? shall I ever sigh and pine? My lines and life are free; free as the rode, Loose as the winde, as large as store. Shall I be still in suit? Have I no harvest but a thorn To let me bloud, and not restore What I have lost with cordiall fruit? Sure there was wine Before my sighs did drie it: there was corn Before my tears did drown it. Is the yeare onely lost to me? Have I no bayes to crown it? No flowers, no garlands gay? all blasted? All wasted? Not so, my heart: but there is fruit, And thou hast hands. Recover all thy sigh-blown age On double pleasures: leave thy cold dispute Of what is fit and not. Forsake thy cage, Thy rope of sands, Which pettie thoughts have made, and made to thee Good cable, to enforce and draw, And be thy law, While thou didst wink and wouldst not see. Away; take heed: I will abroad. Call in thy deaths head there: tie up thy fears. He that forbears To suit and serve his need, Deserves his load. But as I rav'd and grew more fierce and wilde At every word, Me thoughts I heard one calling, Child! And I reply'd, My Lord. from Poets.org