clouds, clouds 

clouds, clouds,
sing to me;
reveal to me
your bubbly shape
and magnificent form
of swirling cotton,
tenderly soft, yet
tantalizingly beautiful.

A glance upward
exposes a beauty unmatched.
The confidence of love
paired with
simple, charming grace is
exposed in your wispy fringe.
A feathery vulnerability,
a lovely affair
is artfully painted
in these downy
white masses
that float in
the mystical beyond.


clouds, clouds,
tell me,
what is your secret?

There was once a flower.
A beautiful, blooming flower
of bright pink and green -
glimmering in the sun.
He overlooked all the land
and smiled upon what he saw.

A tiny, helpless ladybug
had no where to rest.
She had been on a
long, tiresome journey.
She spotted the glimmering flower
from her home in the shrubs.
"Maybe he knows the way to rest",
she thought.
She delicately approached the flower -
she was wary, cautious,
its perfection could not possibly be true.
Did the flower even notice
her puny self approaching?

The flower knew tiny ladybug.
He had been watching her in the shrubs.
He knew where each of her spots
had come from.
He thought she was so unique
and wonderful - "she shines so bright",
the flower thought.
He wished tiny ladybug
would come talk to him.
Surely his petals would
bring her great comfort and rest.

The ladybug's tiny legs
carried her to the stem,
"Hello", she called up to the flower,
"Are you up there?"
"I have been on a very long
and tiresome journey
and would like a place to rest."
"Do you have such a place for me?"

The flower welled up
with grace and might.
He rejoiced - his petals shook
with utter excitement.
"Could it be?" He thought,
"Tiny ladybug has finally come
to talk to me."
He reached down and lifted
her from the ground,
higher and higher tiny ladybug
went until she rested upon
the flower's petals.

Tiny ladybug was so astonished
by the flower's beauty,
every hue, every color, everything
was covered in brightness.
But soon tiny ladybug felt
covered in shame,
"Surely I don't belong here.
I have lived my entire life in the shrubs."
"I don't deserve this;
I am covered in dirty spots."

The flower was struck
with compassion,
he wrapped his mighty petal
around ladybug's tiny body
and stripped her clean of her spots.
Then flower said,
"You have always belonged here.
You are always welcome here.
You will never be too dirty or
have too many spots -
I will never stop washing you clean.
You are home."

Tiny ladybug found the rest
she had been searching for
and lived out the remainder
of her years
dancing and rejoicing
on the flower's petals.

"The some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of their elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for your sake of tradition?"
- Matthew 15:1-3

Religious people are pissed that
Jesus and His followers aren't
following rules that were set
in stone by other religious people.
These laws had been established,
they are known because they have been taught,
a strict distinction between right and wrong.

They're condemning Jesus,
the Son of God,
for breaking tradition,
breaking rules,
being too liberal.

They're condemning a man who is God
and His followers that believe He is God
for not doing what is "right" and "respectable".
This is God we're talking about,
He is not contained by rules and regulations.

Jesus rebukes them,
"Why the frick do you break
God's law, a beautiful law
of love and acceptance,
for your established laws of "religion".
God's law outweighs tradition.
It will always be greater,
it is mystical, awe-inspiring,
and you want to control it with rules?
Good luck trying."

Rules and good deeds and traditions
are no longer defining factors of salvation.
God's wide expanse of love
and radical grace
is upon us,
covering all we see.

So what if we stepped aside
from our religious trappings,
the one's that say we're failing
if we don't follow the rules,
if we aren't good enough,
and we stepped into grace.
The grace of God,
expressed in His son Jesus,
is sufficient for us.

Jesus was a different type of person.
It's so hard to be like Him
because He's so incredible.
So, I guess we try and try
and fail and fail.
But we find a glimmer of hope
and try some more.
And fail again.

And it's a learning process.
We learn the beauty of grace
amongst our failures.
And somewhere in the mix we learn
not to be so damn hard on ourselves-
that it's okay to screw up-
we're broken.

It takes a lot of paying attention
to realize how broken we are.
Realization of brokenness is
the best place to be,
because broken people need a Savior.
We need patches, we need hugs,
we need Jesus Christ
in the truest form
of who He is-
Savior of our broken world. 

 "I guess it's like discovering you're on the shelf of a pawnshop, dusty and forgotten and maybe not worth very much. But Jesus comes in and tells the pawnbroker, "I'll take her place on the shelf. Let her go outside again."
- Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith


I sit here
amazed at the way Jesus
changed Anne Lamott's life
and at the way He
has changed mine.
I actually have thoughts now-
real thoughts - good thoughts,
one's that promote me to
do something of worth.
I actually have a purpose,
I actually have something
worth striving for.

I think that this is the simplicity of hope.