From Dirt and Water

Formed and shaped from dirt and water,
Forged in love from earth’s debris.
God’s own life now flowing through us,
God’s own breath our energy.
Life and death can never stain us,
Ashes into God’s delight.

Formed and fashioned as God’s people,
Saved through waters wide and strong.
Strong enough to end our bondage,
Wide enough for our shared song.
Psalms of triumph, hymns of service,
Voices raised, our life now one.

Formed and fed by bread from heaven,
Fed, sustained by hearty Word.
Ever-present in our wanderings,
God now tasted, seen, and heard.
Life renewed, transformed, transfigured,
Mission’s hope, a world restored.

Justin Huyck
Ash Wednesday

PHOTO:  kelsey_lovefusionphoto (flickr). Some rights reserved.

A Journey Invites

A journey invites, born of water and wilderness,
Dripping with freedom, and struggle, and prayer.
Our hearts long to follow, God’s reign in our midst!
Called to the journey of Christ!

A soul-healing touch, for the scarred and the sorrowing,
Caressing with presence, making holy our pain.
Our suffering transformed as discipleship’s dignity,
Renewed on the journey of Christ!

A vision that shatters all borders and boundaries,
Enlightening our eyes to lives torn by fear.
We hunger together, sharing death and new life,
Embracing the journey of Christ!

Justin Huyck
Between Christmas/Epiphany and Lent
(See Mark 1)

PHOTO: theleticiabertin (flickr). Some rights reserved.

Advent Dance

Dance for us, O Advent skies.
Erupt with pink and purple hue.
With light’s last gift, defy the night,
Creator’s love alive in you.

Dance in us, O Cosmic Christ,
Who moves in time with sky and sea.
With pulsing wisdom stir in us
Your surging creativity.

Flow through us, O whirling Spirit,
Deep energy of dance divine.
Enflame our hearts with restless joy.
In us, God’s vibrant love abides.

Justin Huyck
Mid-Advent, Gaudete Sunday

PHOTO: thephotographymuse (flickr). Some rights reserved.

Advent breaks in

Advent breaks into our world again.
In the midst of economic crisis and war, hunger and disease,
In the midst of our own worry and anxiety, domestic fatigue and fiscal peril,
In the midst of darkness, and the onset of winter’s chill,
Advent breaks in.

Advent breaks into our church again,
In the midst of empty pews and ecclesial malaise,
In the midst of liturgical tension, struggle, and weariness,
In the midst of clerical betrayal, and enduring pain,
Advent breaks in.

Advent breaks in, because Jesus Christ breaks in,
Surprising embodiment of our dream that God would
tear open the heavens and come down,
shake the mountains of our groaning,
but only by turning our hearts toward a new, unexpected Way:

A transformed vision where beauty is in brokenness, hope in recognizing despair,
And the light of life piercing through any shadow of narrow self-interest,
revealing instead the broken beauty of all who are God’s works of art.

And then we realize that we are called to step into this light, whether gingerly or boldly,
That we might see as a people who ultimately hope,
not in our own security or contentment,
Or even that we might have a ritually satisfied, satiated spirit,
But that we might hope in Christ, the Light of the World.

We are church, a people who received Christ’s light in baptism,
A people who walk by this light along the Way of Jesus,
A people whose eyes and hearts, though wearied, are wide open to our co-pilgrims,
whether we find ourselves together within churchy walls,
Or encounter our fellow travelers through churchy doors.

We are a people who, in walking this journey of mutual compassion,
dare to be so illuminated by Christ who guides our Way,
that we might reflect this light and be a sign of hope for the world.

In Advent, we dare to hope again:
This confident hope, born of God’s gift in Jesus,
This confident hope, born of our faith that Christ will come again,
This confident hope, that even today we see glimpses of Christ’s light,
Christ’s heaven-rending, mountain-shaking presence,
breaking tenderly into the world’s darkness,
illuminating the journey of our pilgrim church.

Justin Huyck
First Sunday of Advent
(See Isaiah 64)