El Verbo

Cause me to hear Thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in Thee do I trust:

Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto Thee.

Deliver me, O Lord, Teach me to do Thy will; for Thou art my God: Thy spirit is good;

Quicken me, O Lord, I lift up my soul unto Thee. Psalm 143:7-11

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ John 7:38

So I do several things in my life that make my smart and wise kids feel a little nervous and uncomfortable. One is riding to work down the bike lane on Broadway, because of course this world is full of distracted drivers who are not exactly paying attention, particularly to cyclists in the early morning traffic.

I also welcome guests through WarmShowers, a cyclist thing technically offering a place in the backyard to camp and a warm shower, but in reality, it more often opens up to being able to sleep on the couch and a cup of lentil soup with a grilled cheese sandwich, like last night for my guest riding his bike from Arkansas to California to visit his mother. It was going to freeze last night, so even though I wasn’t that excited about his profile, I didn’t turn him away, the Christmas season and all.

And that still small voice that I am always trying to hear more clearly and quickly.

I mean, today’s verses were written into a chorus I learned, um, exactly 40 years ago, in the living room of Luci and Harold Shaw. And I have been humming these words over and over again ever since then. Up and down the hill outside the refugee camp where I lived in San Jose de Ocoa as I tried to “ralk” Little Nicole to sleep; scrubbing diapers on a cement slab under a mesquite tree at Rancho La Argentina, prayer walking around and around the neighborhood vuelta across Country Club Road by Arrollo Chico with wandering javelinas y coyotes. And even now, as I peddle down the street, trying to dodge potholes and watch for cars pulling out into traffic.

And last night’s guest was a talkative chap, prattling on and on and on about all of the folks he was meeting. And he was shocked that I could speak “Guatemalan.” And that there was more to this border issue than “Obama started the problem when he was in office.” And then he asked some questions about sunrise and was really surprised to find out that dawn was later and nights are longer in the northern hemisphere during the winter. I tried to explain the earth’s tilt and rotation, but that was a little abstract even while twirling an orange.

And as he rode off this morning on his very loaded bike and cart that he can only maneuver five miles an hour, after asking the location of the nearest McDonald’s, I reflected on his visit. John’s visit. He has a name. And besides the obvious answer of the good practice of welcoming the stranger, I hope that I can grow ever tender and soft enough to love the least of these, each of these.

Even Me.

I reflected on his visit even as I chatted with Clay Pell who had called just as John was waving goodbye. Huh. Is Clay’s advice also part of that still small voice?

And what about Nate’s sermon about mixed metaphors today? Seriously, every single word about the Word and the Light and the Life was dead drop perfect. Is that an extra soft heart in action, or am I getting really much better at hearing clearly and quickly that still small voice?

El Verbo is an action word. Can Grace be an action word? Are we To Grace our way through life? To live as verbs within The Verb?

Knowing that this Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not and will not overcome it.

And those post-service conversations, pulling out the iPhone 5 to insert dinner dates, a celebration of Kwanzaa and new contact numbers while snacking on crackers and cheese slices? How does technology and That Voice mesh? What about all those Casa Alitas *bings forming the background noise of my existence? Where do I draw the line?

The Verb in Genesis 1 is “Let there be…”

            Let there be?

As in something that is always becoming,

            A vision of God Spirit

            Always infusing the creation with something novel,

            Bringing into existence something good,

            Coming among us to do a new thing.

Deliver me O LORD. Teach me to do Thy will.

Quicken me O LORD. I lift up my soul unto Thee.