By request, here is the "call to worship" that I wrote for Nov. 22:
Broke of Soul
I am surrounded by poverty.
I hear it in the clank of the coins in that old man’s can. I feel it in the woman’s wrinkled, scaly hands. I see it in those big and youthful, starving brown eyes.
These images form a single bleak picture that hangs on the walls of my heart. But if this picture is reality, then I do not know poverty. For this picture is Xeroxed from my world; it is not my actual world.
My poverty is not “out there.” It is “in here” … and it is abominable. I taste it in the bitter bite of apathy. I smell it in the stench of my stale heart. I drown in its waves of raging indifference.
Oh, Lord! I gasp for Your presence!
Would You save me from cheap, hollow distractions? Deafen my ears to the beckoning snap of the dollar bill; I want instead to hear the crack of my own heart as You reposition it rightly before You. Would You blind me to gold, glitz, and glamour? I want instead to see Your peace, justice, and faithfulness. Would You restore feeling where I am numbed by self-preservation? Oh that You would melt me with the wildfire of Your compassion!
You give me air, life, and breath that I might receive growth, promise, and hope. These lifesprings well up and bubble over. They tickle. They shine. They last. You, oh God, pour out your riches without measure. And I? I receive them without hesitation. For it is the treasures of Your abiding presence, oh Lord, that make whole my broken soul.
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4 comments:
Um. I have no idea who "the voice inside your head" really is, but apparently I'm logged in as you. This is really The Word Chef who made the above post ... and who is confused at how "the voice inside my head" is suddenly my blog identity. ?!
Haha, a case of stolen identity!
Jodi, this is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could have heard it read at church, but I'm so glad I can read it here and without distraction.
Thank you for sharing your lovely and soul-filled words.
jodi, i love this. i love that you allowed me to read it at church. i also wanted to clarify that you must have signed into the imagodeinorthwest email and not logged out because that is who "the voice inside you head" is. confusion hopefully subsided
I think this is just gorgeous, every time I read/hear it. "I want instead to hear the crack of my own heart as You reposition it rightly before You"(!) Seriously? I think that's just plain genius.
It's cute how you don't think you're a poet, Voice Inside the Word Chef. You have some seriously beautiful things floating around in that head and heart of yours, and you write them flawlessly.
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