Meditating to Heal

     One of the gifts of Easter is the invitation to serve one another. This is made truly clear in the scene in the upstairs room when Jesus kneels to wash the feet of his apostles. We need this scene; we need this scene to stay in our minds, otherwise our need, our need, will never be truly realized. 
     This is not to say that we serve others for our benefit; we serve others, for Jesus showed us the way. Our compassion for others always, always leads to something greater. When we sit with our brotherhood and sisterhood, we are emulating Jesus in being a servant of God to the needs of others. And, in doing so, we establish what I call our personal ministry.
     I have found that when ministering to others, the pain they feel, and the pain I feel, turns our heartaches and sadness to the richness of community and love. We are all in one Love, the Love of God. It is the foundation of humanity and the only way we can build universal love for mankind and for all of God’s creation, this pea-sized orb floating in space, our bright light that brings warmth to our bodies and ourselves. 
     We are trees loving and living beside the clear, flowing rivers . . .  growing love and spiritual nourishment in God’s Eden of Love. God’s compassion for humanity allows us to share this holy compassion with all mankind; we are spurs driving life to move forward. The love we share through our ministry is the fruit of the love and healing power of Jesus. We are invited to bring His fruit to His people.
     We may weep for the loss of our communities during this time of isolation, but may we also use these tears to enrich God’s tree of love.


© Russell Kendall Carter

Fifty days of Easter
Time for reflection
Taste the sacred sweetness
that is ours now 
the stone is rolled away.

We live; we shall not perish;
all is good and flourishing.
Jesus invites truth, trust,
His presence: eternal.
We hang our lives
on the boughs of His 
outstretched arms.
On his love.



© Russell Kendall Carter

My hope-colored glasses
shadow my outlook;
resurrection is merely the beginning;
I observe, I notice, I listen for
His presence these 50 days. 
My gratitude for Him gives
power to my mission of love.
His eternal residence in my heart
offers hope, reason, and promise.
In my mission of prayer,
I walk not with scorn or derision;
my future is with God both day and night.
I am but a leaf on His tree of love
that will not wither after 50 days;
as Jesus continues to love, so shall I.
His 50 days – a bridge for my life.

© Russell Kendall Carter

I’ve been beaten . . . severely,
yet God loves me and
does not bring me to death,

I Love today,
t’is the day given by God;
I rejoice and am glad.

By God’s grace,
I am what I am;
I will be what he allows.

God’s grace is within -
He allows me to work hard,
and shields my spiritual path.

His grace,
a call to hope, 
my strength, my salvation, my song!


© Russell Kendall Carter

Calmness of the dawn greets,
soft breezes mellow the mind; 
terns floating aloft;
bubbles in the newly submerged sand;
sand crabs scampering into secret hideouts.

A lonesome fisherman
casting into the surf;
wicker creel empty, lifted by the surf.
Jogger leaving ephemeral footprints,
decomposed by indefatigable tides.

Sun-filled brightness aloft;
azure sky luring us to tranquility.
Joining hands with my soulmate,
remembering another diamond beach -
fifty-five years ago . . . with a ring.

© Russell Kendall Carter

I am in no hurry to celebrate Easter Sunday. It is a day of glory, a day of completed promises. However, this day of interim, this Saturday,  is a time for reflection. Why be in a hurry for our resurrection and new life. The Christ will rise on the morrow, but our meditations on the meaning of Easter should be in the front of our minds today!

As we settle into our reflections today, we feel the Spirit of God upon us. As we await the storm of violence to pass into a time of love, we learn to dance in the rain, learn to give our troubles to God. The storm preceding the Cross has quelled. Our wait for God’s promise is soon upon us. The clouds depart; the glory of heaven is our true home, our lives with Jesus our lives with God.

Martin Luther King, Jr. re-opened the way of Jesus, when he gave us the vision on the mountain top. This was and is the meaning of the life of Jesus. If we allow it, if we open our hearts to the truth, we also will reach the mountaintop. We share the vision of Jesus proclaiming God’s omnipotence. When God brings us to this glory and wonder, we no longer walk in darkness. The light of the loving, living Christ is upon us.

We accept that our life, our times, are in the outspread hands of Jesus the man on the cross, Christ the God. We are challenged to walk in the world . . . as Jesus walked. If we accept this invitation to follow, we are led, we then lead others to the lighted path of forgiveness and love.

Jesus teaches me that my life is a lily. Each year I am reborn with new beauty to be shared with others. My rebirth each Easter, each coming of spring, exudes the gifts God has given me, the confidence of His Truth and the wealth of His Wisdom. God invites me to walk from darkness to light, from dormancy to life, His Life.

© Russell Kendall Carter

He whose kingdom is . . .
not of our world;
He prays!
God issued forth Him from Mary.
From His terminal anguish,
His light leads us.
He is oppressed,
yet merely offers prayers.
God lifts Him;
we praise Him.
His dominion is God,
given to us. . .
He prays,
and offers forgiveness.
He invites prayers;
He gives us a heart - 
a true eternal soul - 
through prayers only He offers
and blesses.
Jesus is prayer!



© Russell Kendall Carter

Jesus washes feet;
challenges us to acts of humanity.
His form - a servant!
Gives a new commandment: 
love one another, 
just as I have loved you.

Abba, Father,
O my Father, 
if possible, 
take this cup . . .
from me: 
yet . . .
not as I, 
but as thou wilt.

This cup of salvation,
this blood,
this deed of redemption
this sacrament - 
I remember.
I rejoice.

© Russell Kendall Carter

For all people, we are driven into our own person wildernesses, that barren, harsh, unfriendly space between where we should be and where we are. We bring this on ourselves and refuse to examine what pulls us from serving humanity less than the promises of God. We ignore our better, inner selves to jump for the brass ring and hoard what we have grasped in our hands.

This is not the way God wants us to live, wants us to treat each other. What brings us together is God’s love, for God is Love and Love is God. in these times of separation, physical, emotional, and ideological, we absently fall to distrust and sometimes hate, when dealing with the other. This is unfortunate. God knows us by how we treat each other, how we show love to one another. If we are not together, not one with each other, it is impossible to be one with God.

We pray in our churches and rooms and the depart our spiritual meditations and revert to the prejudices and oppressions of society. We must reverse this trend, or we will not be able to live free. Our aggressions many times turn to violence, violence in our streets, and violence in our hearts. If left unchecked, this accelerating violence turns to open warfare; then we are all lost.

It is God that binds us to one another; it is God’s Love that brings us together; it is God’s Love that invites us to forgive those who have overstepped accepted boundaries. It is this Love that we must use to overcome. As the Negro spiritual says, “We shall overcome!” Let us remember what binds us.

© Russell Kendall Carter

     The LORD knew me before I was born, formed in my mother’s womb . . . to be His servant. He knows and will always know all of us by name. We are all called to be His servant: Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindis, and all people of faith all over the globe. We gain this through the power of Christ and the goodness of God. God gives us power; God gives us Wisdom, through the life experience of Jesus. It was He who showed us the Wisdom of God.
     We hear the voice of God; He speaks to us to benefit others, not for our personal gain. Our joy is received by hearing this and from the goodness we serve others in His name. Jesus shows us that there are no outsiders in this world; He leads us to accept that the only boundaries are those we artificially place before ourselves. God and Jesus know no boundaries. Let us tear down our artificial boundaries.
     Listen for this voice of God; it comes through our shared love, spoken our prayers, and our unspoken meditations. 


© Russell Kendall Carter