giving life to all shapes
bringing meaning, definition
striking lines that captivate our eyes
you take the darkness’ breath away

inspiring every figure
every dancing body
shimmering water
shining faces
outlining the presence of the giver
who gives within and without

nothing can escape
your penetrative imminence,
you are invisible
making all things visible
indefinable,
yet definer of all things
seen and unseen

inherently mesmerizing
and externally extending
into atmospheric realities
speaking the ancient tongue
through your touch
allowing new creation to speak
all divine reinvigoration

can we study you?
or do you study us?
un-static life force
we move and breathe
and have our being

nothing can stop
the advancement of your
delicate fingered rays
that draw, sculpt and mold us
forming all into being


harkening, emboldening
discovering, releasing
your indwelling force
encapsulating the energy
of your kindred elements
shadows falling then arising
disappearing yet creeping slowly
back up the gentle dresses of the slopes
to the kissing peak
empowering consummations


where light meets light

speaking the unspoken word
you silently whisper your testimony
so we can fall in love
and make love
in the beauty and mystery
you render
amongst the indwelling fading glow
and outpouring of
your brilliant luminosity

when stoic forces stretch
we know you do not sleep
but speak your radiance
elsewhere until you return
transforming yesterday’s drear
into a new morning

are we only wading
in shallow immersions of your
perceived unfathomable dimension,
unknowingly?
are we still waiting for you
half-hidden
half-sheltered
in shacks with tiny cracks that still
shine through uplifted, revolving
streaks of moving dust
suffocating our lungs and hearts?

doesn’t one sun ray
through a tiny hole reveal
we are not as destitute
as we might think
for you are not even afraid
of our darkness
for it is like day to you?

there is no hiding from you.

but often we are still
bed-ridden below
your destination of love
which strikes the ground,
rolling it all away
into an abyss

we are still waiting for you
to fully cast your gaze
as we step freely inside you
and let you trace our nakedness
on fresh, crisp paper
and finally breathe clean air again















but we have always been
fed from your touch
between the sweet blades of grass
birthed in dirt and showers
pastel colors soaked for centuries,
ages and eternity
for travel is timeless, spaceless
endless in your eyes

we cannot articulate
the silence of your powerful words
crying out of our unforsaken form
speaking volumes, filling pages

no language can declare
the burning pulsations of your voice
day after day

breaking silence with silence
leaving us in awe
over golden landscapes
and tender casts upon
sleeping forms interwoven
like the shadow dances
of butterfiles
dangling on window walls



lustrous shafts enveloping
the crossed beams
flowing through your veins
seen in the old oak doorways
imprinting the break
between earth and heaven






we are bathed in your current
drowned in the power of it all
uplifted in the waves of your pursuit
whether we know it or not

for we shall one day see fully
we shall one day love deeply
when we step into the space

Where light meets light

In Memory of Tom Fox, CPT activist killed in Iraq

The following words were written by Tom Fox the day before he was abducted in Iraq in November last year:

Why are we here?

If I understand the message of God, his response to that question is that we
are to take part in the creation of the Peaceable Realm of God. Again, if I
understand the message of God, how we take part in the creation of this
realm is to love God with all our heart, our mind and our strength and to
love our neighbors and enemies as we love God and ourselves. In its
essential form, different aspects of love bring about the creation of the
realm.

I have read that the word in the Greek Bible that is translated as "love" is
the word "agape." Again, I have read that this word is best expressed as a
profound respect for all human beings simply for the fact that they are all
God's children. I would state that idea in a somewhat different way, as
"never thinking or doing anything that would dehumanize one of my fellow
human beings."

As I survey the landscape here in Iraq, dehumanization seems to be the
operative means of relating to each other. U.S. forces in their quest to
hunt down and kill "terrorists" are, as a result of this dehumanizing word,
not only killing "terrorists," but also killing innocent Iraqis: men, women
and children in the various towns and villages.

It seems as if the first step down the road to violence is taken when I
dehumanize a person. That violence might stay within my thoughts or find its
way into the outer world and become expressed verbally, psychologically,
structurally or physically. As soon as I rob a fellow human being of his or
her humanity by sticking a dehumanizing label on them, I begin the process
that can have, as an end result, torture, injury and death.

"Why are we here?" We are here to root out all aspects of dehumanization
that exist within us. We are here to stand with those being dehumanized by
oppressors and stand firm against that dehumanization. We are here to stop
people, including ourselves, from dehumanizing any of God's children, no
matter how much they dehumanize their own souls.


Release from CPT

In grief we tremble before God who wraps us with compassion. The death of our beloved colleague and friend pierces us with pain. Tom Fox’s body was found in Baghdad yesterday.

Christian Peacemaker Teams extends our deep and heartfelt condolences to the family and community of Tom Fox, with whom we have traveled so closely in these days of crisis.

We mourn the loss of Tom Fox who combined a lightness of spirit, a firm opposition to all oppression, and the recognition of God in everyone.

We renew our plea for the safe release of Harmeet Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember. Each of our teammates has responded to Jesus’ prophetic call to live out a nonviolent alternative to the cycle of violence and revenge.

www.cpt.org

your words

couldn't delete them
messages for my eyes only
words of love
words of the cup

wind of peace
powerful stream
blowing our souls along
together than apart
mysterious vision
dancing colision

is there stillness in the wind?
a few moments
a place to rest
a place to harbor
a place to linger
under the howling olive tree
when the flash floods of the world cease
so you and i can meet again

can the stream bring back the dove
that carried the first message of my heart
from this body of fear
when you captured me
above the waters
in the ache of the wind

jan. 28-'06

Drink Thy Cup

tired of being scared
scarred by old wounds
by fear, by love
but when you came to me last night
your whispers comforted me
as you gently put your lips to my ear and said,

"hold up the cup to your lips
my love, and take courage,
drink deeply, fully
till it runs down your chin,
drink my love full of sorrows and joys
dont be afraid of what the future may bring
dont be afraid of what will happen to us,
just drink me. drink this day, this life.
its bound to be beautiful,
its bound to break us
its bound to heal us
its bound to bring us together."

lover of my heart, soul and body
tis better to drink
the sweetness and bitterness
than to only stare at your own pale eyes
in a stale reflection

to not drink at all,
to hold and cherish at a distance
but not taste the wine of love,
the wine of life,
is the real waste.

strong enough to sting my wounds
to make me weep
to make me feel joy
enough to warm my bones
chiding a freedom song
overcoming the bitter dregs

oh my love
no longer afraid to drink the cup
it is the only true cup
it is the cup of our love
the cup of humanity

although we remain
in the garden of fear
my anxious friend
anxious soul
bleeds for me
desiring your touch
but afraid to wound you,
disapoint you
refuse you,
rebuke you,
fail you.

you once again say
lift up your cup love,
take courage, my love
Drink me,
love me,
be with me.

this cup is eternal
this friendship is eternal
this love is eternal
nothing can break it,
not even the painful sorrows,
feelings of a dark eternity
hopelessness
these stalling demons

love without
turmoiling shadows
cannot be tested
cannot be real
cannot be true

splash in the wine of the cup
bathe in it
pour it over your head
drink it fully my love
to find the freedom
surrender to the cup
dance with it
dance with me