I have been struck by both the simplicity and power of Micah 6:8 since I first heard it read by President Jimmy Carter during his inauguration. Today I see more in this passage than I did then, though the depths and beauty of any of God’s word is far beyond what I can fully understand or possibly communicate in this short poem today. Have a blessed day all!
When did you show us to do what is just
And how did you teach us to walk where we must?
Was it in Bethlehem in the hay of a barn
There in the wonder our Savior was born?
Or when we saw your mercy
When you heard a man’s cries?
How you called Him to come
And you opened His eyes
Or could it be maybe
We learned to walk by your side
When You carried Your cross
To the place where You died
Or was it when they laid you now silent and still
In the tomb before the night at the top of that hill?
Until on the day before dawn when you rose
In the garden you showed us all justice fulfilled
All Justice Fulfilled by Peter Caligiuri
copyright 2021 all rights reserved
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8 NKJV
Okay so I wrote this as an end of year poem, but it also works for anytime God is pressing us to turn the page on a new chapter He has for our lives. I hope that whether you think this is great poetry or not that at least you will receive it as a real page turner!
Spread Our Wings and Fly
And now the year has passed my child See the new one lies ahead Yes all those days both sad and sweet Have slipped into their beds
To sleep until the hour God sets For eyes to open wide And see His sunlight streaming in To spread our wings and fly!
Spread Our Wings and Fly by Peter Caligiuri copyright 2021 all rights reserved
Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”Revelation 21:5 NKJV
I was in one of my gloomiest slumps as I went to the nursing home yesterday. I minister at four different places and this particular one is one of those 5 star places that look more like a cruise ship than your typical long term care home. But other than some wonderful times of ministry in the memory care unit, the chapel services in the regular assisted living wing have been almost totally empty since Covid-19. The staff is stretched thin and some of the residents who used to attend have passed away. On top of that it has been hard to explain to the new activities director that we need staff to encourage and help the residents to come to church. The result has been that for the last several sessions the chapel meetings have been empty. Of course this has not been a complete loss as I simply did a u-turn and went in to sing for my friends in memory care (which is always fun!). But I already have scheduled meetings with them on other Sundays and I have kept hoping to restart church services with the rest of the facility.
So with dim hopes yesterday I just surrendered my frustrations to the Lord and accepted that if it was not His will for chapel services then I would leave that in His hands. So I arrived and logged in with the high tech equipment that reads my temp, recognizes my cell phone number and prints my name tag, expecting to find the meeting room vacant once more. But when the elevator door opened on the second floor and I peeked around the corner I was delightedly surprised by several faces looking my way as they heard the elevator opened! My feet suddenly felt as light as a feather and I excitedly walked down the hall, took our my guitar ready to begin with a fresh reminder that God is faithful and that His plan will work out in His own time and His own way. As He had done in the past, God allowed me to fall to my lowest point so I could learn again that only He knows best. My Bible reading this morning was in the book of Habakkuk. There I saw that my Old Testament brother reminded me a bit of myself. Of course he was facing life and death and I was not, but that gloom and doom surrounding most of the first three chapters seemed vaguely familiar. Then his book ends with a glorious Hebrew poem of praise that is like the sun breaking out of the clouds just before sunset. Its song showed me that I could rejoice even when the chapel sat empty and no one seemed to care, because in His own time God filled it again and taught me to walk on my high places!
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
For the director of music. On my stringed instruments
Written by Habakkuk copyright 629 BC
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