Praise the Lord
psalm 151
Wendy Olson, 2016
Praise God in the cathedral and in the corral,
Praise God in the kitchen and in the woods.
Praise God as you stand in line at the bank and as you take out the trash.
Praise God in the car and praise even in traffic.
Praise God especially in traffic.
Praise God as the morning sun coaxes open your eyes and as it brings a sweat to your brow.
Praise God as the clouds drift above the hills, as the shadows of the day lengthen.
Praise God when you lift your chin to see the stars;
Praise God as you follow the satellite across the heavens;
Join the crashing waves as they praise the Mighty One.
Echo the thunder’s applause as it praises God.
Praise with the buzz of the bee and the sting of the hornet.
Swirl a halleluiah with the tornado
And quiver a standing ovation with the spider’s web.
Praise God with singing at the top of your lungs in the shower,
and praise God with humility as you wipe away steam from the mirror
and behold the face God has given you.
Praise God with mind and fingertips.
Fast and feast and dance and sing.
Weep and wail praise, sleep and dream praise…. whisper your praise.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, Praise her with the babies coo.
Praise him with car keys jingling and fingers snapping.
Praise her with guitars and drums,
With pot lids and tap shoes, with synthesizers and turntables.
Praise with pipe organ and piano, with clapping hands and sipping coffee.
Pay tribute with the crunch of an autumn walk through dry leaves,
Let a spring stomp in puddles of mud give honor,
Use the landing of a snow flake on your cheek to praise,
And with the crunching delight of ripe summer corn commend the Lord.
Let it all join in, And throw back praise and awe and wonder and delight to the
One who flings down love and healing, justice and life
Like a torrential summer rain. Praise the Lord.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
psalm 151
Wendy Olson, 2016
Praise God in the cathedral and in the corral,
Praise God in the kitchen and in the woods.
Praise God as you stand in line at the bank and as you take out the trash.
Praise God in the car and praise even in traffic.
Praise God especially in traffic.
Praise God as the morning sun coaxes open your eyes and as it brings a sweat to your brow.
Praise God as the clouds drift above the hills, as the shadows of the day lengthen.
Praise God when you lift your chin to see the stars;
Praise God as you follow the satellite across the heavens;
Join the crashing waves as they praise the Mighty One.
Echo the thunder’s applause as it praises God.
Praise with the buzz of the bee and the sting of the hornet.
Swirl a halleluiah with the tornado
And quiver a standing ovation with the spider’s web.
Praise God with singing at the top of your lungs in the shower,
and praise God with humility as you wipe away steam from the mirror
and behold the face God has given you.
Praise God with mind and fingertips.
Fast and feast and dance and sing.
Weep and wail praise, sleep and dream praise…. whisper your praise.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet, Praise her with the babies coo.
Praise him with car keys jingling and fingers snapping.
Praise her with guitars and drums,
With pot lids and tap shoes, with synthesizers and turntables.
Praise with pipe organ and piano, with clapping hands and sipping coffee.
Pay tribute with the crunch of an autumn walk through dry leaves,
Let a spring stomp in puddles of mud give honor,
Use the landing of a snow flake on your cheek to praise,
And with the crunching delight of ripe summer corn commend the Lord.
Let it all join in, And throw back praise and awe and wonder and delight to the
One who flings down love and healing, justice and life
Like a torrential summer rain. Praise the Lord.
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Mauna Kea in the Morning
Out my window this morning appeared a wisp of a vision,
an apparition, maybe.
It absorbed a great expanse of sky, anchored here only by a whisper of light, like
white against white, it came into my room
With morning still settled in my bones, rest relaxing in my eyes
I think it came in..
Think it was, beautiful, actual, tangible someplace to walk and breath and live.
As the morning woke, as rest dissipated, I lost it, this vision.
It fell from me, or I fell from it and like the warmth of a child’s touch on my skin, it cooled.
Was it? Was it not?
Like the Kingdom, when I am in the right place, the right space, the right grace,
it takes up the sky and I live and move and have my being in it.
An apparition becomes substance and solid. Tangible. Substantial.
Then I shift my view and it is gone from me.
Or I am gone from it?
W. Olson~ 2008
Out my window this morning appeared a wisp of a vision,
an apparition, maybe.
It absorbed a great expanse of sky, anchored here only by a whisper of light, like
white against white, it came into my room
With morning still settled in my bones, rest relaxing in my eyes
I think it came in..
Think it was, beautiful, actual, tangible someplace to walk and breath and live.
As the morning woke, as rest dissipated, I lost it, this vision.
It fell from me, or I fell from it and like the warmth of a child’s touch on my skin, it cooled.
Was it? Was it not?
Like the Kingdom, when I am in the right place, the right space, the right grace,
it takes up the sky and I live and move and have my being in it.
An apparition becomes substance and solid. Tangible. Substantial.
Then I shift my view and it is gone from me.
Or I am gone from it?
W. Olson~ 2008
Post - Lent
So, if we have been united with him in a death like his,
we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:10
The soil is saturated with wet, oozing organic matter -
matter that holds the rich fertilizer of life and growth
(but matter that first must die and decompose and smell
before it gives up its nourishment).
Jesus beckons me to join him in the tomb,
let him close the door and lock the latch on my broken self –
Do I dare bury my soul in the soil of Jesus’ death?
Does the caterpillar fear the cocoon;
see a tomb of darkness
a prison of constraint
and crawl inside with reluctance and regret?
Or does this creature know that the door will open
and life will be
redefined?
W. Olson ~ 2009
we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. Romans 6:10
The soil is saturated with wet, oozing organic matter -
matter that holds the rich fertilizer of life and growth
(but matter that first must die and decompose and smell
before it gives up its nourishment).
Jesus beckons me to join him in the tomb,
let him close the door and lock the latch on my broken self –
Do I dare bury my soul in the soil of Jesus’ death?
Does the caterpillar fear the cocoon;
see a tomb of darkness
a prison of constraint
and crawl inside with reluctance and regret?
Or does this creature know that the door will open
and life will be
redefined?
W. Olson ~ 2009
Matthew 5:14-16 Light
translation by Wendy Olson July 2007 Hilo, Hawaii
You -
you here, gathered around the voice, the name, the challenge of Jesus, you,
you are the light - Light – bright, sight, illumination and revelation of seeing and making manifest,
bringing into the pool of luminance, The light of the world. You.
You, a city – habitation on a hill ...not hidden, not forbidden, but where people live in,
like a city on a hill seen – can not escape notice, does not sit unseen
Neither do YOU
light a lamp of bright white light
just to close it off from sight,
like night, wrapped in fright –
neither do you put it, the light, under a bushel basket,
casket (for light)
No. Instead it goes on its toes for all to see,
to shine, define, refine, sublime light. You
light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, just like that,
Let, get, no regret, allow your glow to show, resplendent bright light
shine before others, Mothers, brothers, others, everywhere you go light
So that, in order to, for the purpose of
them seeing to manifest, with the rest,
to bless and bring to crest the glorious deeds pointing to God
Pointing to the One who is light,
heaven seen, heaven inhabited holy One seen and praised,
By your light, pure delight Shine, shine, shine God in you, light.
you here, gathered around the voice, the name, the challenge of Jesus, you,
you are the light - Light – bright, sight, illumination and revelation of seeing and making manifest,
bringing into the pool of luminance, The light of the world. You.
You, a city – habitation on a hill ...not hidden, not forbidden, but where people live in,
like a city on a hill seen – can not escape notice, does not sit unseen
Neither do YOU
light a lamp of bright white light
just to close it off from sight,
like night, wrapped in fright –
neither do you put it, the light, under a bushel basket,
casket (for light)
No. Instead it goes on its toes for all to see,
to shine, define, refine, sublime light. You
light to everyone in the house.
In the same way, just like that,
Let, get, no regret, allow your glow to show, resplendent bright light
shine before others, Mothers, brothers, others, everywhere you go light
So that, in order to, for the purpose of
them seeing to manifest, with the rest,
to bless and bring to crest the glorious deeds pointing to God
Pointing to the One who is light,
heaven seen, heaven inhabited holy One seen and praised,
By your light, pure delight Shine, shine, shine God in you, light.
A Prayer for Christmas Eve
Holy God of wonder and power, you fashioned the universe and coaxed the light out of darkness and gave birth to the first day, you flung the galaxies across the cosmos yet reside beyond the confines of space and time. You who are so completely “other”…chose to put on the frail cover of human flesh and immerse yourself in the confines of our existence. Wonder of gracious wonders, that you can BE as we are and still be who you are. Emmanuel…God WITH us.
Hear our humble prayer as we ponder the Christ Child – born to set us free. Free us now from the prison of a fearful heart that says, "This gift is not for me, for every other, but not me, I am not good enough". And break the chains of a stubborn will that says "I am too good to need this ancient fable".
For the journey you made to be for us, and for the journey you call us on, to be for you – we give you thanks. Amen.
Hear our humble prayer as we ponder the Christ Child – born to set us free. Free us now from the prison of a fearful heart that says, "This gift is not for me, for every other, but not me, I am not good enough". And break the chains of a stubborn will that says "I am too good to need this ancient fable".
For the journey you made to be for us, and for the journey you call us on, to be for you – we give you thanks. Amen.