31 August 2013

world on a platter

born into
the Pepsi Generation
taught to Just Do It
Be all that I can be

I was told 
I could have the whole 
world on a platter
but so many 
choices can paralyse
What are you hungry for
when you don't know what
you're hungry for?

undisciplined, glutted
with too much 
that was never
 enough

now my constant 
prayer is
bleed me dry
to desire more of You

thanks to Pepsi, Nike, U.S. Army and Ritz Crackers
hanging out with Brian and the poets slinging slogans

 

in the still of the night

In the still of the night
As I gaze from my window
At the moon in its flight
My thoughts all stray to you
Cole Porter

This song may have been written to a lover
but I pray it to the lover of my soul
my God and my King

 
finding the quiet with Sandy

 

30 August 2013

what August taught

The days of August end tomorrow 
and I am joining Emily 
in recounting some of the things the hot month had to teach me:

So, in no particular order, I learned that:
God cares about every detail in our lives in nothing too small
old bows to new in opening doors
things are not always what they seem in broken promise 
alone doesn't mean lonely in loneliness or solitude
I must trust His timing not my own in at this moment
God loves each of us best in chosen first
I have no time for regret in birthday thoughts
grief lingers in notes to Mom
there is beauty to be found in all things in even in dying

linking up with Emily at Chatting at the Sky

 

29 August 2013

come and die

When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Yes, I have heard the call
my heart swells, trembles, breaks
and agrees but flesh
being flesh, resists
and the small self cries out:

what about me?

the answers comes
swift, certain:

it isn't about you
yet in everything you think you lose
more will be found in me
you hear My whisper
come and die
so that you might truly live

If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.  Matthew 10:38-39 The Message



walking with Emily and the broken redeemed


 

27 August 2013

opening doors

I never would have
dared to swing wide
the door, exposing
private messes better left
unseen

but as change 
draws near
old will bow 
to new
and freely now
I display before
dirty, cracked
faded sad

all the better
to reveal the glory
after


letting truth hang out at the bar with the poets

 

24 August 2013

this is the way

Your own ears will hear him.
    Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,”
    whether to the right or to the left

 
singing with Deidra and the Sunday choir

 

just for the love of Him

Men invent means and methods 
of coming at God's love, 
they learn rules and set up devices 
to remind them of that love, 
and it seems like a world of trouble 
to bring oneself into 
the consciousness of God's presence. 
Yet it might be so simple. 
Is it not quicker and easier 
just to do our common business 
wholly for the love of him? 
Brother Lawrence

 
in the stillness with Sandy
abiding with Cheryl
 

23 August 2013

chosen first

It isn't that I needed to be first
waiting to be chosen for teams, projects, friendships
I always recognized that there were others who were
smarter
prettier
more agile 
with talents I would never possess
I didn't have to be number one
so I would wait
not even knowing I was holding all that expectation
like air I wasn't breathing

its okay to not be first
but please, oh please
don't let me be last
the worst of the worst
the icon, the idol of ridicule
the one forced upon 
unwanted
just let me be in the middle somewhere
not sticking out like a untold joke

as another school year resumes
take a moment to remember those days
pray for the unwelcome
for the bullied
and the brutal
may they know
they are each and all
chosen first
in the eyes of Him Who created us all

Five Minute Friday


linking with Lisa-Jo today where the word is last

 

22 August 2013

in the clearing

the twisted road finds dark corners
twigs snapping beneath 
the softest of
footfalls, fear 
creeps damp, cold 
the sense of not being 
quite alone, like sweat clinging close 
but this is no
horror story, not
a journey of fear
listen, follow step into the space
around the bend
where light bursts forth
according to plan

at the pub telling stories
in exactly 55 words
 

21 August 2013

notes to Mom

four months, or days
or years my tears have fallen 
hard and fast this week
small seeds of ache
sprouting and swollen
fill me with memories
hard and sweet

so much of you lives on in me
the sharp impatience, the need to be
right at any cost
the stiff and painful joints
but also the curiosity, playfullness
and the love, above all
the heart filled with love
and the need to care for

life is picking up speed
down here, where you no longer
have your being
so much I would share
and wonder if you know
somehow
and if you miss me too


walking with Emily, broken, redeemed and thankful
 

19 August 2013

hot days growing shorter

a large moon is rising as day's light begins to fade
earlier and earlier each day
the pattern speaks of Autumn
but temperatures sizzle 
finally announcing Summer

If I listen, I think I hear the corn plants
singing as their ears grow
they have waited long for this
as have I
so even as sweat drips
and heat prickles my skin
I will rejoice and not complain
soaking in the warmth
knowing the long dark months
are soon to come

 

17 August 2013

prepare the way

A voice cries:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all flesh shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
 
celebrating another Sunday with Deidra
 

16 August 2013

the hidden life

If indeed the spiritual life is essentially a hidden life, 
how do we protect this hiddenness in the midst of a very public life?   
The two most important ways to protect our hiddenness are solitude and poverty.  
Solitude allows us to be alone with God.  
There we experience that we belong not to people, 
not even to those who love us and care for us, but to God and God alone.  
Poverty is where we experience our own and other people's weakness, 
limitations, and need for support.  
To be poor is to be without success, without fame, and without power.  
But there God chooses to show us God's love.
Both solitude and poverty protect the hiddenness of our lives.
Henri Nowen
in the hiding and abiding place with Sandy
 

nothing too small

we have had dreams, my husband and I
that God would choose to work through our lives
that we would be blessed to be a part of seeing His Kingdom come
here on earth as it is in heaven
we have had dreams both vast in scope
and detailed in tiny ways
we have walked through seasons of learning to surrender
and trust and leave the small things in His hands
for the good of the great
but God, as only God can
weaves the small into the big

we have had dreams, my husband and I
that are budding now 
ready to burst forth
I will explain more
 as soon as I can

God can do anything, you know—
far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! 
He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, 
his Spirit deeply and gently within us. 
Five Minute Friday joining Lisa-Jo where we're writing about small
 

15 August 2013

on a breeze

see
in the deep
of a mid August night
summer has finally come on a breeze
after days and weeks far too cold delicate petals unfold

delicate petals unfold landscape ablaze bright colours bold
and tender pastels with whispering tease
let their fragrance delight
while we sleep
free

Today's Form For All was to write to a  mathematical series.  
I chose the challenge of Pascal's triangle
1,3,6,10,15


linking at the pub where mathematics doesn't scare us into silence