A Prayer of Remembrance

God of all creation,

Father of life and love and truth,

Our One and only Master,

Your grace, mercy, and peace have sustained us through these days.

We have been touched by deep sorrow and burning anger.

Our hearts have been shaken.

Our lives have been bruised.

We have looked into our times as a mirror

And the reflection we have seen has made us shudder.

In fear and emptiness,

We have walked among the ruins and felt alone.

Yet we were not alone.

Weeping among the wretchedness of burning embers,

You were there.

It was but a glimpse through the rising smoke, but …

We saw Your Son

Still weeping at the grave of Lazarus,

Still mourning with those who grief tears at their souls.

You were there, reconciling the world unto Yourself.

There, You stood with us, there.

We can only faintly remember now the laughter

Of our fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, friends, and companions,

Silenced by the violent hand clasped across their pale blue lips.

We mourn them and we remember.

And Jesus weeps.

We have nearly lost the vision of his smile, the warmth of her embrace.

We mourn them and we remember.

And Jesus weeps.

We find it hard to hear the sound of that once familiar voice,.

It is impossible to be comforted by that once constant presence.

We mourn, we remember, we weep and He weeps with us.

We shall not forget and You shall not forget.

We consecrate that place in our hearts …

That sacred space that is more enduring than any earth-bound memorial.

There we shall be nurtured by memories,

Challenged to be more than we are,

Yet accepted as we are,

Consoled by the thoughts of those whom You also hold dear in Your heart,

For You are there also and there we see Jesus, weeping.

He is weeping and laughing and weeping …

And lifting us up beyond our reach.

There we meet Jesus speaking truth to our spirits,

“I am,” says He, “I am the resurrection,”

He assures us, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

“Believe in God, believe in me.”

And there, in that place of tears,

He paints a picture Of His Father’s house.

And there, He extends His hand,

His way, truth, life hand,

His loving, bleeding, wounded hand,

His tear-stained, blood-stained, tender hand,

His strong and steady hand of grace,

Ands we take it …

Confused, unsure, trembling, we take that hand.

Lord, we take Your hand, knowing nothing but Your love.

And taking Your hand, we hear You ask,

“May I have this dance,”

And we embrace life

And our feet begin to move to the rhythm of wonder

And we remember them with whom we also danced through life

And weep and laugh and dance and dance and dance

In memory

In tribute

In love.

God, for those who are yet broken,

Bring healing.

For those who are bitter,

Show mercy.

For those who are jaded and cynical,

Grant great grace.

For those who are laboring under guilt,

Hold forth the gift of repentance and forgiveness.

For those who are misguided, blinded, and battered,

We pray for a vision of your truth.

For those who are at war within,

Give peace.

For those who walk in the darkness of hate,

Shine.

For those who are dead inside,

May resurrection take its rightful place …

As their prevailing reality.

We yet weep … and Jesus weeps.

We yet mourn … And He mourns.

We remember …

And He never forgets.

Thank You for the gift of their presence

For even such a short while

And for their enduring memory.

Amen.

© 2002, Tom Sims (all rights reserved – permission granted to distribute with this notice)

Amen.

Family

Family

The creative genius of God:

Clay

Just lay there

And then, in joyful play,

He fashioned it this way and that …

Adding a head

Removing a hat

Stretching an arm,

Pooching some fat ..

Until it looked like something … Somebody …

And God’s Said,

“I like this somebody …

I’ll make Him another-body.”

And He didn’t stop until

He had done a beautiful thing:

Made a family and called it

Humankind.

And then He arranged them this way and that

And shook them about and scattered them around And called them back into an odd assortment of folks and before anyone knew it,

He’d made a church

And called it, His Body.

 

Family

The creative genius of God:

Clay

Just lay there

And then, in joyful play,

He fashioned it this way and that …

Adding a head

Removing a hat

Stretching an arm,

Pooching some fat ..

Until it looked like something … Somebody …

And God’s Said,

“I like this somebody …

I’ll make Him another-body.”

And He didn’t stop until

He had done a beautiful thing:

Made a family and called it

Humankind.

And then He arranged them this way and that

And shook them about and scattered them around And called them back into an odd assortment of folks and before anyone knew it,

He’d made a church

And called it, His Body.

 

(c) 2004, Thomas B. Sims

 

On Being a Father

In Search of Fatherhood

“He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father’s wisdom than he who has a great deal left him does to his father’s care “ - William Penn

Not just those who live on little, but each of us is the beneficiary of someone’s “fatherhood.” In a time when fatherhood is in crisis, it behooves us to reexamine its impact and mystique.

If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons. – James Baldwin

It takes a very short time to create biological fatherhood and it is quite an undemanding exercise. It takes years, however, to make a real father. And those years are those which lead up to the moment of conception, that time between conception and birth where a man considers his commitments, and all the years afterward as he grows and develops in his role.

In the years that lead up to conception, the boy becomes a man as he observes other fathers, including his own, is mentored, admired, and assisted in the unfolding task of manhood. He is instilled with values, morals, and examples of what fatherhood is all about. These are the primary formative years in the making of a father.

In that period of time between conception and birth, a man comes to realize the awesome responsibility he has undertaken. If he is wise, he asks many questions, reads books, prays, and thinks more than he has thought for years.

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong. – Charles Wadsworth

Then, of course, he has the rest of his life to work it out, to make appropriate corrections, and to adopt behavior patterns that will prepare him for each new stage of his own sons’ and daughters’ development and for grand fatherhood.

So, he is never finished with the process of being made a father. Fortunately, we have a guide, example, and helper in our Heavenly Father. The task is great, but God is greater. You can be the father God made you to be and help train the next generation of fathers. Along the way, there are some positive steps any man can take toward becoming a better equipped father:

1. Cultivate personal spiritual disciplines that you can model for the children in your life. BE a life-long disciple of Jesus Christ. Nothing will prepare you better for fatherhood.
2. Make prayer, first a centerpiece of your life, and then, of your home. Pray openly, honestly, and passionately about everything.
3. Be consistent. Maintain a life of integrity so that there is agreement between what you profess and what you practice.
4. Show affection and healthy emotion. It is the manly thing to do.
5. Walk what you talk and talk what you walk. Give visual and verbal witness to the gospel.

Look

Look in those eyes

That look to you

In trusting love.

Look deeply and

See the role that

Fits you as a glove.

You are his Dad.

You are her Father

And should you outlive your usefulness in every other dimension

Of what we so flippantly call life,

You will never grow so old or so feeble

That this will not be your child and you the hero of every hour.

© 2005, Thomas B. Sims, All rights reserved

A Flair for the Dramatic

A Flair for the Dramatic

Our God has more than just a flair for the dramatic. He uses drama at every turn to communicate the mysteries of His truth. Two great dramas are interwoven into the history of Christianity and give us insight into God’s ways with humankind: baptism and Lord’s supper. Both of these present the story of redemption with such vivid poignancy that men and women through history have been drawn to their compelling message But that is not the whole of it. Everything God does evokes worship.

A Flair for the Dramatic

God stepped out on stage

And every member

of the orchestra

knew it was He.

He took the baton in hand

And breathed forth

UPBEAT.

Down came the baton

DOWNBEAT.

And the pattern was given

With every eye upon Him.

The strings

The horns

The percussionists

The LIGHTS

Yes, the lights!

The dancers,

The actors,

The Children,

The artists !

Suddenly, the stage was filled

With performers.

And He conducted them.

And every art

And every part

Conformed to the rhythm of His Baton.

And someone in the audience remarked,

“He certainly has a flair for the dramatic.”

And all creation applauded.

© 2005, Thomas B. Sims, All rights reserved