redemption
-
We Are Called
We are calledto work for the rightsof those whom we mistrust,of those who wish us harm. As Lillian Hellman writes,"Since when do you have to agree with peopleto defend them from injustice?" Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries.… Continue reading
-
He Calls Our Names
He stands on the platform,barely visible nowthrough the smoke that wreaths and wraps his lean, scarred body. One by one,clean as a knife edge,he calls our names (mine, yours). Our destinies,like the smoke,like our lovingly articulated names,rise heavenward. Text and… Continue reading
-
Alchemy
Alchemy in a Cambodian factory–jingle bells createdfrom the remnants of roadside bombs. This holidaythe jingling you hearmay be the transmutationof intended dismemberment and deathinto delight and life. This is redemption. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights… Continue reading
-
The Lord’s Prayer, Stanza 3
We yearn for your vision of wholenessto become our reality.Erase our pretended perimetersbetween this life and the next. We embrace the creation of Paradise–here, now–as our Greatest Commission. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
-
Holy Week
For most of my life, the tender, sorrowful laments of Holy Week, more than the joyous, triumphant hymns of Easter, have attracted me… Continue reading
-
Because God Is God
Draw close to God because God is God. Don't do it because you fear God. Don't do it to please God. Don't do it to appease God. Do it simply because you delight in God, find joy in God, wonder… Continue reading
-
The Ultimate Liberal
How ironic that many conservative Christians use the word liberal to brand their political enemies, as if that's a bad thing. It's ironic, because the Christian faith is founded on one simple concept: grace. Hmm. Grace? Liberality? Generosity? God, according to… Continue reading