When the time seems right, continue reading, pausing again on the words and phrases that seem to jump out at you.<\/p>\n
Hold them.<\/p>\n
Offer them to God -\u00a0What emotions are you feeling?<\/p>\n
What comes to mind?<\/p>\n
Ask God where and how He is in this for you.<\/p>\n
When you come to the end of the poem, prayerfully sit quietly and ask the Holy Spirit to hi-light\u00a0any thoughts, situations or emotions that the Spirit might want to meet you in and simply receive.<\/p>\n
- \n
- You may want to journal your thoughts feelings and impression of what the Spirit may be saying and doing in you.<\/li>\n
- You may want to share these thoughts with a good friend or spiritual director<\/a><\/span>.<\/li>\n
- Is there anything you feel like you may need to act on?<\/li>\n
- Stuck? If you get stuck in strong emotions and are having difficulty processing them, don't be afraid to visit with a trained therapist.<\/li>\n
- You may want to make use of the streaming audio player from Soaking.net<\/a><\/span>.<\/li>\n
- Remember, the hallmark of the Kingdom of God is love - the Father will never come shaming or condemning. \u00a0God comes in perfect\u00a0love, and this will yield peace and rest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
_________________________________<\/p>\n
Cracks<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"bricksky](\"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bricksky-scraper.png\")
<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0There are cracks in my world;
\nI noticed them one day and now they are everywhere. Sinister, hairline cracks that
\nStart and finish out of sight,
\nCracks that grow and gape
\nand laugh at my certainties.
\nMy world has been declared unsafe.
\nI have tried to paper them over,
\npaint them out,
\nshift the furniture to hide them
\n... but they always return ...
\nCracks that hang like question-marks in my mind.<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0But now I begin to think.......
\nWhy do the cracks appear?
\nFrom where do they come?
\nThey have made my room unsafe
\n... but they have thrown it open to new horizons, ... drawn back curtains<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0... raised long-closed shutters.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0One day I looked, and a crack had become a window to a larger world beyond;
\nstep through it said
\n... what have you to fear?<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0Do you wish to stay in your crumbling room?<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0And then I remembered a childhood dream Watching the egg of some exotic bird;
![\"bricksky](\"http:\/\/iamsignificant.ca\/andre\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/bricksky-scraper2.jpg\")
\noval and perfect spotted blue and cream In wished to hold that egg<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0and keep it on a shelf ...
\nbut as I watched it ...
\ncracks appeared;
\nTiny fissures spread like zigzag ripples.<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0It broke in two<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0and life struggled to its feet, Wet and weak, and blinking at the world.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0Without the cracks, that egg could
\nhold no more than rotting, stagnant death.<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0Without its cracks my world would be
\nno more than a room without a view;
\nCracks may be uncomfortable, disturbing gaps ... but could it be I need them?
\nDo you believe in cracks?<\/p>\n\u00a0 \u00a0Because I keep searching for God in the room and find He is hiding in<\/p>\n
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 the cracks.<\/p>\n
-\u00a0Dave Bookless, God Doesn\u2019t Do Waste<\/a> \u00a9 1990<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The following\u00a0is a short spiritual exercise that will help you engage\u00a0a little deeper with God. Take a couple of deep breaths and in prayer, invite Jesus into this time. Begin reading the poem below entitled \"Cracks\" by David Bookless. \u00a0This first reading is to help you get a sense of the entire piece. Now, read the poem again but this Continue Reading<\/a>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,34,36,37],"tags":[99,221,246,554],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n