Sojourning.

Old Fulton, Brooklyn.

“ Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.

—

Jeremiah 31.31-34

Praise Jesus for the new covenant: his gospel. In this gospel, the Spirit of God is put in us and the righteousness of Christ works within us. The Father himself wants all of us to know him as his children, not just clergy or superstars. We are fully forgiven, fully redeemed, fully known, and fully loved. This is very good news.

Brooklyn in Snow.

First snowy morning of 2012 for Brooklyn Heights.

Taken with Instagram at Brooklyn Heights, NY

Good morning, NYC. (Taken with Instagram at Union Square Park)

“ And then I got to Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t really matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top”

Snowy Stoops.

The Great Bridge.

Snowmen crossing.

“I think
I could have
built a little house
to live in

with the single cord—
half seasoned, half not—
trucked into the
driveway and

tumbled down. But, instead,
friends came
and together we stacked it
for the long, cold days

that are—
maybe the only sure thing in the world—
coming soon.
How to keep warm

is always a problem,
isn’t it?
Of course, there’s love.
And there’s prayer.

I don’t belittle them,
and they have warmed me,
but differently,
from the heart outwards.

Imagine
what swirls of frost will cling
to the windows, what white lawns
I will look out on

as I rise from morning prayers,
as I remember love, that leaves yet never leaves,
as I go out into the yard
and bring the wood in

with struggling steps,
with stuggling thoughts,
bundle by bundle
to be burned.”

Mary Oliver, “The Winter Wood Arrives”

(Photo via the legendary Andrew Shepherd)

The Head and the Heart’s “Lost In My Mind”

This is the kind of Winter I want to have.

“ Yesterday, everybody smoked his last cigar, took his last drink and swore his last oath. Today, we are a pious and exemplary community. Thirty days from now, we shall have cast our reformation to the winds and gone to cutting our ancient shortcomings considerably shorter than ever.

— Mark Twain

Happy New Year from Prospect Park, Brooklyn.