Blog Archives
Kinkade’s Cabin Door or the Potato Eaters Table?
The Son of God does not come to free us
Not from the physicality of this world – broken!
Broken as it may be
Instead he steps through the proverbial door
between Heaven and earth
And he remains
He remains permanently bound up with the stuff of creation
Permanently bound up with you and I
For the sake of this world’s transformation
For your sake and for mine
We paint pictures of heaven that look
Like we’ve commissioned Thomas Kinkade
The lighting is always soft
Like a partially cloudy spring day
The sun’s beams break through
Never overpowering, never dark
Winter, spring, summer or fall
There’s always a sense of warmth
The change of seasons –
If there is any change in seasons – is gentle
We imagine salvation
Like Kinkade paints a cottage or cabin
Nestled in-between lush wooded areas and flowing streams
Pleasure and leisure not shelter from the storm
As if our true life begins beyond the cabin door
But the salvation declared in this book
Conferred upon us by this Spirit
Nurtured in us at this table
It looks more like an early van Gogh
“The Potato Eaters.”
“The Potato Eaters” gather -Together
By single light of burning lamp
Dirty, tired, hungry
Energy has been spent
Spent on a day plowing the field
A day working for their food
The light is dim
Faces are dirty coarse and dark
But we should make no mistake
This is what we were created to do
Before God said this ground is cursed
God instructed till this ground
Before God pronounced tension between she and he
God said he should not be alone
Before God said they will labor by the sweat of their brow
God said the seed bearing plants and herbs are here for you
It is into this world of dirt and sweat
Spit and blood
Bodies and food that Jesus comes
And he does not come to free us
He does not come to take us away
Away from the tables at which we gather
But rather in his stay
He is poured out
He is poured out for our sake
Not to become a bridge to another world
But to be the food and drink that sustains
The food and drink that transforms this life
The life of the world to come
The life that begins today
call and response
call
tonight they’re turning blood and wine into water
with high fructose syrup and red dye number four
and if you believe in miracles they’ll try their best
to see you scarred and barred from heaven’s door
i want to move from goddamn to God be praised
but these days i just can’t seem to find my way
through the motions, to catch the spirit’s breath
before my death, find what’s left of my devotion
response
don’t believe the charlatans with their parlor tricks
act the acrobat to sell you a world where all is fixed
or the harlequins with dime store visions of romance
and love rendered helpless when it enters into dance
theirs is not the kingdom; theirs are not the keys
these belong to the faith, that is pure gift from me
when death is rendered dead; all else is made new
they despite themselves and you in spite of you
~wwb
“I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry”
