Poems, Personal Stories, and Observations

Posts tagged ‘God’

Blest by Believing

“And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)

Blest by believing,
Blest one of faith.
Blest in her offspring,
Blest by God great.

Blest in the morning,
Blest in the night.
Blest in her dreaming,
God took away fright.

Blest in her suffering,
Blest in her pain,
Blest in her offering
To God unrestrained.

Bless-ed be Joseph,
Her faithful betrothed —
By angel visited
And Mary took home.

In faith going forward
On roads then untrod,
To unknown beginnings,
They gave all to God.

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I Dreamed That It Was Raining

[Written during the California drought of 2014 and during the Ferguson, Missouri, riots.]

I dreamed that it was raining
And streets were wet again.
The cars went by
And gave a sigh
As water splashed on them.

I dreamed that it was raining
And children laughed aloud.
With gleeful hoots
Their muddy boots
Through puddles gaily plowed.

I dreamed that it was raining
And clouds burst forth in flood.
Their waters calmed
The violence strong
And peace could now be found.

I dreamed that it was raining
And living water sped
From streamlets high
To rivers dry —
The thirsty land was fed.

I dreamed that it was raining
And black made friends with white.
The past was healed,
Their friendship sealed,
With harmony in sight.

I dreamed that it was raining
Upon the wasted land.
The thirsty earth
Could now give birth
To many seedlings grand.

I dreamed that it was raining
And cleansing tears were shed
O’er mem’ries deep,
I now could sleep,
Could rest upon my bed.

I dreamed that it was raining
And God forgave my sins.
He calmed my fears
And dried my tears,
And I could live again.

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Only a Shadow

Today I see Your beauty,
An ever-changing sight,
But really just a shadow —
Creation mirrors Your light.

The wonders You have fashioned
Are merely slightest glimpse
Of Your majestic glory,
Your awesome pow’r intense.

The roaring river waters,
The waves that rise and fall,
The quietness of shallows,
The soaring eagle’s call.

But sure Your greatest wonder,
The utmost height of all,
Is how You love Your creatures,
Though oft’ we gravely fall.

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Nature, Poems

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Have You Got My Back?

Feeling alone
And forlorn.
There’s nobody home.

Must keep on track,
Have you got my back?
Help me, Lord.

I know I’ll get through this,
With God I can do this,
But it takes so long.

You’re changing me daily;
I’m feeling so fraily.
My God is my strength.

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Christian, Jesus, Poems

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Criticism

When anger festers,
When negativity soars,
Don’t you know it’s an open door?

To worms and snakes,
To thoughts that take
Over and make you squirm.

Don’t let that creeping thing
Take over.
Start over.

You don’t deserve,
You shouldn’t serve,
The god of criticism.

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Wounded World

Wounded is this world
By sin and strife.
Unhappy people,
Unhappy lives.

Dissatisfied and —
At an unpeace.
Looking for something;
Needing release.

Compassion is needed —
Understanding, love.
God’s intervention,
Grace from above.

Love to your neighbor,
Give compliments.
Brotherly friendship,
It only makes sense.

Build up; don’t tear down.
Encourage; not bully.
Don’t take it personally;
Grudges are silly.

Now, if only I can
Take this advice,
I’ll be one person
Making things right.

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Blest are the Broken (Matthew 5:4)

Blest are the broken,
Shattered and torn,
Those who are weeping,
Those who now mourn.

In our deep sorrow
God is so near.
He walks beside us —
We need not fear.

From broken pieces
He now creates
Mosaic of His beauty —
Majesty great.

Be not ashamed now
Of broken heart.
Know that He loves you
And make a new start.

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Christian, Hope, Poems

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The Love Between Us (To My Husband)

Love’s not so much about …
How good things feel,
Romantic fantasies,
The wildest ecstasies.

Love’s when I give to you;
And you give to me.
When I serve you,
And you serve me.
When I forgive,
And you forgive me;
And sometimes all above
Might not be simultaneously.

Love is when
We talk it out,
Shout it out,
Cast about —
Find a way
To understand,
For you and I,
God’s wondrous plan.

Love is not
The glitzy clothes,
The plastic-surgery nose,
The fishnet pantyhose,
The painted lips,
The swivelly hips,
And lacy slips.

Though those might have their place sometimes,
And not always to be condemned,
The love that’s everlasting, true,
Looks in the soul and finds a friend —
Another soul with which to view
The world — both hand in hand
Until life’s destined end.

— September 29, 2013

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Great and Awesome

Great and awesome, mighty God,
You who made the heavens and earth,
And every soul that comes to birth.

We do not understand Your ways,
Oblique to every mind are they.
How often we misspend our days.

We struggle, strive, to keep alive.
We fight, we hate, offense do take,
‘Til understanding comes – too late?

Your mercy, grace, so fathomless;
Your justice, anger, so restrained,
Until the time You have ordained.

Your patience for us wayward souls,
Your love expressed a thousand-fold —
Infinity we now behold.

How do we You now comprehend?
How, small soul, your ways to mend?
His mercy triumphs in the end.

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Christian, Poems

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If All the Stars

If all the stars like dust were blown
From palm of God upon the earth,
And fell like snow into the night —
Their glitt’ring shine,
Their silent birth —

And whispered quiet melody
Of dancing angels
Far and wide,
Of tinkling, tiny, windy chimes —

They sing to me
Of happy times.

Oh, universe
Now will burst forth,
In praise and song
To God divine.

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