A couple of years ago, around this time of year, I wrote to you about my King. Well, it is time for us to celebrate His feast again. I’m so excited!

Of course, we celebrate His feast once a week on Sundays – and really every day in between too – but this feast is special. It comes only once a year, right at the end.

As soon as we celebrate this feast, we start all over again and remember how He came to live among us so that we could get to know Him. How fun!

Anyway, in the last few years, it seems, they have been saying something different about my King when His feast day arrives.

They used to say He is King of heaven and earth. So true! But now sometimes they say is King of the universe.

I have to admit, that kind of weirds me out when they say that.

Now it’s not that I don’t believe it’s so. From what I gather, my King was right there when the whole universe was created.

In fact, they say “all things were created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1: 16). So, of course, He’s got to be in charge of it all. Couldn’t be any other way.

And it’s not that I don’t want to share Him. Not at all. It’s so wonderful having Him live in my heart that I want Him to live in everybody’s heart.

I guess it goes back to this time years ago when I was out in the woods late at night and I looked up at the cold winter sky.

I had seen stars before, of course, but that night, that night I saw stars and stars and stars, filling the whole sky. It seemed like there was no end to them.

The science people tell us that by the time that little twinkle reached me, each star I saw that night had probably gone out of existence. Not to worry though, new ones are being born all the time to replace them.

It was just so grand, so immense.

I’ve told you before that my King lives in my heart and this is true. He lives in the hearts of all of His people (or He’s knocking on their doors) – and there are a lot of people on this earth.

But when I consider all those stars and all of the planets that could be spinning around them, it’s almost too much.

If my King is in charge of all of that, how could He have time for me?

When I’m busy discussing all of my thoughts and feelings with Him, I feel so certain that He is listening. In fact, it seems like I have His undivided attention, so deep and loving is His concern for me.

But how could this be? There are 7 billion other people on earth alone. And all of those stars and solar systems to keep track of – maybe with other people living on other planets?

How could He be listening just to me? I’m nobody in particular when it comes to all of that. I’m certainly no important person and my thoughts and feelings can’t be nearly as significant as all of those solar systems.

Sometimes, when I get weirded out by all of this, I start to doubt. Maybe there is no King living in my heart. Maybe I’ve just imagined it all…

But this doesn’t go on for long. Even though my King knows by now that He doesn’t have to knock to enter my heart, He’ll start knocking again for old times’ sake.

And when I hear that knocking, I can’t help but laugh at myself. How could I ever think I made that up? I’m not that clever!

I may like to tell a story now and then but I could never come up one like this. Not in a million years.

Anyway, when I get weirded out about this kind of stuff, I talk it over with my King’s Father. I think I told you about Him before. He lives in my heart too – and He is so wise and loving that it seems I can ask Him anything and He’ll straighten it out.

So I asked Him about this, about how the King of this immense and wonderfully complicated universe could care about – much less keep track of – all of my little thoughts and feelings every day.

And you know what? He told me. He shared the secret with me!

I’m afraid I can’t explain it very well. It made perfect sense when He explained it but now it’s hard to put into words. It goes something like this…

My King is in charge of everything – but somehow it doesn’t place a strain on Him. It’s hard for me to get this part. Everyone I’ve ever known that was in charge of a lot of stuff got pretty tired and stressed out by it all.

But that doesn’t happen to my King. Since everything comes into being through Him, He knows and understands it all perfectly.

If one of those stars dies, He knows about it. When a new one is born, He gets all excited because He knows that everything that’s born comes from Love.

Yup. Nothing comes into being without Love. He loves His Father and His Father loves Him and their Spirit is a shared loving between them. And their love creates everything.

This means nothing is a secret from Them. In every second, They know what is happening with every created thing – because each and every one is like one of their kids.

And size doesn’t matter. The big things, like solar systems, are no more important to my King than the little sparrows that hunt for seed in my backyard.

In fact, my King announced a long time ago that our Father knows every time one of those little sparrows falls to the ground. And He told us that we have much greater value than them.

(I don’t think He meant to hurt the sparrows’ feelings when He said this. He just has different plans for the sparrows than He has for us. He loves them a lot too.)

How my King can do this, how He can be this way, is beyond me. I have trouble paying attention to even two or three things at a time – so I cannot understand how He takes it all in every second of every day without getting confused.

These things that seem impossible, well, these are the things we call mysteries.

Sometimes when we call things mysteries, the people who haven’t opened their doors yet to the knocking think we just imagined it all. That we made up stories to make ourselves feel good.

I suppose I might think so too if my King was just an idea to me. If I don’t understand an idea, it’s hard for me to believe that it’s true just because somebody else said so.

But my King is so much more than an idea. He lives in my heart all the time and listens to me. I love Him so.

Sometimes He even sings to me. I bet He sings to you too, if you sit real still and listen. It may take a little while to hear it – and you may not hear it every time.

But listen carefully in the stillness. He sings…

And now, on His feast, we sing to Him, together with every living thing in the universe – you sing with your voice and I sing with mine. The sparrows chirp and the lions roar. The bees buzz and the hyenas howl. Even the stars have their own swirling songs of joyous light…

It is just too beautiful for words… Too beautiful, indeed.

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Dear Readers: as I recover from cataract surgery (left eye this time), I am choosing to wait a bit before taking on any of the longer articles that I might feel inclined to write. The surgery went very well but the eye takes time to heal. So, in the interim, I thought I’d post a poem I wrote some weeks ago. I submitted it to a local literary magazine that is just starting up – but alas, it was a reject. 😦 Such a wonderfully humbling experience. 🙂

However, since I enjoyed the poem, I thought I might share it here. Knowing you to be a compassionate group, I gladly open my work to your comments, critiques and even interpretations. What is this poem about anyway?  (Small prizes will be awarded for particularly insightful, insulting or interesting comments!)

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how to make ginger tea

 

do not trust those little packets

found suffocating in boxes,

like a well-trained choir

in an airless oratory.

 

no, ginger is a wild root

and it must be hunted

in the fresh open air

or it will not sing.

 

try to capture a fat one

its buds still green with life,

and break not its bones

as though it had no spirit.

 

speak to it with gratitude

as you gently skin it,

for it has given its life

that you may be consoled.

 

then slice it and dice it

with swift, firm strokes,

mercifully extracting its soul

as you draw forth its essence.

 

choose a vessel that is pure,

whether pot or cup or jar,

and give the ginger to dwell there

as it awaits the holy surrender.

 

prepare now the kettle,

filling it with all earthly tears,

and ignite the fire beneath it.

the ablution will soon begin.

 

allow the kettle to scream a bit –

it too must release its pain.

then grant it time to rest;

it has labored for this moment.

 

it is time to fill the vessel.

as you pour out the libation,

feel its steam upon your face

and listen for its song.

 

you will smell it,

deep and rich and earthy,

drumming its music in wafts,

rich flavors for the soul.

 

as it thrums and steeps,

slice a bit of lemon to add –

for the journey has been

both bitter and sweet.

 

drink it while it is hot,

allowing its song to warm you.

fear not the wildness of its dance

as it flows like a river within.

 

absorb the ancient comfort –

drink and be cleansed.

sing the root, be lost in song –

until the cup runs dry.

 

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