Author Archives: Mark Ekstrom

About that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come. Mark 13:32-33 (NRSV) Wake, awake, for night is flying, The watchmen on the heights are crying;Awake, Jerusalem, at last! Philipp Nicolai. Wachet auf,Continue reading “Advent Vision”

Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed. 14 Like obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires that you formerly had in ignorance. 15 Instead, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct, 16 for itContinue reading “Saints Alive!”

For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. Isaiah 25 Hate’s the only thing we have in commonThere’s no escape, we’ll always be this waySo we might as well just learn to live together’cause we’re gonnaContinue reading “Hatred”

Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection… Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the “Beloved.” Henri Nouwen Hello everyone, I’m baa-aack! It has been some time sinceContinue reading “Voices”

Hello everyone – I hope you are enjoying the summer so far. It has been some time since I last posted anything, but I have not been idle. I have been working on a book and just finished the first draft. The book is titled Experiencing Grace: On Pilgrimage with a Mildly Autistic Mystic. ItContinue reading “Visible and Invisible”

A poem for Easter One by one, guardian starsextinguish their beaconsand yield to the exuberantbrightness of the wakingSun. Below, a newborn world basks inreconciling light: opening,blooming, exulting in thevictorious dawn. The air itself comes aliveand shakes off its stagnantseep, stirring the trees to singonce again. Night lays in ruins: death-darkgrip broken, it vainly seeksrefuge amongContinue reading “A New Day”

A poem for Holy Saturday In shroud-clad darknessThe mystery of resurrectionUnfolds Creation holds its breathAs death gives way to lifeIn the heart of the earth Reluctantly LeviathanPrepares to release itsCaptive

“Are you asleep?” These words that Jesus spoke to Peter and the disciples last night take on even more meaning today as we stand together at the foot of the cross. It is not easy to confront Jesus’ pain and suffering. We might be tempted to “hide our faces” as the prophet Isaiah phrases it,Continue reading “Are You Asleep? Part 2”

We have reached the end of our Lenten journey. The events of the next few days will push the followers of Jesus to their limit and cause them to question everything that has gone before. The next few days will feature questions that continue to be asked, such as “what is truth?” Jesus has questionsContinue reading “Are You Asleep?”

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Psalm 51:1 Well I was born an original sinner.I was borne from original sin. Eurythmics – “Missionary Man” It happened a few days ago.  My wife and I were out for a bike ride whenContinue reading “A Clean Heart”