faint not

the problem's not a gun, not a color, not a hundred dollar bill

we think the struggle can be worn with simple thoughts like 'come together be good willed'

the gap between the rich and poor is spreading out all the more or so they say

we ignore the claims

o my soul, faint not, no

faint not, o my soul, keep up, up

in love

it's not that we don't know or we're not shown the proof of poverty

it's not that we don't have the tools to go to break this yoke of slavery

we quite because it's not an easy fix and then forget that they are even there

we forget to care

o my soul, faint not, no

faint not, o my soul, keep up, up

in love

where there is hatred, let me sow love

where there is injury, let me pardon

where there is darkness, let the Light come, come

o my soul, faint not, no

faint not, o my soul, keep up, up

in love

o my soul, faint not, no

faint not, o my soul, keep up, up

in love

faint not

faint not

- lyrics from "Faint Not" by Jenny & Tyler

amen, amen, amen.

the news

drum roll, please....

I'm moving to Omaha, Nebraska.

I've known for awhile now and if I've seen you in person you probably already know this now sort-of old news.

But all good things must eventually enter into documentation via the blog world, so here we are Internet and you mysterious readers who have not yet identified yourselves.

The second half of my three year term will find me in Nebraska, serving alongside the awesome staff of United Methodist Ministries (I have yet to meet them, but their emails make me like them already) in the city of Omaha.

There are job titles and descriptions and work plans, but reality is never the same as words on paper, so I'll refrain from speculating about what I'll be doing on a daily basis.

Transition is a topsy-turvy train of emotions, moments, processing and adjustment. I am nowhere near the end of its ride, but I am grateful that the next stop on this journey is Omaha and the work of UMM.

There will be urban gardens and a thrift shop (called the Blue Flamingo!) and mission teams. There will be new folks to know and new corners to get lost in. There will be new stories to learn and new tears to cry.

It will be new and it will be a part of what has already been.

The adventure officially changes location on Saturday. Midwest America, I'm headed your way!

And maybe, just maybe this means I'm ready to begin writing about it all again.

what do you want of me?

(Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia)

Give me death, or give me life,

health or sickness,

War or swelling peace,

Weakness or full strength,

Yes, to these I say

What do you want of me?

Give me wealth or want,

delight or distress,

Happiness or gloominess,

Heaven or hell,

Sweet life, sun unveiled

To you I give all

What do you want of me?

Give me, if you will, prayer,

Or let me know dryness,

An abundance of devotion,

Or if not, then barrenness

In you alone, Sovereign Majesty,

I find my peace,

What do you want of me?

Give me then wisdom

Or for love, ignorance,

Years of abundance,

Or hunger and famine,

Darkness or sunlight,

Move me here or there;

What do you want of me?

If you want to see me rest,

I desire it for love,

If to labor,

I will die working,

Sweet Love, say

Where, how and when.

What do you want of me?

Yours I am, for you I was born.

What do you want of me?

-St. Teresa of Avila

(Norcross, Georgia, USA)

in this time of contrast, I wish I could speak with St. Teresa.

in this time of in-between, I read her words and I pray that my heart would find in them a prayer, a hope, a belief.

falling off the face of the earth..sort of

I haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth, although I do sort of feel like that is exactly what I am preparing for.

Except I'm falling off one corner of the world and landing in another, very different one.

Add in an insane week of plans/good-byes/cleaning/hanging out with loved ones and the fact that my computer is non-functioning and our Internet has chosen to stop working....and it does indeed feel like a disconnected time warp.

Excuse me while I continue walking around dazed, teary and lacking sleep.

I shall reemerge in a week or two.