Categories
Devotional Making Disciples

Ruin and glory

Isaiah. Prophet and poet. Master of prose. Skillfully taking us to ruin and glory.

“The city of chaos is shattered; 
Every house is closed to entry.
In the streets they cry for wine.
All joy grows dark; 
Earth’s rejoicing goes into exile.
Only desolation remains in the city;
its gate has collapsed in ruins.”
Isaiah 24:10-12

Well-placed words. And we see the broken place. Grieve the curse that consumes the earth and its inhabitants. “…for they have transgressed teachings, overstepped decrees, and broken the permanent covenant” (24:5).

Ruins. Image by Micheile Henderson, Unsplash Photos.
Categories
Crossing Cultures Devotional

Unmapped

The urban forum. A gathering of the nations. We explore cities together. Examining them from various angles and worldviews. 

One particular presentation leads us to unmapped neighborhoods. Unnamed places. In the depths of an urban slum. 

Pushing out from the edge of a global city.

Streets and paths. Crossroads. Unmarked. Yet densely populated. With living, breathing communities.

Mumbai, India. Slums and city buildings. Photo by imb.org
Categories
Devotional Memoir

Standing on gravestones

The organ shrieks as we enter the sanctuary. Dissonant. Avant garde notes bouncing off ancient stone floors. Filling the arched ceilings. 

Discordant.

Disconcerting. 

Seemingly out of place with the luminous stained glass and stately wooden pews.

Arched ceilings in Sint Bavokerk, Haarlem, the Netherlands.