Tag: Christian Community

One Plus One Equal Three

~ Elizabeth W. Marshall ~ 2 Comments

Thank you for being here. I am grateful. You can also find me on Facebook, as well as Twitter and Instagram. I also have a subscriber based newsletter which is mailed to followers once-ish a month. Thank you again for your presence and encouragement on this writing journey.

One Plus One Equals Three

Twice yesterday I sat still for a long while
We were three each time
Two plus me
One and one
Plus me
Made three
I learned to listen again
In time I had learned to forget
But the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Are good reminders
The Trinity heals the deaf
And the blind
And like me
Those who once were blind but now they see
The power in a listening ear
We can learn by faith, old dogs and old tricks
I’ve had ears to hear since ’59
I just forget sometimes
To see what a gift it is
To listen
To one or two or more
Gathered here
There is not one of us who doesn’t love
To be heard
Safe to say the hurting want to be heard
So bad it hurts
Some days my dog listens better than I do
Grace says I am here
And I can hear you
I’ve had these ears since ’59
And grace will lead me home
Blessed are those who listen well
I am pretty sure Jesus would say that or said that or maybe he did
And I just wasn’t listening

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Secondhand Joy: The Parable of the Garden

~ Elizabeth W. Marshall ~ 2 Comments

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Second Hand Joy

I am a lover of old, repurposed, recycled and worn. Drawn to objects which have age and patina. The chips and breaks are badges of honor. Tarnish tells me love was there. Run love through the sieve of time. Until it stands the test of time and time again. Watch the beauty multiply. Compounding adds to the interest. Cracks are doorways for the rays to pass through. Of hope and light. Sealed by perfection, honed to perfection, perfect cannot bear the weight of beauty in the broken.

Faded sepia outlasts the lives of the living. Remaining to tell of love and life. Proud of her browns and white and nearly monochromatic memory.
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She met me at the fence line. Wearing a story in her silhouette, curved like an ampersand, bent logogram, a symbol of her life. Joy comes like the morning fog. Lays down and covers the pregnant day. She had excavated joy from my joy. Joy in spades. Joy in triplicates. For mine was there. Then hers arrived. And mine was doubled by her proclamation. At the fence. The currency of love. Exchanged.

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My joy is not my own. The mystery of the winter seeds we planted is unfolding. And I bear witness to the miracle of love. Lonely and a bit alone, she watches as our garden grows. And she can write the story of my chickens and how they spend their day. Acting out their antics on the stage for her amusement and viewing from her front row seat.

I was blind. But now I see.

Amazing grace. How does your garden grow.

Today I Say Goodbye

~ Elizabeth W. Marshall ~ 4 Comments

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Today I Say Goodbye

In the hours before, I rehearse the dialogue
My monologue
Of how many tears we will hoard
Or how freely we will release the goodbye’s
What speed and pace and length will the salutation be

I know nothing of any of this
This path that we will walk
Only that it is you
Your countenance
Soul-filled redemptive beauty
Which I will miss

Circling the globe in search of words
To tell the stories of unfurled beauty
Marked by redeeming acts
Stamped with mercy’s seal

Two paths crossed like a jet stream’s tail
Go in peace to love and serve

Today I say goodbye
Today someone else receives the gift of a new hello

Oh, the way of the cross
The mystery of His love

I have practiced good bye a hundred times
Watch me
I still weep
Redemption’s beauty
Has come and gone and will come again
World without end
Amen

Peace of the Lord be always with you
Our soup is getting cold
One check, please
And also with you

The Time I Lived Vicariously

~ Elizabeth W. Marshall ~ 9 Comments

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The Time I Lived Vicariously

While watching a gray and feathered flock

Brown pelicans sunning in November on the dock

And entered into community from my place

Of solitude

And thought of you

You duplicate my life

And make it two

One of here and one of there

Not duplicitous am I

But honest in my telling that you give me more

I hear your words echo from the Frio

And beyond

From the high places

You were called

I was not

God is good to give us lives

Multiplied in two’s and mores

The time I lived vicariously

Was one of those

You spoke to me while I was, yet

Not there, not haunted by the singleness of one

But tethered by the Spirit

To you

Canyons echo, multiply

Community, sacred echoes I have heard

Sacred echoes I have found

Joining Laura and Kelli