where there's smoke...

The other day my little brother and I noticed a wisp of smoke spiralling from a poplar tree. But as we passed by, we saw it was really a swirl of bees.

I thought of the people milling around in white, gathering honey from the edge of a familiar field of weeds I didn't know hived bees.

I thought, too, of the kids we know here at the shelter, the unexpected places of sweetness and fury.

Lord grant us your grace and your truth. Honey and flame.


Ever Present Need - Steve Bell
Lyrics adapted from Daniel Ladinski’s translation of ‘Our Need for Thee’ in Love Poems from God.
Original poem by St. Francis of Assisi.

Darkness is an unlit wick
A simple spark would vanquish it
Truly I could burst to flame
Every time you call my name
Do I do for you the same

God is like a honey bee
Penetrates the soul of me
Dearly draws the sweetness in
Nectar of the meek love is
He in me and I in him

In our ever present need of thee
Grant we fathom peace
Fashion instruments of souls set free
For don’t the caged ones weep...

© 2003 Signpost Music.

flatlander learns to lean

The marvelous thing about a walking stick is this: it leans you into the strength of a mountain, and the resilience of a tree, and the surprising energy of your own small self putting one foot in front of the other, all the way up and back down again...

Thanks to my brother, Rob, and Turtle Mountain, for the lesson in leaning.