If You did not my soul inflame,
If You did not fill lungs with breath,
If You did not my mind engage,
Sure, that would be my sorry death.
Without Your spirit, none can live,
E’en those who do not yet believe.
It’s by Your providence, I know,
There’s reason to rejoice, or grieve.
We cannot understand Your ways;
We grope about, sometimes in ruin.
Or graced, find better ways of life —
But death, the whys will then illumine.
I must believe God’s faithful love,
Else madness will my soul o’ertake.
If on myself I fix my eyes,
Despair will be my sorry fate.
I must believe, though I could choose
An easier path; with tide to swim,
To let opinion rule my life
And let the light within me dim.
I must believe the words God speaks,
When worldly cares do contradict.
As storm does rage; no shelter found —
But in God’s boat, all grace begins.
I must believe, and then one day
A shining light will lead my soul.
No longer strife and stress to sway,
My life at last found healed and whole.
A tiny speck, a mote of dust.
One of millions — of wind, a tiny gust.
A tiny atom, or particle minute.
All but invisible; a trivial pursuit.
So insignificant, mostly unknown.
Almost invisible — like a bird now flown.
But in Your eyes, Lord, as Your gaze falls on me,
I am soon made whole, and touch eternity.
Before I knew You loved me
Life was a desperate chore
A crashing bore
A quest for more
Before I knew You cared
Life was painful torture
A dissonant overture
A misplaced embouchure
Before I knew Your plan for me
(Or at least that there was one)
Life was confusion
A strong delusion
An ugly contusion
And then I knew —
And all was bright
And all was light
If only for a while
Now I go about in the dark
Working out Your plan
As best I can
Your broken body,
Your fractured faith,
Your shattered dreams —
To the cross now take.
Your failed friendships,
Your social gaffes,
The misunderstandings —
Under the cross, now past.
The things you wanted,
The things you lost,
All worldly dealings —
Now bring them to the cross.
Let them go and
Let them be.
Just put them down
Under the tree.
Release the burden,
Let go the weight;
Then God, His love
Will demonstrate.
What made America great?
People with a faith, lived well —
Not those who merely said the words,
But from their lives, their faith would tell.
What made America great?
People who did persevere —
Through sickness, famine, poverty;
Through trials, hardships, deadly fear.
Have we lost the vision now?
Too cynical, too rich, somehow?
Too comfortable and too well-fed;
Too easy life, our sin to dread?
Then faithful voices, being quenched;
The kind, the gentle, with poison drenched.
Poison of criticism, poison of hate —
The voices of reason, many berate.
But lest we despair, let’s now give pause.
For all of this, there is a cause.
The devil knows his time is short;
All reason, love, he will abort.
When times are dark,
When love’s light dims,
Look for the light
You’ll find in Him.
I smile through my tears,
I laugh through my fears,
I have joy when I’m sad,
You may think I am mad!
Life is a paradox;
We can’t put it in a box.
God will do what He wants,
Though the devil may taunt.
I am strong when I’m weak,
I have power when I’m meek.
No joy without pain,
No gain without strain.
This broken world of suffering souls;
So many hurting — it’s out of control.
We need a Savior, a God Who can mend.
We need a Father, Who loves without end.
We need the Spirit, Who gives us the power
To overcome Satan in ungodly hour.
Time to surrender your will unto His.
Let Him live in you, and give you His gifts.
I am prejudiced — but, hopefully, each day I get less and less so. I attend regular meetings of Prejudiced People Anonymous (well, at least in my mind).
It started early in life. It was in the air, in my culture, all around me. “That group …, ” “Those people …,” “That church …,” people around me would say.
But, as I grew older, I realized that prejudice was wrong. Sadly, the damage was already done. I fought against the ideas in my head, but they still came. I felt helpless, knowing that my attitude was wrong.
It didn’t help when some people would confirm my prejudices. Yes, some people who were “different” did bad things to me. But others were good and kind.
Over the years, it helped to learn about other cultures and religions, their background, and what they have suffered. The more I had contact with people who were “different,” the less prejudiced I became.
One of my turning points happened like this: I had been attending night classes at a state university. I was walking on campus to my car, when a woman of an ethnic group that I felt most afraid of (or most angry at?) was coming from the other direction. She said hello and was very friendly and had kind words. Suddenly it hit me that I did not deserve her kindness, after the bad thoughts I’d had against her particular group. It was a grace received, again — undeserved. I realized that it wasn’t the person’s group that mattered, it was who they were individually that mattered.
There is hope for sinners, even for people like me! God can change our hearts! If you are prejudiced, pray for God to show you the beauty of each person.
clarakatalin 