SONG OF ANNA

Thank You for one more day,

One more day to awaken the dawn with worship.

One more span of sun rise to set

When I pour out my heart to You,

To listen with my inner ears to Your whispers,

To pray with all the experience of my eighty-four years.

Not a moment is wasted.

My body may be stooped from age—

Frail from fasting—

But my spirit is mighty.

I carry with me a powerful presence

That changes the very atmosphere,

For even at night

My worship does not wane.

The Ruach HaKodesh, the holiest of spirits,

Dances between my dreams and waking moments.

There is not longer any separation from You.

I never leave the temple,

Never leave Your side.

Prophetess they call me,

But You call me friend.

(based on Luke 2)

MY RESURRECTION

Seems only right to re-share this favorite on Easter Week.

My Resurrection

You say to me, “Get up!”
Am I waking from the dead
Or a deep, dark sleep?

“Get up, little girl!”
You grasp my hand and lead me back—
Twelve years, twenty, so many I’ve lost count—
To when the issues began,
To when the bleeding started.
I was just a little girl.

In the places where I died,
When a little part of me
Gave up, lost hope, let go of innocence…
You restore me.

And then You turn
To the woman in me:
The one whose burden has been so heavy,
Who spent everything she had
On the wrong answers and the wrong questions,
The one who has suffered from constant bleeding,
Constant pain.

Surely, if I could just touch Your robe, or
If I could just hear You say my name,
Something would change?
You say to me,
“Your suffering is over.
Get up, I have made you whole!”

Immediately, the bleeding stops and
I feel that I’ve been healed. 
Immediately, I stand up.

I have scars from the past
In my hands and side,
But my grave is empty.
Why look for the living among the dead?
I’m not there.  I’m alive!


Copyright © 3/25/03 by Kendra Lane Barrow; version 4/06/10.  All rights reserved.

Based on Mark 5:22-29, 34, 39-42 (New Living Translation)

A HEART OF WISDOM (Psalm 90)

God, you are my family’s true home

For generations to come and the generations that brought me here.

Before the world was born, you were God.

Before time, you were God.

Until the end of time, you will still be God.

The lifetime of a man is as short as the new morning grass

Withering by evening.

Time to you is but a moment – a thousand years like a day to you.

You are bigger, greater, and unending.

We are so small in comparison.

And you know every part of us – every single thing –

Even our deepest secrets.

Maybe we will have seventy or eighty years of life

If we have the strength,

But our days will rush by and be filled with trouble.

Therefore, teach us, O God,

To live our days rightly and honestly

So that we grow a heart of wisdom,

A heart like yours.

Copyright © 3/27/13 by Kendra Lane Barrow. All rights reserved.

PSALMS OF MYRRH - FINAL - Mountain of Myrrh

Way off in the distance,
She sees the mountain of myrrh.
She knows that her Beloved
Has already journeyed there and reached his destination.
Now she has to travel there her own way,
On her own path, in her own day.
She must encounter her own obstacles,
Climb cliffs of rejection and betrayal.
She must remain steady and endure until the end.
He has already warned her:
“This way is narrow. This road is lonely.
This path is marked with suffering.”

But she remembers that the warning also has a promise.
She reminds herself of it day after day
When she wants to quit and the road seems too long.
He told her that her heart is like myrrh:
The process of testing and suffering
Will crush the myrrh but cannot destroy it.
Instead, myrrh that is crushed
Releases the sweetest scent of all.
He promised, “If you come here, if you join Me
On the mountain of myrrh,
You will find yourself dizzy by the fragrance in the air.
We’ll share a breath-taking view together
That can’t be described in the lowlands.
It’s so high, so deep, and so wide
You can’t believe it until you see it for yourself.”

So she continues on her way,
Through the years and through the myriad of choices.
In the dark night of her soul when her faith is tested,
Each submission of her will, though imperfect
And weak, still releases
A tiny scent of suffering.
And like a homing device,
This bundle of myrrh worn next to her heart
Entices Him to leap over the mountains to find her.

Look! Here He comes!

Copyright © 2/28/04 by Kendra Lane Barrow. All rights reserved.
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Song of Solomon 4:6 (New King James Version)
6 Until the day breaks
And the shadows flee away,
I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
And to the hill of frankincense.

Isaiah 53:3, 10 (New Living Translation)
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. 10 But it was the LORD’s good plan to crush him…

Philippians 3:10 (New International Version)
10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…

Song of Solomon 2:8 (The Message)
8-10 Look! Listen! There's my lover!
Do you see him coming?
Vaulting the mountains,
leaping the hills.

Additional Scriptures: Psalms 45:8, Song of Solomon 3:6, Hebrews 2:18, 1 Peter 4:12-13, and Song of Solomon 1:12-13.

PSALMS OF MYRRH #3 - What Remains

I am the candle that is burning;
I am the myrrh that has been crushed.
The very flame of God
Has torched my impurities:
My selfishness, my pride,
My domineering spirit,
My wants, my needs.

Beautiful Flame, come and burn away
All in my life that’s less than glory.
Remove the impure so that
Only love remains;
Diminish the scent of my will
So that only the fragrance of myrrh remains.

Copyright © 3/16/04 by Kendra Lane Barrow. All rights reserved.
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Galatians 5:24 (New Living Translation)
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

Song of Solomon 8:6 (New International Version)
[Love] burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.

Matthew 26:39 (New King James Version)
39 …[Jesus] prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

PSALMS OF MYRRH #2 - After the Breaking

Now the box of perfume is broken.
Let my fragrance rise to You.
May the scent of my longing
Fill this room and then ascend beyond,
Surrounding You in the heavenly places.
My praise is poured out before You like
Precious oil trickling through Your fingers.

Perfume is not made to be contained—
Your open hands allow
The scent of my love to ripen,
Like long awaited fruit.

The tender look on Your face,
Your long breath inward, and
Your pleased smile at my gift
Has made the breaking worthwhile.

Copyright © 4/05/03 by Kendra Lane Barrow. All rights reserved.
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John 12:3 (New Living Translation)
3 Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Song of Solomon 4:10, 13, 16 (New International Version)
[The King]
10 How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
13 Your [garden has] myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.

Beloved
16 Awake, north wind,
and come, south wind!
Blow on my garden,
that its fragrance may spread abroad…

Revelation 5:8 (Amplified Bible)
8And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders [of the heavenly Sanhedrin] prostrated themselves before the Lamb. Each was holding a harp (lute or guitar), and they had golden bowls full of incense (fragrant spices and gums for burning), which are the prayers of God's people (the saints).

PSALMS OF MYRRH - Spiritual Practice for Psalm #1

The Bible has sections that are different genres such as stories, songs, poems, dreams, and descriptions of conversations.  One way to gain insight into the stories is to imagine your self in the scenario.  The following guided suggestions will walk you through the anointing of Jesus in Bethany.  There are three versions of this story, which can be found in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John 12.

You are sitting in a dining room filled with people.  What is the appearance of the room?  What does it sound like?

A dinner has been prepared in Jesus’ honor.  What are the smells of the food preparation?

Imagine the stir as Jesus enters the room.  Where does He sit?  How do the other guests respond to Him?

Lazarus is at the table — the man raised from the dead.  What does it feel like to look at a living man whose funeral you attended? 

Martha, Lazarus’ sister, is serving the meal.  Notice the way she brings the food to the guests.  How does she carry herself?

Mary, Lazarus’ other sister, comes into the room.  She is carrying a jar of expensive perfume, worth a year’s wages.  She breaks open the jar and begins to anoint Jesus’ feet, as though she is His servant.  Spend time noticing the way she pours the fragrance on Him and the way she wipes His feet dry.  Is she crying?  What is the look on Jesus’ face at her gesture?

The house is filled with the fragrance.  Imagine the scent entering the room and how it grows as she anoints Him.  How long does the scent linger?

Some of the disciples are complaining.  Listen to their grumbling.  Imagine murmured agreement sweeping through the guests.  How does Mary feel at this moment?  How does Jesus respond to the complaints?

PSALMS OF MYRRH #1 - Anointing at Bethany

 Mary of Bethany came into

The room with the fragrance

Worth a year of wages.

She broke the box,

She poured out the oil,

She anointed Your head,

She anointed Your feet, and

She wiped them with her hair.

You said to the others,

“She has done a good work for me…

She has done what she could.”

Oh, that You would say the

Same of me.

I want to give You what only I can give.

May I be broken open and

My precious oil extravagantly

Poured out upon You.

May the fragrance rise and fill this house.

Copyright © 3/13/02 by Kendra Lane Barrow.  All rights reserved. Revised 9/13/10.

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Mark 14:6, 8 (New International Version)

 ⁶"Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me… ⁸She did what she could…”

John 12:1-3, 7-8 (New Living Translation)

 ¹ Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. ² A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, and Lazarus was among those who ate with him. ³ Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

[One of the disciples complained, saying the perfume should have been sold and the proceeds given to the poor.]  ⁷ Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. ⁸ You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” 

INTRODUCTION to the PSALMS OF MYRRH

Sometimes God speaks to me through dreams.

In 2004, I had a dream that felt spiritual and significant; it seemed to symbolize events that would happen in my near future.  In the dream, I saw God put three seeds into my hand —

new seeds that He wanted to plant into the garden of my heart.  One of those seeds was suffering.

At the time, I was a bit confused.  What did the dream mean?  What kind of suffering would I face? 

Within a few months, I heard a teaching that gave me a new perspective on suffering and prepared me for the road ahead.  This pivotal teaching referred to the line in Song of Solomon 4:6 (New King James Version), “I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh.”  In this sermon’s interpretation, traveling to the mountain of myrrh is a metaphor for each person’s individual journey of life.  The mountain and the myrrh symbolize obstacles unique to each person’s path.  Overcoming these difficulties, and the process of learning and maturing from them, will be our own individual way to “share in his sufferings”, as described in Philippians 3:10 (New International Version).

God used this sermon to prepare me for an extremely difficult year that included miscarrying my first child.  I was desperate to be pregnant.   I cannot express the depth of my grief at the loss of this child.  Tears still well up at the thought of this little boy I have never held.  In all the scenarios I had envisioned in my mind regarding my dream, this was a suffering I did not expect.

Myrrh is a scent symbolic of suffering.  It was a spice commonly used for burial in New Testament times.  John 19:38-41 records it was used in Jesus’ own burial.  Myrrh’s fragrance is most released when the spice is crushed — an imagery which I used throughout this chapter in my attempts to grapple with the topics of sacrifice, suffering, loss, grief, death, burial, resurrection and redemption.

Song of Solomon 4:6 (New King James Version)

⁶ Until the day breaks
      And the shadows flee away,
      I will go my way to the mountain of myrrh
      And to the hill of frankincense.