Preparing to Light the "Mary" candle on the 3rd Sunday in Advent

As the Tobacco Trail Church prepares to celebrate Mother Mary, giving thanks for all she has done for us, here is a text and a meditation:

The angel Gabriel said to Mary, "Do not fear, Mary, you shall conceive and bear a son and give him the name Jesus. Great will be his dignity and he will be called Son of the Most High..." Lk. 1


O Jesus, I believe you were born of Mary and are God's Son.

Your mysterious coming is beyond understanding. Yet like your holy mother, Mary, I wish that you come to me, for you promised you will. Let me serve you in any way I can and know that you are with me day by day as my life goes by.

Like Mary, your mother, though I know you only by faith, may my whole being proclaim your greatness and my spirit rejoice in your favor to me.

O Wisdom, holy Word of God, Jesus Christ,
holding all things in your strong yet tender hands,
come and show us the way to salvation.

Struggling to eat healthier?

Struggling to eat healthier?

October Workout

This morning

I reinvented

the runner inside

it was fall everywhere

leaves everywhere on Buehler’s trail

but it was almost shirts off weather

high, 60s and humid

the kind of perfectibility that the Piedmont produces in October

an array of leaves softening the trail beneath

I warmed up

down around the fitness loop

thought

I should run my K’s here

but I want the track

for pop and speed—precision

I’ve not worked out in some weeks and I seek a measuring rod

where am I really

not

where would I like to be

or where should I be

no 

who am I

today 

as runner

Results were fair, but the morning was perfect

And some perfect

must always be enough

I continue to be so proud and thankful to serve in this town

I was at American Tobacco this morning speaking to 11th graders from Voyageur Academy about what it means to start something–in this case the Tobacco Trail Church. First, I did not start a thing. I just caught up to what God was already doing, or better, I hang on the end of the kite and try not to get rope/string burn.


Read about church planting within the Kingdom of God.

I love you Durham and I love you ATT

Voices from Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73

This music by Beethoven inspired the poem, "Voices," which can be found in the collection, Border Ways, available at BN.com and Amazon.com.

Voices

Wind blows
Sun shines
And a woman yells harshly
Emphatically
To someone on the other end of digitized audio waves
The scene is out of concert
Because the day preaches coolness, calmness, serenity
Who needs such a harsh talking to?
I’m glad it’s not me
Though I could probably use one
Run faster
Parent better
Work harder
Write with greater clarity

She is calming and walking nearer
Smiling to the person on the other end, though he can’t see the smile
Perhaps he can hear it somehow, in the turn of a word
Serenity overcomes me as it has already done on this bright day
by hearing that best part of
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73
Listen to it and choose your best part
I discovered it again for the first time
In a theater watching a stammerer find his voice
And though afraid of falling on his words into empty space
He went anyway and spoke into the mic
Found his voice and the heart of a nation
You too have a voice
Somewhere there is an audience
That needs your story