One more thanks friends! From one big fish to anothers–thanks friends, for swimming in the same sea with me over the years!

Shorter intro as promised! I’m working on being shorter winded, more haiku this year. It will be a challenge to keep my life into 17 syllables! Pray for me! I’ll need it!

Just wanted to say thanks again to all the big fish in my life! The ones who keep me inspired and imagin-ing a larger context of Life! Thanks for being you again friends! You keep me swimming! So here’s one more fishy afterword, in the afterglow! I have many fish dreams, but you are some of my most lucid.

The Grammar of love…
Loving in the present tense, also matters! As my spiritual grammar teacher once said! Love occurs in the present tense, but is informed by past, future and, incarnated in the present participle! Loving is the way to be….in all tenses, and seasons of life! If you don’t know what to say, speak love, and you’ll utter something meaningful, despite yourself.

God is so thorough in the art of Love.

A yellow sunflower
sings by itself
for nobody
but God
and a few friends
who happen to overhear.

Watching birds today…

The birds don’t know they are green and exotic. They need us
to tell them. Or, to, at the very least, note their unique glories.

Please encourage non-abusive men to keep standing ever taller in this time! We need it!

Bless in the opposite direction! Today’s prayer challenge, i got from my morning devotion: when i think of abusive situations, which is pretty much everywhere these days, i immediately think about how to move in the opposite spirit!

“What if Hitler could have been displaced by prayer and kindness; what if he and Ghandi would’ve become friends!.” as a friend once challenged me with. Or, what if his father could have been loved into place, so that he was less absent and abusive? Good challenge!

I challenge you to bless any man who has ever blessed you in life today! Someone who moved in kindness, gentleness and care for and towards you in your life!

What a great and ironic time to strengthen and encourage the non-abusive men in our lives as well, and to help them walk more fully and forthrightly! As an act of displacing the false masculine, and to help women from wearing the false feminine!

It’s easier to find dark in others, than it is to live in and speak from Light, which is Love illuminated! To criticize than encourage. Encouragement takes sacrifice and true discernment, rather than our wounds.

Thinking about men who walk in integrity and kindness today (I know many who are truly laboring in Love in unseen places), and go out of their way to protect women and others who are in vulnerable situations; I am blessed to know many such men! Try to find righteous ones around you, and encourage their integrity, so that it may increase and displace the madness.

So, If you know a man like that, who have reflected fatherhood and true kindness towards you, lift them up-overtly encourage them today! Even if your own father didn’t, or couldn’t, there are those who have learned to walk in God’s ways—find them, and bless them this season! That’s part of displacing abuse, and clarifying our images of one another! Not to mention, getting a clearer image of The Father!

For in this divisive time, many are being torn down for the wrong reasons. Let’s amplify praise where we see God’s nature, regardless of what ethnicity or gender.

For, Saintliness is not exclusive, nor are the fruits of the Spirit—all by Grace! And they enter many shapes!

Gentleness, kindness, Love, Hope, Faith, endurance, self control (Galatians 4 etc), are present in whomever desires to download them, and allow them to be formed through death to self. Regardless of gender, race, or location.

Let’s honor those who are walking and increasing in that Light today, and it’s fruits! This is part of our righteous response to the times we live in! As St Peter put it, be ever increasing in love hope faith knowledge, endurance, kindness, brotherly love etc….the path has already been named by many saints before us!

And let us not get caught up in the current dualisms of sight. Look for The Spirit and give it room, amplify it! This is the opposite spirit of our times. To seek God’s Spirit in all things, and enlarge that blessed space until we are all more in it! I’m looking for bold and risky encouragements in our times! In unexpected places!

To criticize is easy, to encourage, requires death to self and prayer! That’s why true encouragement is so rare these days! To build up and heal someone is harder than to tear them down! Let’s be edifiers while here, especially in our times!

Love your enemy must at least include this! Seek out your perceived enemy, and bless them with Love! I’m proactively blessing older ones I’ve found faithful—men and women from wherever. To increase righteousness, and honor it in them, displaces the un-dealt with darkness in others!

Critical spirit aims at and focuses on naming darkness in one another; discernment increases the light in one another! If we want to see our world change, we need to receive, increase and broadcast Light! To speak words of Life as they used to say!

When we honor those who walk well, it brings Light and holds out and illuminates a standard of how to treat one another. Let’s at least do that much in our times. Find one person, who inspired, and blessed you, and proactively honor and bless them. Especially those you perceive as “the enemy”.

Honor your true parents, so that it may go well with you…..find those who are already walking well, and help them walk taller! That was my “word” from my devotion today. Just thought I’d share it. If it blesses great. I’m also trying to walk in that way of blessing in times where the airwaves are filled with curses! Bless you as you learn to speak life over yourself and others!

A Big Fish Dream!
I have intense dreams all the time, but I liked this fishy one last night! It’s kept me swimming today…
Dreamed of a huge white fish last night: a big fish, once caught, you have to figure out how to cover it, and what you both need next….
Had a dream last night, i caught a huge white fish-twice the length of my arm. I was on a large boat on the upper deck, in high seas, deep sea fishing (perhaps the Pacific, or the African-ancient-coast, i wasn’t sure; seas of course, are also nations, and I have been floating between a few recently!); once i landed the fish, and de-hooked it, which took about an hour, i took it to a lower deck to take a look. All white, blue eyes, with flecks of yellow on its fins. Brilliant, radiant, pure, simply beautiful. I felt like it was an elder fish, or adult fish, had known years, but had several seasons left of life as well. Wanted to house it properly.
I had lots of younger colorful fish (younger ones, i’ve helped house and flourish along the way) in proper tanks around the room, they were fine, shiny, growing, resplendent in their own identities, but this one would need something special.
I had no aquarium big enough, or specialized enough for it, but it was too gorgeous to either throw back or let die. In the room, i had other fish aquariums of various sizes, on this lower protected deck, several with cool lighting and their own coral atmospheres (sort of like an art fish studio—really cool looking) which suited several other fish i had been helping grow.
They were happy, but this fish i had to temporarily put into a cooler or small bucket, until i could figure out where it belonged. Or how to build a big enough environment for it, until releasing it, or whatever it needed next.
One of the smaller fish, was a rainbow colored angel fish. It was happy, and i was happy with it’s growth, but in the dream, i needed to figure out how to make a container for this enormous pure white fish (i thought of calling my friend who makes huge aquariums, but i had no phone or computer at high seas!), I’d just caught—it was around 2 feet long, and i had never built a container for a fish this large or glorious.
There were some cats in the room interested in my big fish, so I wanted to find a cover big enough for the container i put it in. I looked for some ply-board, or wood or something which would cover it, until i could figure out the best container for it’s growth. I think i ended up using a stone, but i wanted it to breath a bit. (My design or choreographic perfectionism, i’m sure).
Some of the guys on the upper deck were killing their fish or making trophies, out of them. That felt silly, or even dangerous, though i respected them for fishing. I felt like mine needed to live and had more seasons of life to become. Plus, it really was just so beautiful.
For some reason, i woke up hopeful and humble. Good fishing dream. These other younger fishermen and women on the upper deck also caught huge fish-one fellow had caught an enormous mackerel all black, but couldn’t get it onto the deck. This happened as i was sorting a larger tank for the one i caught. I thought about helping him, but then kept looking at this amazing white fish i just caught, and wanted to protect it’s glory.
The younger ones up top, were extremely enthusiastic to reel their fish in, and I knew how to teach them, but some lost their fish because of over zealousness—the patience required to reel in a big fish can’t be underrated.
But for me, it was about how to sustain this all white adult fish life into it’s next season on the lower deck. Fish are cool! But fish dreams, even cooler. I’ll keep fishing around for the interpretation of this dream. But I think i need to learn to build bigger aquariums in the meantime! Cool dream. I love creaturely dreams. Still swimming with this one.
Reminded me to stay in my season, but also begged the question, of what to do with an enormous pure white fish. I love how dreams ask you life questions! One—how could I house an elder saintly one into their later seasons of life. But there were many other questions intimated as well.
Great dream! I’m always having interesting dreams, but i like fishy ones! Has to do with mysteries, and wonder! This one had a cool inter-generational aspect, which many of my dreams have. When to serve the younger, and when to take care of the elders, and be in your own growth process, serving the mysteries you are served seasonally!
I love how dreams consider layers of spiritual growth simultaneously, and have Mercy on all involved! Fun fish dream regardless. I love how dreams teach—leading us into needed transformational questions in our lives! Plus, that movie “Big Fish” is still one of my favorites!

Our local neighborhood beer-ista (as he calls himself) is great!
Yesterday, he taught me the entire monastic history of each ale they carry.
It was like getting to learn oral church history from someone who is a bit cynical about whether the church mastered spirituality at the level they did beer and cheese. Good critique, i thought.
Always funny, and fun talking to this fellow. I learn so much from those who serve well, and know the stories of what they are serving. Narrative still matters with people, not just products.
I’m still a believer that our personal stories fit into longer and larger ones! That stories still matter, and are not indeterminate, or just used to dominate (but that discussion’s for another day). Identity is ensconced in a meaningful tale, as my mentor put it!
Plus, beer, cheese and wine, not to mention architecture, make church history less boring, if you taste it, and see what worked and didn’t!
I myself was just drinking tea, as i have a slight cold, but i imbibed his message! Thanks friend. He could tell i like to learn what others know. And love learning church history through food and drink! Communion that is.

Praise throws out shame!

In the very area of shame, He plants praise! Not only is He not ashamed to call us kin, or brother and sister! But also, in the very area where we felt the most shame, He plants and cultivates praise. Of course, praise is what throws off depression as well, as David taught us!
Nice truth from and through Zephaniah the priest prophet today!
In the very area of shame, God plants praise! Nice little gleaning from studies today! The cracks really can become where light breaks in the most! Our darkest spots become the places of His most overt Light!