back again

the birch tree in the backyard
was a branchless
skeletal white trunk
just a few short summers ago
written off for dead.

yet here it is!
bursting, re-thriving
green fireworks erupting
wildly resurrected for yet another year
the green fuse of life
re-routes itself
reconfiguring
forging new pathways to the light...

the reports of its demise
were greatly exaggerated

Hold On: for Boston 4/15/13

I wrote the song Hold On the day of September 11, 2001, as events were unfolding with ferocity.  In the vacuum that brought New York, and all of us, to our knees in those days, gasping for breath, the question arose in the throats of many of us, "where does God fit into all this?" This song was my way of dealing with it.  

Now, in the wake of Boston 4/15/13, I was stunned to realize how much this song speaks to the current tragedy.   I'm re-posting Hold On in hope that it might in some way be a comfort to those who are reeling from the events of the past couple of weeks.

Link to recording of "Hold On"

hold on

despite the devastation now
beyond the things I'll never understand
God I'm reaching for Your hand
beyond the questions hanging here
despite the awkward silence in the air
I believe that You're still there

and I'll hold on to the Voice that calls my name
hold on to the Heart that feels the pain
hold on to the promise that remains
hold on

and I'll hold on to the Hand that gently guides
hold on to the strength that's left inside
the shreds of belief that just won't die
hold on

the gift of one more day begins
the act of breathing out and breathing in
the will to start again
one more day to serve, to give
to reach beyond the wreckage and to live
to respect the sacred gift

hold on though the world is not the same
hold on to the God who'll never change
hold on to the fragments of your faith
hold on

hold on and believe the Holy One
and know that His justice will be done
hold on to the Kingdom yet to come
hold on

and just hold on for the world is turning still
despite every tremor we will feel
hold on for eternal life is real
hold on

and just hold on though the mountains fall apart
the pieces of hope left in our hearts
will hold us until the healing starts
hold on

just hold on.


©2001 Greg Ferguson.  

Michelle's story

Just watched Saddleback service online...Michelle Eastman, daughter of our friends Brett and Dee Eastman, told of her challenge of living--and learning to overcome and thrive--with Cerebral Palsy.  

By all counts she is doing just that. She’s a youth leader.  She's learning to master many sports—she can break a board in karate.  Her friends are her coaches and are helping her train for a 5k.  She's well on her way to that goal.  She has the intention of doing triathalons one day.

The Saddleback music team followed her deeply moving story this weekend with my song What a Day It Will Be.  I’m honored that this song is a soundtrack for such a heroic journey as Michelle’s. 

As many of you know, my friends Helena and Jay Mcneill, have a wonderful daughter, Sunny, with CP.  My prayers are with Sunny this morning, with gratitude for the extraordinary mom and dad that Jay and Helena are.  I am fired up by Michelle’s story, and reminded that God can do far and above and beyond all we can ask or imagine.

I’m not asking for 5Ks or triathalons for Sunny, but for God’s custom designed Absolute Best for her.  He knows her, inside and out--every cell, every synapse.

Who but God knows the geometry and the physics of how hope and prayer, when they are passed on from one soul to another, affect cells, neurons and brain messages thousands of miles away?  I know so little.  But I know Michelle's telling of her story will intensify my hopes and my prayer for Sunny.  And  will multiply the hopes of others for their dear ones who have CP.  And perhaps such aspirations and prayers get passed along, passed along in ripples.

Hope is a very powerful and contagious force for good.  

What a Day It Will Be link

prayer for the new

Lord God 

don't let this year be

a mere copy of last year

breathe your Spirit into this year fresh

give it the color and heat of Your intent

the radiance of Your vision

the fire of Your love

the power to carry out Your dream

swiftly and strongly

let this year shine like a brilliant sun

and let us thrive 

in its light

authority

God of all,

i know You are working. 

You have authority over the raging chaos 

that would take the world apart.  

You are moving to expel the darkness within us, 

the distortion of purpose.  

You are striving to establish the light, 

to clean house, 

to create a space in us for contemplation 

of Your perfection and restoring love. 

You cast out the toxins
we breathe in the clarity
and there is healing

beyond words.

You bring simplicity and balance to our bodies,

as it was in the beginning.

Restorer of all things,

have full authority over me.  

may Your pristine intention be fully realized 

in my inner and outer being.

and even amid the flames all around, 
may my center hold--

may i be at peace.

watchful eye

i'm on the lookout for the holy
for the numinous
it's everywhere
but is best caught in the lowest of light
when the distractions of our world
are hidden for a time
dormant for a few hours

then the watching souls
who are awake
get an opportunity to catch
the faintest of a glimpse
a vibe the inner senses detect
a stillness beyond stillness
a light that broods over the earth
in the earliest dawn
or the deep dusk

then i hold my breath

then the holy comes out to play

and maybe
just maybe

God will speak

prayer of thanks

thank you deep breathing

thank you self care 

soul care

silent short simple prayer

thank you trusted confidants

true connectedness

unquenchable spirits

unbreakable trust

thank you freedom to fail

and fail fast

regrouping rebuilding

and learning from the past

getting back up and trying again

thank you brothers 

sisters 

and friends

thank you sabbath

deliberation

defusing temptation to cave in

thank you confession

listening ear 

thank you inclusion

acceptance

resilience

picking up the shards of broken glass

another chance

a second pass

thank you perseverance

determination

deliverance 

the road to redemption

and thank you 

thank you

thank you

salvation

minimalist morning prayer

the sky is brightening
from black to deep blue to red
tinges of sunlight around the edges
unfamiliar birds are flying in a V
from left to right

some mornings
a couple of short phrases of prayer
not spoken but breathed
are all that's needed

it's enough

my soul inhales the silence
and exhales remaining cares
finding God's attentive stillness
in the spaces of the sky

basic

Hey friends,

Thanks for being patient with my stepping away from the blog for a while.  So glad to be back :-)  

This poem sprang up from a very early time with God this morning (4:00am--do you believe it?! Couldn't sleep..)  My conversation with God took on a life of its own, and I went with it.  That's often how my poetry and songs are born.  

So I sense God doing this strengthening, empowering thing in my spirit... Can't tell you what that means to me to feel a groundswell, a lift, gathering momentum after a difficult couple of months that took some tread off my tires.    

basic

the training begins

I straighten my back

called to something higher

let my heart become one with Yours

let my will become one with Yours

You made Your cadet disciples

take nothing on their first exercise

stripping away their supports

no provisions

no protection

traveling lean 

sheep among wolves

wide open to the kindness (or threat) of strangers
and the ambush of forces they couldn't see

a test of what they were made of

You challenged them further yet

stretching them beyond
the barrier 

of where they

thought You 

would break

demoing for them

endurance of the highest order

diving headlong into the lowest abyss

the drop that they said no one could survive

contending to the death

for them to watch and learn

and someday

when they were fully trained

do likewise

I'm humbled and silenced

a neophyte

summon the character in me

summon the backbone

the strength

the resolve and the will

to hear and comply

my focus set on You

alert

awaiting Your word

awaiting Your 

Go

it is not too late

not too late

to pledge myself 

body and soul

into the service 

of the Great 

Commander

prayer for the fight

yesterday morning i needed to pray this prayer, to have the strength to rise up with courage to face a challenge that demanded the best from me--more than i thought i had in me.  

o God

i have given myself to you as my Lord and Commander.

now is the test--
now the challenge.

i submit again to Your authority over my heart,
the floodgates of pure faith you wish to open in me.

steer my vision,
arouse my trust,
wake up my courage,
the love in me.

be Lord of my resolve,
Lord of my fear.
Lord of my words,
my demeanor,
my countenance.

Lord of my posture,
my will to give.

sharpen my eye,

quicken my intuition.
awaken my expressiveness.
open wide the doors of encouragement
and let love fly free.

strengthen my backbone.
leave no loving or protective word unsaid in me,
no act of bold support undone.

let me be fully the healer,
the advocate, protector--
eyes of love, resolve of steel,
radiating Your joy and light
and your
strong,
unconquerable
Hope.

full text of Zulu Time Summit session 1 opener video

Hi friends,

It's a longer-than-usual post... but i hope it's rewarding :-)

You can also find this at willow creek association blog:  www.wcablog.com

zulu time

06:00 hours: 

Zulu time

the sun emerges predictably red on the horizon

start the clock on the day

and we humans

emerge from our stasis,

our sleep

and we take up the responsibility

of free will

mostly unaware that we are

inexorably

connected

one to another

in invisible pathways

jetstreams

shipping lanes

prevailing winds

genetic strains

climate patterns

tidal pulls

the mysterious inroads of prayer

connected:

when one is lost, another grieves

when one is hurt, another bleeds

06:01

this day is in our hands...

what will we do with it?

  

a visionary speaker

sparks an innovator

a design takes shape

wheels set in motion

giving birth to a movement

spreading like a flame

through a church

an enterprise

a city

sparking new ideas 

new adrenaline

walls fall and doors swing open

giving life and hope to

tens

hundreds thousands

moving mountains

feel it?—

potential

it’s everywhere

 a quiver in the atmosphere

disturbing the Pacific Rim

fears in Japan

spark prayers in Berlin

connected

a flashing light

an ambulance siren

a freakish cold spell in Lisbon

child and father under blankets

shivering by the bank on

Boulevard St Germaine

Paris

Hanover Street in Baltimore

by the convenience store

look in those eyes

movement in the ocean floor

Singapore

Bucharest

Malawi

United Nations

Children without vaccinations

09:00 hours Zulu time

leaders gather in New York

scribbled notes from a speech

pen and ink on a Moleskine,

three inspired physicians

having made a point to listen

now engage in conversation

posing the question

will these great minds be moved...

to action?

they wish to learn

they book a flight

wings lift off into the night

passport check

security

Jakarta

Rwanda

Congo Kinshasa

sworn enemies

humble themselves

before a 40 inch screen

(as praying souls in Paraguay hold their breath

on their behalf)

 ...unprecedented

they gather to learn

to heal and to hear

hands join in prayer

clearing the air

listening,

open

willing to be moved...

letting go the deepest of the wounds..

reconciling

excising the fear

brothers

for the first time...

in one hundred years

instantaneous paths of prayer

whisper synced from here to there

decisions to leave

decisions to stay

soldiers drop to their knees to pray

13:00 hours

Syria

Libya

taking up arms

alert

alarms

worldwide protests

desperate prayer requests

old regimes fall

new ones rise

sleeping churches come alive

calls to action

cyber campaigns

after the drought

comes at last...

the rain

Sao Paolo

Corcovado

statue of Christ with open hands

voiceless children

white hot sand

Chicago

Krakow

Amsterdam

commerce

drug trade

street lights

gang signs...

follow down every pathway

Palestine

Mumbai

slums of the Dalit

zoom in on Cairo

the Zabaleen

Garbage city

children’s unprotected souls and feet

one woman listens to the Voice

in the silence

and an idea

catches fire...

in the desert wind

the dry season ends....

the healing.. begins

South Asia

a church in a city that must not be named

one step away

from being found out

shut down

incarcerated

but.. for the prayers in

Des Moines...

and Bahrain

always listen..

watch the streets..

read the signs..

between the lines..

baptisms

in hiding

in tubs

in fonts

in pools

in lakes

the cleansing water

the tides

the surf..

tsunami

Tokyo

from the heat of desperation

comes... connection

Japanese youth

take up a collection

for reconstruction

digging out from under the quake

caring for those left in the wake

spending themselves for the sake

of the broken

what it takes...

is one listening ear...

wherever you are..

tuning in...

finger to the wind...

a willingness to be moved

23:59 hours: 

zulu time

the stars glow predictably white in the black night sky

some keen observers connect the dots

and see them as constellations

others of scientific mind

see them carried along with us in a vast gravitational sweep

that moves galaxies

others see each star as an unrelated...

disconnected...

individual point of light..

all on its own...

alone..

in the universe

each awake and looking human being

takes one last look at those brilliant points of light...

and drifts off to sleep

reset the clock for one more day

...what will we do with it?